Well I know its not Kawasaki related, but my wife is related to me so.......wait that sounded a little too Joe Dirt. Let me start over. Since my wife's hands get cold riding in the winter, and we all know that if momma isn't happy nobody is happy, i decided to install some heated hand grips on her bike, and I figured that if I give a good report that some of you might want the heat when riding the KLX. The install was a snap.......literally. All the connections from the switch to both sides are two pin quick connectors. All I did was to come off the ignition switch so when the key is off the grips won't drain the battery. All connected and buttoned back up and they are awesome. Oh and after the install I turned on the gas to fill the carb bowl, and hit the e-start and Va-room........is that really a word? Anyway the bike started right up, and I turned on the power button on the heat control and turned it all the way up and it didn't take long for the heat to show up. It actually can get as hot as 130 degrees, but with gloves and the ambient temperature factored in, its probably less. I rode it around the block a few times without gloves and it wasn't long before it was too hot without gloves. The nice thing about this brand is that it comes with a dial that has 6 different temperature settings.[8D] Oh I also installed the Acerbis spoilers to cut out some of the wind.




In this last picture you can see the nice little flat bracket I made to install the switch.

 

cool man (or should I say 'warm man'???) nice job!!

Now for the ACID test... What does SHE think of them!!!!!

 

Nice job Deej! But I beat you to it! I installed heated grips on my D-tracker a few monthes ago and theydefinitely made abeliever out of me! *There, now it's Kawi related* They have the same sized bars anyway! The Oxford grips look really nice. Good job on the controller bracket. Those should earn you mad points with the better half

Welcome to the heated grips crowd[8D]

Did you have any trouble removing the old left grip? Mine was glued-on so well it was almost bonded into the bar. I had to use razor blade to remove all of the rubber. The throttle grip was a breeze though.

 

That was the weird part, I used a box knife and made a straight line cut and both grips peeled off and there was no glue to see. I didn't even have to clean off the bars, they were spotless. Not only that but the heated grips didn't need glue, they twisted on hard enough that you can't even move them. All in all it was a pretty easy install. She was really happy with the idea and the job. I might even ride the 225 to work tomorrow, the temps are supposed to hit around 25, but since I'm only 2 miles from work, the grips won't even get a chance to heat up to their full capacity.

 

Looks good deej

 

Well I decided to ride the 225 to work today after installing the heated grips. It was about 27 degrees out, and I wanted to test them out. With the heater on high and gloves on, the grips got warmed up pretty fast. In fact they got down right hot, but that was on the highest setting. I think she will like them for sure. I also found an awesome 12v plug that will double stick tape right on the heater control, pics to follow. And after the install of the 12v plug on my bike I am going to do a test and run her battery down and see if I can jump the bike using the heavy duty double ended plug. We'll see. If it does work, it will be worth all the effort. Its either that or get the kick starter kits for both bikes and have them installed, but that probably going to be a $1000.00 shop and parts bill. I think this will work fine. I did hear yesterday that the new KTM race bikes are coming with e-start only now, can you imagine killing the motor or dropping the bike in a race and not havng to kick and kick to get going again, a definite advantage for sure.

 

Can you get the oxford grips without the heaters? That is my last name and it would be sweet to have them.

 

Nice job deej. Next you will end up getting her a hot seat figured out. g/l

 

Well I finally finished my other project that was on the back burner for some time. We now have 12v accessory plugs on both bikes, that not only will run different items such as GPS's and air compressors, along with cell phone charging, but I also made up a 6ft double ended corded plug that will connect both of the bikes and jump one if its got a low battery. Another benefit of the 12v plug on both bikes is that I can make up a matching end that can hook into the battery tender and you can charge the battery through the plug. That means no more taking off the side panel to charge the battery.

 

Nice job deej did you have any troubles with putting on the new grips and the heaters bending on you. because i have heard that they bend on you and are hard to put on. just wondering. i am thinking of putting on a set.