Changing grips

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You could be asking one of two questions:

1) "How do I run factory heaters, but with a different grip rubber?"

Answer: You can't. The heater element is built into the grip itself.

2) "How do I remove/replace the factory heated grip on my bike?"

Answer: with a great deal of patience and luck, or so I've heard. The factory glues those suckers on pretty darn well and I haven't been brave enough to pull them off so I can put on a G2 throttle tube.

 
You could be asking one of two questions:
1) "How do I run factory heaters, but with a different grip rubber?"

Answer: You can't. The heater element is built into the grip itself.
I don't think the answer is a hard "you can't", but the "you can" answer will certainly require work. The factory grips do have the heating elements built into the rubber (which should be a good design for decreasing heat transfer into the bars instead of your hands). But, what you can do is buy some aftermarket heating elements along with new grip rubber, then splice the wires from the new elements onto the ends of the wires to the stock grips (as in, you would have to cut and strip the factory wires), to retain use of your stock controller. There has been some discussion about that before in the forums, so try some more searching... (too lazy to go find the thread and link it)

 
I wanted to do the same thing and move to gel grips but I was going to lose the heat. I had a G2 put on my AE this week I the guy who did the work was not happy about doing it and said is was a real PITA.

 
I have a 2007AE with factory heated grips, which I hated because they were so hard. Here's what I did:

1. I cut off and threw away the factory grips.

2. I added Symtec grip heaters to the bars.

3. I wired the heating elements in such a way that each side was about 6 Ohms, then wired the two sides in parallel so that the OEM heat controller 'saw' a 3 Ohm load, as compared to the stock 4 Ohm load it was designed for. On the throttle side, the wire for the heating element runs through the same channel where the stock wire ran, so it's a very clean look.

4. Last, I added a set of ProGrip Model 698 gel grips.

P.S. I also added a G2 Ergo throttle tube while I was at it.

The whole process was far from a "you can't" or a "PITA"! On the difficulty scale, I would rate it 1 star out of 5.

 
I have a 2007AE with factory heated grips, which I hated because they were so hard. Here's what I did:
1. I cut off and threw away the factory grips.

2. I added Symtec grip heaters to the bars.

3. I wired the heating elements in such a way that each side was about 6 Ohms, then wired the two sides in parallel so that the OEM heat controller 'saw' a 3 Ohm load, as compared to the stock 4 Ohm load it was designed for. On the throttle side, the wire for the heating element runs through the same channel where the stock wire ran, so it's a very clean look.

4. Last, I added a set of ProGrip Model 698 gel grips.

P.S. I also added a G2 Ergo throttle tube while I was at it.

The whole process was far from a "you can't" or a "PITA"! On the difficulty scale, I would rate it 1 star out of 5.
Nice work, you did it the best possible way! Looking back that is what I wish I would have done.

 
Progrip 737 are the bomb. I may do this since I have some extra symtecs and grips laying around.

 
I have a 2007AE with factory heated grips, which I hated because they were so hard. Here's what I did:
1. I cut off and threw away the factory grips.

2. I added Symtec grip heaters to the bars.

3. I wired the heating elements in such a way that each side was about 6 Ohms, then wired the two sides in parallel so that the OEM heat controller 'saw' a 3 Ohm load, as compared to the stock 4 Ohm load it was designed for. On the throttle side, the wire for the heating element runs through the same channel where the stock wire ran, so it's a very clean look.

4. Last, I added a set of ProGrip Model 698 gel grips.

P.S. I also added a G2 Ergo throttle tube while I was at it.

The whole process was far from a "you can't" or a "PITA"! On the difficulty scale, I would rate it 1 star out of 5.
Bonus points if you put up a "HOW-TO" with wiring diagrams for the electrically impaired. I'd really like to install my G2, but the thought of destroying a $300 grip in the process has scared me off of it for quite a while.

 
you don't have to destroy the grip to get it off, just be careful and make sure you note how the grip wires came out so you can get them back the same way.

and IMO on a 1-5 scale of pain in the ass they were a 5.... remember it is always harder when it is someone elses bike and you have to be extra careful not to mess anything up.

R

 
I have a 2007AE with factory heated grips, which I hated because they were so hard. Here's what I did:
1. I cut off and threw away the factory grips.

2. I added Symtec grip heaters to the bars.

3. I wired the heating elements in such a way that each side was about 6 Ohms, then wired the two sides in parallel so that the OEM heat controller 'saw' a 3 Ohm load, as compared to the stock 4 Ohm load it was designed for. On the throttle side, the wire for the heating element runs through the same channel where the stock wire ran, so it's a very clean look.

4. Last, I added a set of ProGrip Model 698 gel grips.

P.S. I also added a G2 Ergo throttle tube while I was at it.

The whole process was far from a "you can't" or a "PITA"! On the difficulty scale, I would rate it 1 star out of 5.
Bonus points if you put up a "HOW-TO" with wiring diagrams for the electrically impaired. I'd really like to install my G2, but the thought of destroying a $300 grip in the process has scared me off of it for quite a while.
I never thought of it as destroying a $300 set of grips since the controller and wiring remain in place and the only thing that gets destroyed are those god-awful hard grips, which get replaced by something much nicer, at least in my opinion. :)

As far as wiring the Symtec heating elements, be aware that the two sides are intended to make different amounts of heat because the left side attaches directly to the aluminum handlebar and the right side is intended to attach to the plastic throttle tube. I figured since the plastic throttle tube was being replaced by the aluminum G2 tube, I wanted both sides to produce the same amount of heat.

With that in mind, and knowing that the stock grips are approximately 2 ohms each and are wired in series for a total of 4 ohms load, I wanted my Symtec heaters to match that load pretty closely. So on the left side, I used the Blue and White wires, giving me approximately 6 ohms on that side. On the right side I used the White wire and the Blue&Red (connected together). Per my rough measurements on the right side, White and Blue was about 11 ohms and White and Red was also about 11 ohms, so joining Red and Blue together and using that plus the White wire gave me about 5.5 ohms. So the 5.5 on the right, in parallel with the 6 ohms on the left, gave me about 3 ohms total, which was as close as I could get to the stock 4 ohm load.

It works well so far, and hopefully that makes some sense. My VOM is old and probably not super accurate, especially when measuring such low resistances, but like I said, it's working well so far. Good luck!

Fairlaner - I agree, when you're working on someone else's bike it's a whole different ballgame.

 
<!--quoteo(post=580595:date=May 6 2009, 09:52 AM:name=PhilMills)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (PhilMills @ May 6 2009, 09:52 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=580595"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec--><!--quoteo(post=579346:date=May 3 2009, 10:37 PM:name=dbx)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (dbx @ May 3 2009, 10:37 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=579346"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->I have a 2007AE with factory heated grips, which I hated because they were so hard. Here's what I did:

1. I cut off and threw away the factory grips.

2. I added Symtec grip heaters to the bars.

3. I wired the heating elements in such a way that each side was about 6 Ohms, then wired the two sides in parallel so that the OEM heat controller 'saw' a 3 Ohm load, as compared to the stock 4 Ohm load it was designed for. On the throttle side, the wire for the heating element runs through the same channel where the stock wire ran, so it's a very clean look.

4. Last, I added a set of ProGrip Model 698 gel grips.

P.S. I also added a G2 Ergo throttle tube while I was at it.

The whole process was far from a "you can't" or a "PITA"! On the difficulty scale, I would rate it 1 star out of 5.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

Bonus points if you put up a "HOW-TO" with wiring diagrams for the electrically impaired. I'd really like to install my G2, but the thought of destroying a $300 grip in the process has scared me off of it for quite a while.

<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

I never thought of it as destroying a $300 set of grips since the controller and wiring remain in place and the only thing that gets destroyed are those god-awful hard grips, which get replaced by something much nicer, at least in my opinion. <img src="https://www.fjrforum.com/forum//public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=" :) " border="0" alt="smile.gif" />

As far as wiring the Symtec heating elements, be aware that the two sides are intended to make different amounts of heat because the left side attaches directly to the aluminum handlebar and the right side is intended to attach to the plastic throttle tube. I figured since the plastic throttle tube was being replaced by the aluminum G2 tube, I wanted both sides to produce the same amount of heat.

With that in mind, and knowing that the stock grips are approximately 2 ohms each and are wired in series for a total of 4 ohms load, I wanted my Symtec heaters to match that load pretty closely. So on the left side, I used the Blue and White wires, giving me approximately 6 ohms on that side. On the right side I used the White wire and the Blue&Red (connected together). Per my rough measurements on the right side, White and Blue was about 11 ohms and White and Red was also about 11 ohms, so joining Red and Blue together and using that plus the White wire gave me about 5.5 ohms. So the 5.5 on the right, in parallel with the 6 ohms on the left, gave me about 3 ohms total, which was as close as I could get to the stock 4 ohm load.

It works well so far, and hopefully that makes some sense. My VOM is old and probably not super accurate, especially when measuring such low resistances, but like I said, it's working well so far. Good luck!

Fairlaner - I agree, when you're working on someone else's bike it's a whole different ballgame.
 
1. I cut off and threw away the factory grips.

2. I added Symtec grip heaters to the bars.

3. I wired the heating elements in such a way that each side was about 6 Ohms, then wired the two sides in parallel so that the OEM heat controller 'saw' a 3 Ohm load, as compared to the stock 4 Ohm load it was designed for. On the throttle side, the wire for the heating element runs through the same channel where the stock wire ran, so it's a very clean look.

4. Last, I added a set of ProGrip Model 698 gel grips.

With that in mind, and knowing that the stock grips are approximately 2 ohms each and are wired in series for a total of 4 ohms load, I wanted my Symtec heaters to match that load pretty closely. So on the left side, I used the Blue and White wires, giving me approximately 6 ohms on that side. On the right side I used the White wire and the Blue&Red (connected together). Per my rough measurements on the right side, White and Blue was about 11 ohms and White and Red was also about 11 ohms, so joining Red and Blue together and using that plus the White wire gave me about 5.5 ohms. So the 5.5 on the right, in parallel with the 6 ohms on the left, gave me about 3 ohms total, which was as close as I could get to the stock 4 ohm load.

Hello dpx, Im working on this very same thing. Could you tell me if it still holding up, and how far did you run the wire coming off the heating element before you tied it into the factory wire loom.

"sorry for the double post" :blink:

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Hello dpx, Im working on this very same thing. Could you tell me if it still holding up, and how far did you run the wire coming off the heating element before you tied it into the factory wire loom.
I don't get to ride as much as I'd like and only have 20,000 miles on the bike now, but the heated grips are holding up perfectly. If I had to do it all over again, I would do it exactly the same way except for one thing: I wouldn't cut the crappy OEM grips off because apparently there's a market for them, however small it may be. So cutting them off and tossing them in the trash is no longer recommended, unless it's all you can do.

I chose not to mess up the bike's main wiring harness, so all of my wiring changes related to the grips are on the runs from the connectors (under the left fairing) to the grips. If I had to, I could install OEM grips and plug them right into their connectors and they'd work as expected.

It's hard to explain without a diagram, but essentially if you do it like I did you'll be using one wire from the left connector (to one side of both grips) and one wire from the right connector (to the other side of both grips). The two original wires left unused only served to put the two grips in series with each other, and I needed a parallel setup rather than serial, so they remain not connected to anything. I did all of that down under the lower left fairing, where the OEM grips plug into the rest of the bike's wiring harness.

Hope that helps...

 
Hey . . if your OEM grips work and you are planning to chop them off and toss them away, how about swapping with me (at least for the right side)?

I added the OEM grips as an accessory for my 2006 'A', but the right side circuit went open right at the grip due to flexing.

I LIKE the hard rubber, however I don't want to spend $230 to replace the one bad grip. I would pull the grip and ship it to you - you could then pull yours and send it back to me. I wouldn't be without my ride because I would put the original right grip back temporarily.

PM me if you have any interest in this.

Thanks

 
You could be asking one of two questions:

1) "How do I run factory heaters, but with a different grip rubber?"

Answer: You can't. The heater element is built into the grip itself.

2) "How do I remove/replace the factory heated grip on my bike?"

Answer: with a great deal of patience and luck, or so I've heard. The factory glues those suckers on pretty darn well and I haven't been brave enough to pull them off so I can put on a G2 throttle tube.

I put on G2 tube last year and had no problems... not difficult at all!!!! I didn't try and take the grip off the old tube. I smashed the old tube, broke it into pieces and pulled them out... then wetted the g2 and used air hose to force the grip open and on she went. Actually very easy. If I was trying to get the grip off the tube and keep the tube intact then maybe a little more difficult. Putting on grip puppies also very easy with the air.

Have the factory heated grips... for the record!

Reble

 
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