Another heated grip story:
When I got ReSTored, she had these after market
heated grips, installed by Adam K. Operated thru a Warm 'n Safe HeaTroller mounted on the handlebar plastic. Worked great for five years but the throttle side gave up last spring. Didn't worry 'bout it at the time as I was on the road and the weather was good (except for the rain!!
)
Anyhoo, picked up a pair of Symtec(?) pads at Aerostich when I was there this summer. They've sat in the tank bag for a couple months. Finally ordered some BMW grips from Bike Bandit and did the install Tuesday.
Removing the Hot Grips was a PITA because the hard plastic internal ridges were glued in place. Had to strip the outer rubber, cut the heating elements (thin steel wire in a spiral) then chew the plastic off with a ChanelLoks. While removing the throttle side found a broken wire at the junction between the grip and the lead. Grips were 'bout worn out anyway and I like the BMW style. Left side was already destroyed.
All set for the pads, decided to check the electric connections. Found the HeaTroller putting out only ~2 VDC and the little light flashing fast at all settings. Got a note back from Mike at Warm 'N Safe yesterday saying the original style would slowly degrade after being subjected to a short, only option is to replace it. I'd already ordered the new one which contains a reset to protect it from a short. $60.
I'm using 2 throttle-side grips with duct tape on the left side to make up the diff and provide insulation so both sides have the same heat level. With a new HeaTroller, she'll be good to go for my October trip, starting in a couple weeks.
Long enuff?
I've noticed for a couple weeks that my STebel horn was weak. Started to look at the rest of the aux electric and found only 2 VDC at the
input to the aux. fuse box. unplugged the HeaTroller and voltage popped back to 12.6. Horn sounds good. So, the internal short in the HeaTroller was causing other problems. Only other circuit on that fuse box is an extra SAE 2-prong which is seldom used so no harm, no foul.
All will be good soon's the new HeaTroller gets here. Gotta ride'er this weekend, tho, without heated grips. Don't anticipate a problem as we'll be in the Mohave and Sonoran Deserts. Highs in the 90s.