How hot are your factory heated grips?

I had issues with my grips last spring and started a topic, but can't find it any longer. My grips were smoking hot when new, then last year they only got warm and took forever to even get that. Well, I've had it in the shop twice and they replaced the controller and now the grips. They are hotter than they were, but not nearly as hot as stock. If I remember right, stock, I couldn't hold my hand on them within a couple of miles from home. Then I could run max ALL of the time last year. After they fixed them, I can run max for about 10-15 miles, then want to turn them down. Even today at 58 degrees, I ran them max almost all the way to work. Now they were pretty hot, but I still don't think they are working right, so I want some feedback from others.

kleake said:

*snip*If I remember right, stock, I couldn't hold my hand on them within a couple of miles from home.

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That's too hot.

Glad you got it fixed!

I put the factory stuff on mine and it's better than none when it's really cold.

My '08AE heated grips were fairly hot but my '14ES grips get scalding hot so I can't put my bare hand on them when up all the way.

At the max setting.... I can't keep my hands on the grips.

Originally I couldn't keep my hands on them after a mile or two. Now, even after new grips and controller, I can hold them on there all the way to work 25 miles away. They are pretty darn toasty by then, but what bothers me is they take so long to get there. With only a thin pair of gloves and 50 degrees it takes about 4-5 miles before I feel much of anything. I used to crank them up when I am warming up the bike, ride out of the neighborhood and turn them to about half way, even with it was 30 degrees outside. I still think something isn't right. 30 degree weather and thick gloves, these wouldn't be enough I don't think.

Just my experience.

I have original factory heated grips on my '06. They have never been "hot" but get reasonably warm. The right has always been cooler than the left (I assumed because you have to keep a grip on the throttle). They have been very nice to have but were never as hot as the ones on my wife's '05 ST1300. I just figured that is the way it is. On those very cold mornings/days, a little more heat would be nice. I run max most of the time below 40 degrees. I only turn them down when it is in the 50s or so.

mr.paul, from Minnnesota

Be aware the ground is pulsed from the ECU so under certain conditions, the ground will be shut off and on. At idle, or under ~1800 rpm and low speed, you only get partial power when the charging circuit is not putting out full power. Above all of that, the ground should be near constant, but I find they take a while to warm up. It will revert to partial power any time you stop and take some time to warm back up. Those on a constant ride will not notice this cycle.

One can take the green/white wire and ground it, either at the controller end (cut the wire to the ECU) or at the ECU (remove pin from ECU connector and ground it). I have been meaning to do this and have to refresh my memory on which pin in the ECU (37?).

Yes I ride mostly highway, but at idle they do go back to just "slightly warm". If I stop for more than a couple of minutes, it takes about 2-3 more miles to get back up to temp. I have been wondering which wire controlled that, I think I may be doing that mod anyway, but it sure will help them warm up faster too considering the first 5 miles of my trip to work has several stops in it.

I would be concerned about anything that would make me want to take my hands off my grips. IMHO if they are getting that hot that is not a good thing. I have aftermarket Heatroller that I installed. They get plenty warm, but never have experienced a high enough temperature that was uncomfortable.

It's all relative to the ambient temperature. At 50 degrees, they should be able to get hot enough to be uncomfortable, because then when it's in the 20's and you have thick gloves on, that's when you are going to want that heat. If they are only warm at 50, you likely won't even feel them through thick gloves in the 20's. Some people only ride above 40 degrees, but some of us ride into the low 20's or even teens.

kleake said:

It's all relative to the ambient temperature. At 50 degrees, they should be able to get hot enough to be uncomfortable, because then when it's in the 20's and you have thick gloves on, that's when you are going to want that heat. If they are only warm at 50, you likely won't even feel them through thick gloves in the 20's. Some people only ride above 40 degrees, but some of us ride into the low 20's or even teens.

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Good point. I don't turn them on if I don't need them. Maybe I will turn them on full on the way home today and see if it makes me let go!

Intech said:

I would be concerned about anything that would make me want to take my hands off my grips. IMHO if they are getting that hot that is not a good thing. I have aftermarket Heatroller that I installed. They get plenty warm, but never have experienced a high enough temperature that was uncomfortable.

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I only know this because I rode in sub-freezing temps a couple times with gloves on and grips on high. When I got home, I parked in the garage, took off my gloves then grabbed the grips...hot!! Of course the grips would never be turned so high one could not keep one's hands on the grips... *shrugs*

On the GenIII's you can adjust the low, medium and high settings in the menu. I think it's factory set as 1, 5 and 10 on a scale of 1-10. You can turn down high to 8 or 9 if it's too hot. Haven't really had to use them yet to know how hot each is.

fjRaven said:

On the GenIII's you can adjust the low, medium and high settings in the menu. I think it's factory set as 1, 5 and 10 on a scale of 1-10. You can turn down high to 8 or 9 if it's too hot. Haven't really had to use them yet to know how hot each is.

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Yep! 10 is hot. I have mine set at 3, 7 and 10 for low, med and high, respectively.

My 2012 grips get so hot on Hi when the rpms are up, that you could not leave them on Hi and comfortably hold on with bare or thinly gloved hands.

When the rpms are low, they still get uncomfortably hot, but not so much you have to let go.

They take about 1.5 miles to get hot.

I have 2009 with OEM heat installed the same day I bought her. I dont use them much, as I dont typically venture out when it's too cold. However, when I was out 2 weeks ago during that nice 55 degree weather, the heat was very nice even on low.

I thought about this question on Sunday. Heading home, I went 420 miles into stupid strong head and cross winds (31.1mpg average for the run) in temps from 35-52 degrees the whole way. With a thick winter glove on, I went quite a long time with it all the way up. Eventually settled on about 3/4 of the way up and left it there. Turned it down to about 1/2 once I hit the 50's. They sure do help in those conditions. My heated synergy jacket liner is what makes that type of trip even possible.

I had a pretty busy weekend, but I rode it around the block a few times with no gloves and turned up to max. The did get pretty toasty, to the point they were good and hot, but not hot enough I had to take my hands off. Another lap or two and I probably would have. From the sounds of it, there are some variations as to how hot these should be. Some bikes get smoking hot, while others are just good and warm. I went from being smoking hot, to being only luke warm, then after replacing the controller and grips, I'm back at just "semi-hot". With that said, I'm going to say it's in the acceptable range. I still have another year on the warranty so I'll go with them for now and see how they are by the fall. I will likely mod it so it will go to max while sitting still though as this will be a big help itself. Anyway, thanks for everyone's input, it's always nice to compare with others to see if things are as they should be or not.

No problem with my grips on my 08 Gen 11 , they do seem to get hotter the faster I ride though : )