Heated Grips - Stupid Mistake???

Blitzen

Joined
Jun 16, 2013
Messages
57
Location
Wisconsin
Bike
2004 ST1300
I recently installed Symtec heated grips on my STeed. I also added a G2 Throttle Tamer at the same time. I mounted the switch toward the top of the left switch housing. I cut the wires on the left heating pad short and ran them directly to the switch. I slightly lengthened the wires on the throttle pad to get them to the switch. The clutch grip gets very warm pretty quickly. The throttle grip gets sort of warm pretty slowly. My impression from posts on this site is that it is usually the opposite with the clutch side staying cooler. I'm pretty sure I didn't switch the side specific pads out, though I did peel the stickers before putting the BMW grips back on. Is this disparity because I modified the length of the wires, or because the G2's aluminum tube is acting as a heat sink?

Thanks in advance for any help with this.
 
For me, the throttle tube side was always colder and that makes sense because there's extra air in there moving around and pushing the heat out of that grip.. plus, you're always moving that hand and just the slightest movement will pull any heat you got from the grip away and you almost start over... you rarely move your left hand much so it stays warmer.
 
I have read that people used to put black electrical tape on the clutch side before they started making 'side specific' grip heaters.
I'd try wrapping the G2...
 
Was there a noticable difference in how quickly the sides warmed up? I should also note that I tested it in the garage with the engine at about 1500 RPM due to the sheet of ice just outside of the garage, so I will test it on the road before I make any changes.
 
On my ST1100s (I use SYMTEC also), I've not noticed much difference in the time to heat or the output between the left and right. The ST1100 has a plastic throttle tube and the left heater goes straight on the metal handle bar. In fact, I recommend a piece of electrician's tape over the solder joint on the connectors - they can have a point that will push through the cover and short out on the handlebar (Don't ask me how I know that ... ;-))
 
Left heated grips always seem less warm, but I imagine it has something to do with taking your hand off the grip frequently to engage the clutch.
 
In this case my left grip is much warmer, thus my question. Did I screw up the resistance by shortening the left wire and lengthening the right wire in order to locate the switch where I did?
 
What I have read is that the handlebars on the left side acts like a heat sink and sucks up a lot of the heat. I recently installed some and they came with a piece of heat shrink to go on the left bar. Tape would do the same. My right side heats up much faster than left and gets a little hotter. I have a plastic throttle tube.
 
Sounds like ya might have got them reversed.

Simple enough to just slide the grip off with some compressed air. I though the pads were labeled on themselves for throttle/clutch side.

The alternative is to measure the resistance of each side individually with a multi-meter. The side with the lower resistance is the warmer one and woudl normally be on the clutch.

I asked a simialr question last year, if mounting heaters over a G2 do you notice the throttle side gets colder? I debated on using a snow-mobile kit where both heater pads are the same. But general consensus was not really. Reason I believe is that even though you are replacing a plastic tube with metal, the metal throttle tube is a heat sink in a confined area. It's not actually making direct contact with the handlebars to draw all the heat away.
 
Just a thought - make sure the clutch side is not wired for high when the throttle side is wired for low heat.
I have the same setup as you with the Symtec, BMW grips and G2 on my 05 and do not notice a significant difference between the 2 sides on either high or low settings.
 
Last edited:
Blitzen said:
I recently installed Symtec heated grips...The clutch grip gets very warm pretty quickly. The throttle grip gets sort of warm pretty slowly...Is this disparity because I modified the length of the wires, or because the G2's aluminum tube is acting as a heat sink? Thanks in advance for any help with this.
Click to expand...

I doubt the resistance change in the wiring is of any consequence. A few in/cm on a 14/16 ga. wire is in the hundredths of ohm. I expect your grip resistance is in the 10 ohm range, so you are talking about fraction of 1% resistance change.

I have heard about putting the layer of heat-shrink over the clutch bar end as a layer of insulation as others have mentioned.

If the grips have different resistances, they might be reversed (not familiar with these grips) but it seems normal for the lower resistance/higher heat output to be on the clutch end, and that matches up with your observations.

The aluminum (vs. plastic) throttle tube may have an effect. Great heat sink compared to plastic - could be dissipating more heat on the inside of the grip.

Just a hypothesis - take with grain of salt, as they say.
 
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