On the Apollo Bay RTE back in April I noticed that the old Oxfords had finally given up the ghost so I figured it was probably time to retire them to the scrap heap...
With the weather being decidedly un-motorcycle friendly lately, I figured now was as good a time as any to get out into the garage to finally fit my new (now 2 years old) heated grips.
Fitment was fairly straight forward although I had to "persuade" the grips with a mallet to get them onto the bars. There was also a fair bit of mucking around to get the left bar end refitted but I got there in the end with the help of my grinder.
Wiring up should have been easy as you can hook them straight up to the battery but as I was in no rush to get the job done I decided to use a "relay" to switch them on with the ignition so there was zero chance of them being left on.
I was hoping I could tap into some of the wiring for the rear taillight but that looked like it was going to be easier said than done...
Luckily I spotted a red wire lying loose up near the back of the duck tail, obviously a leftover from something the previous owner had had fitted.
After finding that it was only "live" when the lights were on, I ended up using that to trigger the relay...bonus!
Now to find a suitable location for the relay...not as easy as I thought it was going to be...
When I fitted my airhorns 2 or 3 years ago I'd fitted the relay on the frame gusset behind the right-hand side cover so got to wondering if I could also fit the heated grip relay in a similar spot. Unfortunately there didn't seem to be anywhere really suitable but then I remembered I had a dual relay laying around in my electrical bits & pieces...Perfect!
With that fitted in place of the original horn relay there was just enough clearance from the side cover...Yes!
With that sorted it was a simple matter of running the wiring, reassembling everything, and the job was done...
Time for a quick spin to check all was in order.
I started the engine to let it warm up while I was putting my helmet, jacket and gloves on and by the time I jumped on the bike, the grips were already nice and toasty...Woo-hoo!
All the heat settings appeared to be working perfectly on my brief ride but I guess I'll need a decent ride to find out how effective they actually are...Stay Tuned!
