Hot Hands vs Hot Grips

Hotgrips do tend to roast the inside of the palm, whilst leaving the tops of the fingers to freeze, unless you manage to position your hands correctly. I wiggle my hands around until I get the best balance of fingers/palm. It also make a big difference if you have your fingers spread (colder) or close together (warmer) - all to do with the airflow I guess.

On the whole I find them very useful as I'm able to get away with wearing thinner summer gloves (esp with a thin silk liner) for most of the year. I've never managed to find some waterproof gloves that didn't seem to be made of rolled up cardboard - ie bulky and with no feeling.

The only downside I can think of is that the right hand grip gets noticably warmer than the left, due to the insulation of the throttle tube

Had hot grips on my SV,

wasn't really impressed unless I took my gloves off - at which point they were lovely!!

Might try them again this winter in combination with muffs,


: )

Originally Posted by Ter

Had hot grips on my SV,

wasn't really impressed unless I took my gloves off - at which point they were lovely!!

Might try them again this winter in combination with muffs,


: )

That's what I found with the ones that I had. They did work really well with muffs, though I hate using muffs.

Have had hot grips on three bikes, in all 3 instances they came with the bike.

Agree with others, they just heated my palms but my fingers still froze. If turned up higher, just made palms itchy and sweaty (nice!).

They look cack, but bar muffs do it for me, with or without heated grips.

[STRAMASHER]

Hello folks,

Had Oxford hotgrips fitted for a year and i reckon they have worked for 6mths tops. Been back into the shop that fitted them and they worked for a week or so after..... intermitent electrical fault = feckin nightmare. Conked out when it gets REALLY cold of course!

I think its a control box prob too as there are no loose or corroded connectors and the wiring looks decent.( Earthed correctly and live feed spliced into orange ignition wire) Red LED works fine too just no lovely cosy heat, the bastids.

Going to buy a new set the 'morra and test out the new control box. Should have done this ages ago as its its getting a wee bit nippy

[northwind]

bin teh control box and fit an on/off switch and an LED, fiver from Halfords... You lose the variable control, but when it's cold I just had mine on BURNY anyway. And when it's not, well, don't need heated grips

[NedSVS]

Northwind wrote:

You could fit the relay somewhere else- they're only about an inch to a side (plus a wee bit for wires). My grip relay's just behind the headstock...

Can you remember which wire you used to activate your relay so they go on & off with the ignition and can't be accidentally left on. Hoping to fit Hot Grips very soon and this info' would be very useful.

[northwind]

I've got a tap off the tail light that I used for it- only on with the lights, which IMO is better than just being ignition switched. Easy to access too, the wires run right up the tail section- though don't wire it into the brake light Don't ask me how I know, I just know, alright? Intermittantly warm hands.

Only downside is that they'd come on if I use the parking lights. But I don't, since they're specifically designed to strand people...

[Stu]

Originally Posted by northwind

I like the Hot Grips- they're neater and I happily leave them fitted all year, wouldn't do that with Hot Grips, and if you get caught out in miserable rain or something they can be nice to have. They're not much harder to fit either. Could do with them being a bit hotter, mind... But combined with a pair of good winter gloves (I like Pathans, but I might get something else next time) that keeps me reasonably warm all winter.

Northwind, please could you edit your post to make sense. Many thanks

[northwind]

Makes perfect sense, that. Apart from the bits where I get Hot Grips and Hands mixed up.