Spent part of Sunday installing heated grips on my D-Tracker. Got pressed for time about half way through, so there weren't many photo opportunies...still had to ride home from the garage at my work place. In this before installation photo, you can see where the wires attach and the larger inner diameter of the throttle grip.

[IMG]local://upfiles/3316/76F667BB15A44EB59D319B968E3B6510.jpg[/IMG]

 

Next picture is of the wiring loom coming from the ignition switch. The documentation with the grips said that the brown wire is switched 12VDC on Kawasakis and the black with yellow tracers is ground. I used an awl tipped test light to verify that.

Sorry, no more pics after that. I will tell you that I wasn't able to save both stock grips, because the non-throttle side was practically welded on. I had to use a razor blade to remove it...that took longer than anticipated. Fitting the heated grips was much easier. I secured those with high temp RTV (silicone rubber) and they are holding well.

I think most of you are familiar with how to access the ignition switch wiring; take out one bolt below the headlight assy/shroud then pull up, removing the entire assembly from the pins that hold the top portion in place. Once access to the wiring was gained, I diconnected the ignition switch wiring and used a scribe to release the brown and black wires from the connector. I then stripped about half an inch of insulation immediately prior to the spade type terminal ends and soldered the hot grip wiring to each. Nothing fancy about these grips, just an on/off switch and elements, so polarity was not important. I used heat shrink to insulate each soldered connection, then re-inserted the spade ends into the molded connector (I tossed the included, squeese and join type splices included with the grips since the readily corrode when exposed to the elements).

The rest of the job was just finding the cleanest way of running the wires and mounting the on/off switch...I'm sure everyone has their own preference when it comes to that. I made liberal use of nylon loom ties to strap the wires from each grip along existing wires for their respective side. I'm not so sure the switch is in its final resting place, but right now it's just strapped to an easily accessable portion of LH bar wiring. I may either find a way of mounting the switch to the bars or actually get one that is desighned to mount that way. Oh and make sure the wire coming from the throttle grip is clear of the clutch lever though its full range of motion before glueing the grip in place.

I'm very satisfied with the grips so far. The heat makes a BIG diffence when I ride to work duing the chilly mornings we've been having. I find myself loosening my grasp from time to time just to cool down a bit...they're toasty! I'll try to remember to get pics of the finished product.

[IMG]local://upfiles/3316/6EBA1369380942388853B3EEB10CFF77.jpg[/IMG]

 

I need to install them on my wifes bike. If its below 75 she's cold

 

Sounds great! I can't wait to see a photo of the final install. What did you decide on the vest? Do we have enough power to run that?

 

I suspect that if you have the vest on high setting with the grips on as well, the charging system wont keep-up. I say that based upon the readings I had when using a 50W bulb as the approximate load of most vests, while running the grips. I presently don't own a vest though, so I can't say for certain. You may be able to get away with running the vest at lower settings, if you want to have the grips on at the same time. I did find one vest that has it's own rechargable battery which will last for six hours on one charge. The vest had very favorable reviews from Web Bike World, so I may give it a try. I never have liked the idea of having to plug and un-plug when getting on/off the bike. I can just picture myself forgetting to do so and breaking wires. I will, however, make an adapter for those times when I tour for more than a day.

http://www.jett.us.com/

Used the grips again today and I'm tellin ya that's got to be one of the best $40.00 purchases I've made. We all left work a little late, so it was dark, windy and cold. It's a 30 minute commute to home and normally my fingers would be complaining, but I just clutched those grips and stayed toasty the whole way back. I'll never under-estimate the value of having warm hands again. Well worth it!

 

The 50 watt bulb sounds about right, 2 of the vests i looked at last night drew 44 and 48 watts.

 

Speaking of grips, I just ordered some bars and needed some grips.
These are a bit different.

I also am going to work on killing some vibes on this thing. Hardly any to start with, so it should be pretty easy.
I did the same thing to my 06 XR650L. More pics. on what later.

http://www.motorcycle-superstore.com...656&Division=6

 

What brand are these grips and where did you get them ??? I wonder if they have them for atv bars the grips are the same size

 

Um, if you're talking about the heated grips, they're a Japanese brand called Daytona. I believe the ones available stateside are 'Hot Grips.' brand. I don't see a reason why you couldn't use them for ATVs.

 

Hmm...I've managed to create a kill switch instead! (???)

I installed grip heaters, specifically "Sports Parts Inc. Grip Heater Kit from RockyMountainATV.com. I followed the suggested wiring job of tremor, Brown power, Black w/stripe ground, but now if I flip the switch, the bike dies. Any thoughts/help/advice???

link to product...

http://www.rockymountainatv.com/prod...s&navType=type