Black and Blue!

[fairwaysflyer]

Sorry guys, but advice on fitting heated grips to my '03 Varadero. I got some Oxford grips off Ebay. The guy selling them reckoned they were the wrong size for his bars. Fitted mine ok, but won't stay on with hairspray!! I read on one of the links here that hairspray would keep them on, but as soon as the throttle side got hot it turned as I shut off so I have Iglued it with the super glue that came with them. I'll try them again at the weekend to see how this works. Certainly kept my fingers nice and toasty, and only set to 1/3rd as well!

At the moment I have wired them direct to the battery, but I'm sure one previous link here said could be spliced on to the black/blue wire from the fuse box which provides live feed to the radiator fan. Apparently this is only live when the ignition is on. Does this sound familiar?

Also, there is loads of spare lead from both grips to the controller. I have bunched the spare wire up temporarily but would like to cut off the existing connectors, shorten the leads to a more realistic length then join them with a block type connector, covering this with heat shrink.

Any thoughts guys? All advise appreciated.

[davsato]

ive got hairspray holding mine on ok but mine are different to most other types. i have heard oxford grips get extra hot?

[jasonbc]

Sorry guys, but advice on fitting heated grips to my '03 Varadero. I got some Oxford grips off Ebay. The guy selling them reckoned they were the wrong size for his bars. Fitted mine ok, but won't stay on with hairspray!! I read on one of the links here that hairspray would keep them on, but as soon as the throttle side got hot it turned as I shut off so I have Iglued it with the super glue that came with them. I'll try them again at the weekend to see how this works. Certainly kept my fingers nice and toasty, and only set to 1/3rd as well!

At the moment I have wired them direct to the battery, but I'm sure one previous link here said could be spliced on to the black/blue wire from the fuse box which provides live feed to the radiator fan. Apparently this is only live when the ignition is on. Does this sound familiar?

Also, there is loads of spare lead from both grips to the controller. I have bunched the spare wire up temporarily but would like to cut off the existing connectors, shorten the leads to a more realistic length then join them with a block type connector, covering this with heat shrink.

Any thoughts guys? All advise appreciated.

The blue black cable is not th eonly ignition switched live there's loads on the bike when i wired the relay for my sat-nav in i used the odometer in the back of the dashboard. I just put a round crimp on the cable undid the nut for the odo power and put it back together that then switches the coil in the relay. You could cut the cables to your required length then solder and heatshrink them to seal them again

[Loudpedal]

Honda supply a tube of glue with there heated grips which is probably available in any Honda dealer.
If you know the service guy he may even lend you the tube.

I powered mine from the front brake switch.


Loudpedal

[Dee Duble Yuh]

I personally prefer to wire grips to the battery via a relay. I'd have thought direct off the fan power would be a ideal alternative though since it's unlikely both would be in use at the same time (unlike brake lights).

[fairwaysflyer]

Thanks for the replies so far. I did wonder about powering the grips from the front brake feed but wondered about putting too much load on it. Electrics aren't really my thing. Never guess, huh!!

[davsato]

mine are wired from my aux fusebox under the seat, with a relay direct to the battery. the relay is switched from the ignition switch/headlight relay wire.

i have wired the grips and front accessory socket in parallel from the same live similar to a circuit in the wiki section, earthed to the subframe under the left hand trim panel.

[StumpyFingers]

I have permanent lights on so I wired a relay to switch on via this feed and take the live feed direct from the battery,using an aux fusebox for HID and Sat Nav and Autocom.

[Loudpedal]

I'd have thought direct off the fan power would be a ideal alternative though since it's unlikely both would be in use at the same time (unlike brake lights).

My grips are Honda's own grips. They come with their own wiring.
A neg is wired direct to the battery and the live feed comes from the front brake switch via a supplied t piece, fused to the heated grips.
Mr Honda don't get basic stuff like this wrong.

This is the third Varadero I have wired as instructed by the maker with no reported problems.


Did you have any joy with the glue?


Loudpedal

[fairwaysflyer]

Yo!!

Well the grip has stuck on but I haven't had a chance to have a ride out to try them, work's a bind sometimes eh!!

I have noticed that if I tighten the bar end weight right up the throttle binds so I have trimmed the rubber inside the protruding part of the grip and its ok, but just. I have backed off the retaining bolt on the weight as well.

How does the feed from to the front brake switch lead attach? Do you have to splice in the wire, or scotchlock it, or is there a dedicated fitting?