Fitting heated grips

From Honda Trail Bike Wiki

Heated grips are a boon to all-year-round riders. It's best to wire them in using a Make-and-Break Relay. This isn’t absolutely essential but it reduces the likelihood of blowing a fuse on a cold winter’s night or, worse, overloading the existing wiring and setting fire to your bike!

Elsewhere on this site there are instructions for Fitting a power socket. Some of the procedure is the similar so check out those instructions too.

[edit] Parts

• Heated grips – in the photos are Daytona Grips from M&P which has a three-way switch. Busters sell a set that has a bigger switch and an LED. Some makes - such as Oxford - have a continuously variable controller so you can turn it up a tad on really cold days.

• Make-and-Break Relay – available from local auto-electrical suppliers and Maplins.

• In-line fuse – the photos show a waterproof one from Halford. Calculate the rate of fuse to fit. The grips might draw some 5 amps or so in the “Start” setting, so something a little higher is needed.

• Wire – 1.5 mm core or thicker should be ample.

• Spade connectors – (blue) insulated.

• Battery and ground connectors (blue).

• Self-stripping connectors – often known as Scotchblocks (yellow, to fit a thick wire onyour bike).

• Black zip ties – Keep an ample supply handy.

While wiring in the grips I also fitted a 12-volt accessory socket. It’s not much extra work to do them both at the same time.

[edit] Equipment

• Standard Honda toolkit to remove bodywork etc.

• Fine screwdriver.

• Wire cutters.

• Wire strippers.

• Wire crimpers – your wire strippers might be able to do this, but a really good pair of crimpers will simplify the task.

• Soldering iron – you might want to solder the wires into the in-line fuse but you can just crimp them.

• Multimeter – many swear by digital meters, but anything that registers 15 volts DC will be fine.

If you are fitting an accessory socket, you’ll also need an appropriate hole-cutter and files to cut a hole in the dashboard.

[edit] Preparation

Solder a short section of wire to one end of the in-line fuse, and two wires to the other end – one long enough to reach well into the dashboard area and the other fairly short.

[edit] Getting started

The following instructions and pictures are of a Varadero XL1000-VA4, but you can adapt them for other models.

Remove the saddle, side panels and dashboard panels around the dials. Prop up the fuel tank. Unclip the various fuse boxes; on the Varadero VA4 there are three piggy-backed onto each other. Put a fine screwdriver into the catch that clips each fuse box to the next and the box will slide off.

[edit] Wiring

It's best to sort the wiring before you fit the grips. The main reason is that you can ensure the grips work before you fit them!

Identify where you will locate the relay. On the Varadero there’s an ideal-sized gap alongside the fuse block (in this photo, partially obscured by the yellow in-line fuse).

This is how the terminals should be connected; details below.

[edit] Switched positive from fuse box

Identify a “switched” supply, that is, one that is live only when the ignition is on. Use a multimeter to do this. Remove the fuse labelled something like “Side lights and accessories” and use the multimeter probe to confirm:

1. that the circuit is switched; and
2. which side is upstream of the fuse and which is downstream.

Some people recommend soldering into the switched supply, but since the relay draws only a minute current, a Scotchblock will be fine. Connect it downstream of the “fused” side, i.e. the side that is dead when the fuse is removed. The relay draws a tiny current so won’t overload it. If you aren’t using a relay, tap into the upstream “unfused” side; the in-line fuse will protect the circuit. The tap wire from the Scotchblock will connect to the relay – terminal 86 – using a spade connector.

(In this picture you can see a blue Scotchblock; this is probably too small for the switched live. A yellow Scotchblock would be better.)

Note: When fitting spade connectors, cut the wires to the correct length, obviously, then trim off 5mm of insulation. Push the end into the spade connector so the insulation is half way down the collar. Crimp the collar twice, once on the wider section to secure the insulation, the other on the narrower section to form and electrical connection with the exposed core.

[edit] Ground to negative on battery or frame

The relay must be grounded. Run a short wire from the battery negative terminal to the relay – terminal 85.

[edit] Fused positive direct from battery

The in-line fuse must run between the battery’s positive terminal and the relay – terminal 30 If you are wiring up an accessory socket, the long wire from the fuse runs up to the dashboard area.

[edit] 12v positive when ignition is on

The fourth and final wire runs from the relay – terminal 87 – up to the dashboard area.

The wires that run to the dashboard area must be routed carefully to avoid touching hot engine parts.

Test the wiring using the multimeter. Make sure there is voltage for the heated grips only when the ignition is on. If you are also wiring in an accessory socket, this will need to be permanently live (so you can recharge your mobile phone, light your tent or whatever even when the ignition is off).

Temporarily mount the switch for the heated grips on the handle bars or the dashboard. Find somewhere convenient for use with your left hand so you can operate them when riding. Connect the switch to the power supply. Connect the ground to a convenient point; on the Varadero there’s a bracket for a black box behind the left dashboard panel. Test the output from the switch using the multimeter again. You should get about 12 volts when the switch is in the “Start” position, and something like 4 volts in the “On” position.

[edit] Heated grips

Before fitting the heated grips, connect them to the wiring to make sure everything has been connected properly. This not only confirms that they are working properly, but also warms them up so they fit over the handlebars more easily.

Unscrew the bar-end weights then remove the old grips. A squirt of silicon grease or WD40 underneath the grips can help ease them off, but it's quicker just to cut the old ones open. You aren’t going to re-use them. Clean the bar/throttle surfaces so the new grips fit securely. Slide the new grips on; this can be tricky so an extra pair of hands will help. Be careful what glue you use to fix the grips. Honda sell a specialist glue, but I don’t know if it’s available separately. Protect the bodywork from any excess glue that drips from the handlebars. Better still use hair spray instead of glue.

Yes, you read that right. Hair spray. Apparently it’s a common trick among the cycling fraternity. It hasn't caused any problems yet after thousands of miles!

Don’t push the right-hand grip on too far. If it interferes with the throttle housing it can cause the throttle to jam open. Also check that that the power supply flex isn’t overstretched when you operate the throttle. Wind it fully open!

[edit] Control switch

Think about where the control switch should be situated. You'll proabably want to operate it with your left hand, so somewhere near the left switchgear is good, or just left of the handlebar clamp. You could consider mounting it on the dashboard if there's space, but make sure there's enough flex to reach the grips on full lock.

[edit] Finishing off

Loosely zip tie the wires to the handle bars and brackets behind the dashboard. Now check that the wires don’t get overstretched when you turn the bars from one full-lock to the other. Try this with the dashboard panels loosely in place.

When you are happy that everything is fine, tighten the zip ties and the switch mounting bracket. Replace the bodywork, clear away the tools, and decide on a cold destination to ride to!

[edit] Fitting a 12 volt accessory socket

Elsewhere on this site there are instructions for Fitting a power socket. The Varadero dashboard has a neat place to mount it.

On the Africa Twin you might need to fix a small box to the side of the instrument panel.

[edit] Acknowledgements

My thanks to Rolo for his help fitting heated grips to my bike. Also thanks to greenVFR on the VFR Owners Club site for his excellent article. Finally, Nige at bikelectrix.co.uk produced the wiring diagram for me.

Dee Duble Yuh