Heated hand grips

Looking at the AS Cycles links - if I figure the table correctly the old part 61317723713 is replaced by 61318552117.
 
I'm considering buying a new or nearly new LC so have just spent an hour reading this (plus the similar thread on adv rider) posts with interest.
Having owned several bikes with either steel or alluminium bars one of the first thing I do is fit heated grips, usually Oxford grips. An hour later and they work...simple! Regadless of the material the bars are made from or the make of bike (Honda, KTM, Yamaha, Kawasaki...).
It seems a familiar story that BMW refuses to acknowledge problems with their products yet happy to charge us high prices, how do they get away with it!!?? I think the answer is to keep complaining. If enough of us start a "PUMA" they should eventually listen.
I saw eventually because I had an issue with a badly rusting chain on an F800R; PUMA raised and the outcome...BMW said it was my fault because I wasn't drying the chain before putting the bike in the garage! Fobbed off in other words.
I'm not meaning to go "off topic" just raising the point that we need to complain to our dealers.

I'm planning to visit my local dealer this week and will ask questions about the heated grips not working and will take a close look at the new 2015 GS's handlebars checking the material with a magnet to determine if they're steel or alluminium.
 
I'm considering buying a new or nearly new LC so have just spent an hour reading this (plus the similar thread on adv rider) posts with interest.
Having owned several bikes with either steel or alluminium bars one of the first thing I do is fit heated grips, usually Oxford grips. An hour later and they work...simple! Regadless of the material the bars are made from or the make of bike (Honda, KTM, Yamaha, Kawasaki...).
It seems a familiar story that BMW refuses to acknowledge problems with their products yet happy to charge us high prices, how do they get away with it!!?? I think the answer is to keep complaining. If enough of us start a "PUMA" they should eventually listen.
I saw eventually because I had an issue with a badly rusting chain on an F800R; PUMA raised and the outcome...BMW said it was my fault because I wasn't drying the chain before putting the bike in the garage! Fobbed off in other words.
I'm not meaning to go "off topic" just raising the point that we need to complain to our dealers.

I'm planning to visit my local dealer this week and will ask questions about the heated grips not working and will take a close look at the new 2015 GS's handlebars checking the material with a magnet to determine if they're steel or alluminium.


I have to agree with you on this, I think the "steel" option for the bars is a red herring. My W800 has steel Bars (Hyde M Bars) and R&G Heated grips (£29.95), my ZX12R is running Renthal Street fighter low alloy bars, same set brand / type of grips, R&G 5 way adjustable, Temps on both set's of grips are 150 Deg/F when on hot near as dammit with little variance (cheap Amazon IR Thermometer), 2014 GS is lucky to get to 100 Deg/F.

Just got to find a dealer that will actually take this seriously. All they want to do is plug it into the diagnostics and say "no fault codes shown".
 
And lot of this stuff is very subjective though isn't it? My other half is very intolerant of the cold and she complains of cold hands at temperatures where I could easily go without gloves - I have tried turning the grips off when it's 0C but within a couple of miles or so my hands are freezing, it is surprising how much difference they do make.

Tolerance is subjective. Temperatures as measured are not. (Whether you believe the measurements or not!)

Jim :cool:
 
OK if the new grips are 5.5 ohms and are supplied by 12v then they are 26 watts.

I've just opened my 2014 right grip and it's 8 ohms so only 18 watts. This makes the new type 45% more powerful.

 
Proof, or just hot air?

Jim :cool:

I make all sorts of temperature measurements as part of my job - as I said it is really tricky to get accurate meaningful temperature measurements for a whole host of reasons, non contact measurements rely on knowing the emissivity of the material you are trying to measure the temperature of - just pressing a thermometer against a surface or pointing one of the multitude of cheap infra-red/camera things at a surface can give widely inaccurate readings - so caveat emptor.
 
It is subjective. But they are significantly colder than previous models Engineer. We have some objective measurements to go by.

I suffer badly from cold hands / feet, I'm on medication for it too!. I can still easily tell the difference between these 2013/14 GS grips and the new 2015 variant. I also ride 2009/10/13 plate RTs and note instantly the warmth they give and also how quickly they heat up. That isn't subjective, its a fact.

Have you asked your dealer about the issue? They will give you a nice smile and chuckle, then tell you that a hell of lot of GS owners aren't happy with the output. BMW are fully aware which is why they changed the gips for the 15 model and have a "forced" software update which many of us on here and over the pond have had too.

Are you going to claim that this issue is a minor problem like you did with the clutch / gearbox saga and tell us all we aren't using our grips right now?

I am not going to make a mountain out out a molehill that's for sure! - I cannot say that they are any worse than my 2010 twin-cam, but from what I can remember I believe that they are cooler than my 2005 1200GS.
 
I make all sorts of temperature measurements as part of my job - as I said it is really tricky to get accurate meaningful temperature measurements for a whole host of reasons, non contact measurements rely on knowing the emissivity of the material you are trying to measure the temperature of - just pressing a thermometer against a surface or pointing one of the multitude of cheap infra-red/camera things at a surface can give widely inaccurate readings - so caveat emptor.
And yet, somehow we seem to be getting very consistent temp readings. I can check 10 times in the same spots and get the same reading, within a degree or two, every time. If you do this as a job, then you know you cannot repeat a measurement multiple times and have it wrong the same way every time.

Jim :cool:
 
I think the increased wattage of the new grips is the giveaway ;)


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I am not going to make a mountain out out a molehill that's for sure! - I cannot say that they are any worse than my 2010 twin-cam, but from what I can remember I believe that they are cooler than my 2005 1200GS.

Ha ha, I don't consider myself to be doing that. But I do find that you jump to BMW's defence at every chance and seem quite happy to put up with defective / not up to standard equipment or mechanics. I do think you say a lot on here just to wind folk up! I'm not sure why you would be happy with meager heated grips to be honest?!
 
Is the Pool only open to subscribers? if it is, it could seriously narrow the response.

Or just bite the bullet :) and stump up the 12 sov's :)
 
bugger, didn't know that. I couldn't make one in this section so I think it must be for subscribers.. Damn.
 
OK if the new grips are 5.5 ohms and are supplied by 12v then they are 26 watts.

I've just opened my 2014 right grip and it's 8 ohms so only 18 watts. This makes the new type 45% more powerful.

[/IMG][/URL]


This seems true…for 2015 they have beefed up the wiring and connectors to take more current. And thats why they can't fit straight onto an earlier model … SO they say ! ( which i think personally is a load of bollocks
 
Just a note, it is really quite difficult to make accurate temperature measurements on things like heated grips. The figure you get will be highly dependent upon how you make contact with the measuring device, ambient temperature etc. The cheap infra red things are almost useless as they don't correct for the emissivity of the surface of the material you are measuring. You will be lucky to get a reading accurate to within 10C even in still air at a defined ambient temp what ever method you use.

Regardless of all that I admit that they could do with being a bit hotter on my 2013 LC so that I can wear my summer rain gloves throughout the Winter.

Quite easy to make a measurement.

take 1 litre of water (weigh to be accurate)

repeat

Take one new heated grip and one old heated grip

Place in water and turn on

Place a thermometer in each to read temp.

At half hour intervals take reading of temperature.

Rise in temp should be noticeable in each case and if there is a difference then there will be a difference in temperature

I do have an instrument that measures VERY accurately a rise in temperature and hence measures Calorific Value of substances.

If the grips are that crap then reduce the amount of water
 


Back
Top Bottom