Hi, I know there's a few threads on here about this, I am going to change my elements soon. What I would like is anyone to post tips for the task and links to cheaper elements that they have tried and happy with. I am planning to do a step by step 'How to' that I can post in here for others in the future - It's a common problem and I guess there will be a lot more failed grips occurring.
Just did my lh grip an hour ago. Firstly the kit on EBay I used Some learning points The kit has the electrical connections attached to the heating element with a 'stud'. I tried soldering the old wires to these studs but this heats up and the one stud actually came loose as a result. Second attempt was to use the new kits electrical cabling, routing that through the grips' cable routing and soldering it to the existing old cabling were I could easily work on it, cable tying it to the clutch and other cabling in front. The lh grip is now so awesome I will have to do the rh side was well. Reached 38 degrees in about 2 minutes (infrared gun). Ordered a second kit (cause the stud came loose etc).
Anyone checked the resistance in the standard grips and compared with these eBay kits? Presumably a higher resistance would mean hotter grips?
I'll try and measure the resistance of my 'good' RH side. The LH circuit showed black signs of shorting so no use trying to measure. I'll get a reading of the new heatpad as well - but indicated as 15W so should be around the 9.6 Ohm ?
Yes. The OEM grips will produce approx twice the output of the replacements. FYI. Watts = Current X Voltage = Volts squared/ Resistance
New heat elements arrived, only showing 9ohms on my meter for the pair so I think I won't fit them until one (or both) of mine fails.
I just got around to replacing mine. I bought the Tusk brand elements as they are the same resistance as the OEM. They were only $20USD
Ok, got the grips off to have a look at the elements as the consensus is the damage is normally pretty obvious..... well I can’t see anything anywhere
If I start the bike and switch them on, if all is good, I should get a voltage at the terminals from wire to element shouldn't I?
the heat grips are controlled by pwm ( Pulse Width Modulation) an oscilloscope is required for measurement
A meter will still show the presence, or not, of some sort of voltage. PWM just means the heat is controlled by switching the grips on and off the heat being determined by the mark-space ratio between the on and off periods.
Got the bike out in the sunshine & started her up (just - battery goosed, see Optimate thread!) put heated grips on high, no heat, no voltage at all at the element terminals, I watched the dash for ages and didn’t at any point see the heated grip on warning come up (I don’t know how often it does?) As I said, the elements look immaculate, could I have an alternator issue: I have 13.6v at the Battery on tick over, and that goes up to to 13.75v @3000rpm.
Have you taken the grips off to check the elements. My element had failed as if it had burnt out a pin hole along one of the strands, only visible after grip removed. I followed the advice of @GeorgeO by using a second battery to check the elements on each grip for a circuit. I found the twist grip side faulty so replaced it with a cheap £7 quid element to get them working. TB
Do the grips normally come on just with the ignition on? Ones on my GS come on when bike is moving after a few minutes. Designed that way for some reason. So turning ignition on then grips doesn’t warm them up if bike stationary!!
