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Post by scooterollie on Sept 27, 2006 21:32:10 GMT -5
Has anyone thought about adding heated grips for those cold weather rides? Anyone have experience with them?
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Post by Jacine on Sept 27, 2006 21:44:23 GMT -5
They draw a lot of watts if you run it off the engine. The alternator will have a hard time recharging the battery, especially in cold weather. Best to get a good pair of thermal gloves.
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Post by jackthefuzz on Sept 27, 2006 22:06:06 GMT -5
You know there is a way to do this. Think old volkswagon. These engines produce plenty of hot air. just tape a hose on to the engine cooling air outlet and run it forward. How much time you spend on it determines how well it looks. In fact I think you could make it permanent and just disconnect the hose during the summer. you dont need a fan, you dont need an electric heater
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Post by scooterollie on Sept 28, 2006 9:02:15 GMT -5
jacine; I was concerned about the watts. Found one "two-speed" kit 7.5W/15W - not really very high. Another kit of 20W/30W - getting up there a bit.
jackthefuzz; "Bin there, had a few of those"! Old AC VWs had good heaters - after you drove a few hours at 60+mph! How about a more modern approach for water cooled scoots - run a loop of copper tube inside the handlebar. Place an inline valve on it so you can shut off the coolant flow in warm weather. Seems like a lot of trouble, though. Prefer to go electric or gloves.
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Post by dwestmodesto on Dec 2, 2006 13:32:22 GMT -5
The cheaper heated grips use a resistor to change from high to low power...that wastes power. A better solution is to electronicaly switch the power on and off. The company WarmNSafe makes controllers for heated clothing using the electric switching technology. The controllers aren't cheap...I think mine was around $59. That is a lot cheaper than the heated jacket liner I bought. It is about $200 from retailers, but can be had a little less expensively on ebay. If you search for "heated clothing" or "heated grips" on google you will get lots of hits. I have found links for a homebuilt controller system that was much cheaper than the one I bought. I don't have the link now though. Being warm is a good thing. My bmw has heated grips, and I the heated jacket makes life even better. One of my goals this year is to add heated grips to my scooter. Before that though I need to finish my carb upsize and jetting project. With the electronic controller you can control how much power you put to your heated gear. Some heat is better than no heat. Hasta, Dave 2002 Bajaj Chetak 2000 BMW R1150GS 1998 Suzuki VL1500
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Post by scooterollie on Dec 2, 2006 21:39:11 GMT -5
dwestmodesto; Also responded to your post in the other thread about grip heaters. I would highly recommend you check out the Symtec heater pads you install under your own grips. Check out the link below for the best price I found. Can't beat the results and the price is more than reasonable. These pads use an electronic controller built into a box along the wiring harness and do not have the old style resistor. I have them on a 5 amp fuse with no problems. I did not glue the grips onto the pads because the grips installed tightly over the bars/pads. Have not had any problems with grips being loose or twisting on the bars. www.casporttouring.com/store/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=16025&Category_Code=heated_grips
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Post by dwestmodesto on Dec 3, 2006 17:44:26 GMT -5
Cool, Ride safe, Dave The WarmNSafe HeatTroller electronic switching controller I talked about was just under the grips on the site you posted your grips on. It allows the heat to be infinitely adjusted....and lowered if necessary for lower power use. Looking at the pic of the grip heaters, it looks like one side has more heating elements than the other. They must have done that to deal with the differences between the plastic throttle sleeve and the steel handlebar on the other side. Thanks for the reply, Dave dwestmodesto; Also responded to your post in the other thread about grip heaters. I would highly recommend you check out the Symtec heater pads you install under your own grips. Check out the link below for the best price I found. Can't beat the results and the price is more than reasonable. These pads use an electronic controller built into a box along the wiring harness and do not have the old style resistor. I have them on a 5 amp fuse with no problems. I did not glue the grips onto the pads because the grips installed tightly over the bars/pads. Have not had any problems with grips being loose or twisting on the bars. www.casporttouring.com/store/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=16025&Category_Code=heated_grips
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