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Fitting heated grips tip

gasgas

Tuned and Synch'ed
Joined
Dec 19, 2018
Messages
32
Location
Rugby England
I suppose it depends where in the world you are, but here in the Northern Hemisphere it is a bit cold for riding. I have just bought a shiny new V9 so the first thing to do after riding it home is to fit heated grips. I have fitted lots of these before and always cut off the original grips because I couldn't pull them off but now I have discovered a way to get original grips off.
Remove the bar end weights.
Get a long, strong screwdriver with a shaft about 4mm diameter. Push it in between the rubber grip and the handlebar as far as you can, which may be a long way or a short way.
Insert the straw of a spray can of WD40 or similar lubrication substance as far as you can into the gap between the rubber and the screwdriver and give it a squirt.
Remove the screwdriver and insert it again on the opposite side, in between the handlebar and the rubber. Once again squirt some spray into the gap formed by the screwdriver.
Return to the first place you pushed the screwdriver in, and repeat the process. You will probably find that the screwdriver goes all the way to the other end of the rubber grip. Spray some more lubricant in as before. Repeat for the other side of the grip.
Then you will probably find you can twist the grip round and pull it off the handlebar without cutting it. Put them in your spares box - who knows, one day you might want to use them again.
You will of course have to remove the lubricant from the handlebar and throttle grip with some evil smelling solvent before you can apply any glue you think might be necessary to hold the new grips to the handlebar.
Don't forget to refit the bar end weights. Oh and one thing I didn't know - these heated grips come in different lengths, so before ordering some, measure your existing rubber grips and get the same length in heated ones, otherwise you might land in a bit of trouble.
 
Rather than WD-40, I suggest CRC Brakleen. When it's wet, it's slippery as, but it will evaporate without leaving any residue.

I also push the screwdriver right around the grip, after the first intrusion. Then there's nothing to grip left.
 
Which heated grip kit did you use? Thanks.

I used the one that is listed on the AF1 website. I think it is a stock Aprilia set.

af1racing.com/store/Scripts/prodView.asp?idproduct=56698&sku=B064270&description=Moto+Guzzi+Heated+Grips+Set+for+1400's

It doesn't list the Audace as compatible but I called them and they said that it would work on the 2016 and prior. Mine installed without problem and works perfectly.
 
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Rather than WD-40, I suggest CRC Brakleen. When it's wet, it's slippery as, but it will evaporate without leaving any residue.

I also push the screwdriver right around the grip, after the first intrusion. Then there's nothing to grip left.


The instructions with the kit that I used said to use compressed air. I have never done it that way before but I gave it a try. It was amazing the stock grips almost jumped off the bars.
 
The instructions with the kit that I used said to use compressed air. I have never done it that way before but I gave it a try. It was amazing the stock grips almost jumped off the bars.
Yes, shoving a compressed air nozzle up there and pulling the trigger has them off cleanly in about 2 to 3 seconds. The brake cleaner idea is excellent, but you don't need to go and buy something specially for the job. Almost any common solvent will work. I just use petrol, coz I always have some there in the tank.
 
I used Oxford heated grips. They work fine but the design leaves a lot to be desired. Oxford do not provide any system for mounting the controller on to the handlebar. You would have thought that they would at least provide a clamp to go round the handlebar, but no. they provide a right-angled bracket that might fit some bikes which have a particular sort of clutch lever, but the Guzzi doesn't. Additionally even when you have cut and bent this bracket so it fits to one of the clutch lever bolts, the bracket has holes drilled in it which do not match the holes in the heater control unit. It's stupid.
Apart from that, once you have thought out your own system for mounting the control unit, they work fine. They do connect directly to the engine battery though without any specific 'on / off' switch. Oxford say that after a few minutes of the engine being switched off, the control unit will detect that, and turn the heaters off. They also say you shouldn't wire the supply to an "ignition on" feed because the extra current might burn out the ignition switch.

. . . .Talking of which my next port of call on the bike is to investigate the starter motor circuit which I have read about in another thread . . . If it is routed through the ignition switch I'll rewire it through a relay.
 
I have 3 bikes with it mounted to the a mirror clamp bolt. Battery hookup will shut them off quick enough and on a v7 with weak charging output it will shut them off or at least start flashing if the battery gets low.
 
Thanks Vagrant. I did look at all possibilities of mounting the bracket. I wonder if I had been given a bracket intended for a different controller. Anyway I managed to fix the controller to the bracket with two screws so I am confident it will remain fixed.
 
The Oxfords were my second choice. I know they were less than half the price of the Aprilia/Moto Guzzi grips but those wired in so neatly. The factory switch is nicely integrated and I get a display on the digital dash showing heat level. I think that it is just a cleaner install. It was worth the extra money to me, but I can definitely see how many would see it differently.
 
I didn't actually get a price for the Guzzi heated grips. The salesman could have tried to sell me some extras, but he didn't. Except that he did go on a bit about GAP insurance but I regard that with the same disdain as I did with PPI (payment protection insurance) when that was being mis-sold.
I don't like Oxford as a company, either. Years ago I bought a Rainex cover, put it on my bike over winter, and in the spring when I removed it, the entire plastic lining on the inside of the cover disintegrated in tiny bits all over the floor. I took it to the Oxford stand at the BMF show (for those not in the UK, that was a huge outdoor motorbike show with all the manufacturers represented). The people on the Oxford stand were 'unable to assist me in this matter'. So I stood outside their marquee and waved the cover around in the air proclaiming to all who passed by what a rotten product it was and what a rotten company Oxford is. However when it comes to heated grips, Oxford seem to be omni-present in all bike shops, so the alternative is buying an unknown product off ebay.
Anyway they do work, and today I am going to Bletchley Park (home of the WW2 code breakers) to try them out.
https://bletchleypark.org.uk/whats-on
I'm a bit keen on that, since I found out that this is what my dad did in the war. He didn't tell me till he was 92. My mother never knew.
 
I didn't actually get a price for the Guzzi heated grips. …...

That is cool that your dad was one of the code breakers. I work with veterans and I get to hear some very cool stories, unfortunately not too many still around from WW2.

anyway if it helps I paid US$232 for the Moto Guzzi heated grips
 
Thanks Mike. My dad wasn't actually a code breaker, he was up near the front lines in North Africa and in the D day landings and so on, intercepting the signals and then forwarding them on to London using our Type X encryption machine. I believe that the Germans never broke our Type X. Interestingly do you have error correction fluid called Tippex? We have it here and it occurred to me what a good name for that product it is. You type one character, paint the error correction fluid over it and change it to a different letter, which is exactly what a Type X encryption machine does.
I am contemplating going to work at Bletchley Park as a volunteer, and then give lectures on cruise ships. It's a tough job, but someone has to do it! ;)

My Oxford grips were £90, which is about $90 nowadays. So, they are cheaper but as you say nowhere near as good as the real thing. I think that Oxford should be ashamed of their mounting bracket - or maybe the wrong one got put in my box.
You should come over to England, I bet you would find everything unbelievably cheap! We go out to Sunday lunch at a local pub / restaurant and have a help-yourself carvery lunch (beef, turkey or gammon plus all the veg you can get on your plate) for £5, or $5. It's cheaper during the week.
 
I have 3 bikes with it mounted to the a mirror clamp bolt. Battery hookup will shut them off quick enough and on a v7 with weak charging output it will shut them off or at least start flashing if the battery gets low.

Was an install on the V7? I have V7 III, and on the throttle side its looking like I'll have to dremel off a ridge on the 'tube' under the grip, in order for the Oxfords to slide on. Though now I'm off to price MG units as well...Hate to make permanent changes, even though I can keep an eye out for scrap parts on Ebay....
 
Was an install on the V7? I have V7 III, and on the throttle side its looking like I'll have to dremel off a ridge on the 'tube' under the grip, in order for the Oxfords to slide on. Though now I'm off to price MG units as well...Hate to make permanent changes, even though I can keep an eye out for scrap parts on Ebay....
Yes. Dremel it off. look at the Koso Apollo heated grips. much better than the Oxfords as everything is integrated in.
 
Yes. Dremel it off. look at the Koso Apollo heated grips. much better than the Oxfords as everything is integrated in.
I'll second the recommendation of Koso Apollo grips, they're elegant, simple, and functional. Instead of Dremelling off the throttle tube ridges, I found a replacement tube that fits and doesn't have ridges: Motion Pro 01-0094 Throttle Sleeve; less than $10 on Ebay or Amazon. Also, I wired the grip power wire to the wire that controls power to the headlight, so it powers on only after the engine has started.
 
Wish I'd found that Koso option previously- another shopping fail, haha. Set ordered.
Also great tip wrt the tube, I'll get on that as well. Hopefully R&R is self explanatory.

I got the Oxfords on sale anyway- they do seem to have a good market share but I was fussing over the control box. Unfortunately, my Victory is 1" on both sides, so I'm not sure I'm up to the fight to adapt them over to that application. My Ebay pile grows...
 
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