Heated grips vs heated gloves

[conncarr]

My last few bikes have had heated grips, but the current one doesn't. I need to do something as I tend to increase my mileage in the winter. What are the pros and cons of heated gloves vs aftermarket heated grips?

 

[Tim Cullis]

Heated grips are useful for colder days in the British 'summer time' but for winter riding I'd get handlebar muffs. I wear lightweight gloves under the muffs.

Tim

 

[Paul Rochdale]

This question has been answered on another current thread. Basically the heated grips only heat the palms of your hands but are fine in the summer when they need to be switched on. Gerbing heated gloves are fantastically warm and keep the entire hands toasty, however they are quite bulky and actualy getting the storm cuffs pulled up is difficult with gloved hands.

I have both.

 

[wedgie]

if you go for heated grips the current oxford ones are very good if you forget to switch them off they monitor the state of your battery when it drops to a certain voltage they switch off so you have enough juice left to start the bike
because of this feature the lads at hine gerike recomended the oxford above the ones they sell

 

[Joe Bar]

What are the pros and cons of heated gloves vs aftermarket heated grips?

One other point not mentioned is depending on what model you have, fitting aftermarket heated grips can be a bit of a fiddle on the later bikes which have both grips bonded to plastic tubes, which also mount the switches.

It can be done (I've recently fitted them to my Megamoto - http://www.ukgser.com/forums/showthread.php?t=162485), but obviously not as simple as just plugging your gloves in.

 

[Hong Kong Nick]

This is a little bit unfair - WINTER in Hong Kong is basically December to March / April - it gets 'cold' [average 10 degrees] but the wind is colder. Thankfully winter is DRY, unlike the UK! Bear in mind that SUMMER is basically between June and September / October and it's much hotter [average 34 but this year we had a few days of 40 C (!) ] and much more humid [average 95%].

What was I trying to say - oh yes -

I agree that grips are fine for warming the hands on cooler days but nothing beats gloves for the COLD (my body has adjusted to the heat and humidity of HK so I feel the cold more than somebody from the UK would ). Even with handguards fitted, grips don't quite make it when it's REALLY cold ...

I'd agree with heated gloves - or even (lordy forbid!) bar muffs for the REAL COLD.

My tuppence worth ...

Nick

 

[Gipsy]

I've got both. The grips heat the palms of the hand, the gloves heat the back of the hand. Result is perfect!

 

[conncarr]

Thanks all for your replies. Lots of good sense there. I did see some neoprene muffs on one of the other threads which looked interesting. They always look a bit naff though The thing I used to like about grips was the fact that they were always there, so I could get away with wearing my thinner gloves most of the time. I'll have a look at the grips and gloves (costs and installation hassles), but my head is saying to try the muffs first as a cheap option.

Thanks again,

Brian

 

[PIGGLET]

If you can get away with the muffs they are superb. You can wear your thin summer gloves which obviously allow better feel than a thick glove. In the darkest depths of UK winter I rarely have to use the hottest setting on the grips as I find with the muffs on it gets uncomfotably hot

 

[Rushy]

I put Muffs on last winter figuring that I'd take 'em off in the summer . I ended up just leaving them on 'cos they are brilliant at keeping your hands both warm & dry.



Heated Grips are great but I tend to ride covering the brake and/or clutch because a lot of my riding is stop start. As a result my fingertips were always cold from touching the cold metal levers.

 

[conncarr]

So, which muffs

The muffs are sounding like the best option. So, the question now is which ones. The bike is an 04 1200. Presumably the muffs fit ok with the hand guards? Any special things to look out for or watch out for? Is sheepskin lined good or just kinky?

Cheers

 

[PIGGLET]

Have a Look HERE
That should take you to Val's thread in the "vendors of innovations" section. He'll sort you out.
re above, kinky is good innit?

 

[King Rat]

Agree with Piglet - get a set of Val's muffs. I have had mine for three winters now - they are great. They take 10 minutes to fit (unless you have the extra deflectors on the handguards - in which case undoing the four nuts/bolts that hold these on is the longest part of the operation) - they fit over standard handguards, but not the extension bit aswell.

The beauty of the muffs is that they keep the wind blast off, and the rain, so you can just use normal gloves without heat and your digits stay digitised.

 

[drifter]

If you can get away with the muffs they are superb. You can wear your thin summer gloves which obviously allow better feel than a thick glove. In the darkest depths of UK winter I rarely have to use the hottest setting on the grips as I find with the muffs on it gets uncomfotably hot

I agree +1