Fitting Heated Grips

Heated grips and relatively simple to fit to your bile and can make all the difference on a cold day.

If your hands are frozen you lose control feel on the bike, and start to think more about being cold than on what is happening around you.

The grips in this article were fitted to a Kawasaki ER-5, one of our training bikes. The procedure is very similar for any bike.

Step 1.

Unpack the grips and lay everything out so you get an idea of how things go together, and make sure that all the parts are there. It’s much easier to take them back now because something is missing than when you have cut the old grips off your bike.

Step 2.

Remove the seat and side panels from the bike. Then loosen the petrol tank securing nut.

You can connect the grips direct to the battery via the control switch supplied, but this is not such a good idea as if they are left on they will drain the battery very quickly. A better way is to locate a “switched live” so that with the ignition off the supply is cut. A good place to get this is the supply to the rear brake light switch.

Locate the brake light switch and follow the wires up to the connector then either using a volt meter or a bulb on a wire determine which is the live supply. Remember the colour for later. If you don’t have a meter or a bulb, ask a local dealer what the colour of the supply wire is.

Disconnect the battery; this is vital so that you don’t accidentally short out any of the electrics.

Step 3

Remove the old grips. This is best done by cutting along the length with a sharp knife. Remove all the old glue or packing tape with either the blade of the knife, or abrasive paper.

Step 4

Fit the new grips by pushing them on to each bar. If they are a little on the lose side a couple of turns of insulating tape usually works.

Route the cables under the bars and secure with tape or cable ties. On the throttle side be sure to leave some slack in the cable so that the throttle can turn freely.

Step 5

Fit the control switch to handlebar in a suitable position so tat you can reach it easily when riding. Then secure all the cables neatly again either with tape or cable ties.

Remember to check that the ‘bars are able to turn from lock to lock without snagging on the cables. Route the rest of the wires neatly under the tank; check that they are clear of any hot engine parts.

Step 6

Connect the supply wire the brake light supply you identified earlier. If possible solder the connection,
remember to take the connection to insulate it.

If you can't solder a scotch-lock connector from an auto accessory shop will do the trick.

Step 7

Tuck all the wires neatly under the side panel of the bike. The negative terminal can either be taken direct to the negative “-“ side of the battery, or any convenient chassis point on the bike. I found that the securing bolt for the side panel was a good place.

Step 8

Reconnect the battery, secure the tank and seat then start the bike and switch on the heat.

If you have got things right you should have toasty warm hands in next to no time. If they don’t heat up after a few minutes, check al the connectors are pushed fully home, and that you haven’t mistakenly connected the supply to the wrong side of the brake light switch? That has been known to happen on more than one occasion!