Humble heated grips,
why did it take so long to
add you to my life?

The distribution block project I posted about recently was only the beginning of that day’s wrenching. Next up was installing a grip heater kit along with a set of gel grips.

I chose an SPI grip heater kit, which includes two heating elements, wiring, and a three position switch.

The gel grips are Progrip 699 superbike grips, and they are indeed very squishy.

After removing my bar-end mirrors, I used a thin flat head screwdriver to pry up the end of the stock clutch-side grip. Then, I wiggled the screwdriver around just enough to make some space between the grip and the handlebar. After some careful maneuvering to break the seal of the existing grip glue, I had the screwdriver blade about halfway up the grip. I read a tip during my research phase that suggested using Windex to aid in removing the grips. The Windex was easily squirted into the space created by the screwdriver. The results were immediate; I was easily able to work the screwdriver the rest of the way into the grip, and after a few more sprays of Windex, I could roll the grip down and off the bar.

I then repeated the same procedure on the throttle side grip, but took pains to be even more careful with the screwdriver so as not to damage the plastic throttle tube.

Once the grips were off, I scraped away the old glue residue and cleaned the bars with surface cleaner. I wanted to make absolutely sure the bars were clean and oil free so I applied some of my trusty Goo Gone.

Then it was time to apply the heater elements. The elements consist of electrical traces sandwiched between thin plastic film, with one side of the film being adhesive. I did a couple practice wraps to make sure the wires coming off the element would end up in a good location. This is particularly important on the throttle hand side, as the wires must be placed so that they don’t impede the twisting throttle tube.

Here’s the clutch side:

And the throttle side:

The adhesive on the elements did not want to stay down along the “seams” so I wrapped the edges with electrical tape.

Once the heating elements were on, it was wiring time. I followed the wiring diagram that came with the kit, and used test leads to connect the heater wires to the switch and distribution block. My crazy test rig wasn’t pretty, but it sure was a nice feeling when I flipped the switch and the elements started heating up.

The test leads gave me a good idea of how the wiring needed to be run around the bike. The wires from the throttle side heater were the ones with the most potential for trouble, as they require plenty of slack to accommodate twisting throttle motions in addition to movement of the handlebar from side to side. I wanted to make the wiring as clean as I could, so I took my time measuring, moving the bars around, measuring again, and then finally making the final route.

The SV650 is nice to work with because there’s precious little body work. I only had to remove the headlight assembly to reveal most of the factory control switch wiring. A clean wiring job meant cutting some of the heater element and switch wires down before making the final splices. There was also the matter of the big ceramic resistor tied into the “high” setting wire. The resistor was around 2 inches long and 3/8ths of an inch square, so it wasn’t tiny. It also got incredibly hot when the heaters were turned on. I clearly needed some way to mount the resistor in a safe place that wouldn’t brush up any of the other wiring behind the headlight.

Thanks to Home Depot, I found the solution I was looking for in the form of some kind of aluminum doodad I found in the home electrical section. The doodad had a tab with a small hole on one end and a square shaped block at the other end with a large round hole through it. Even better, the hole had a set screw. I was hoping that the resistor would fit right through the hole so I bought the largest doodad I could. Unfortunately, the resistor was too large to fit.

I was too close to success to be denied now, so out came the Dremel. I cut away one side of the block so that the resistor could slide in. The set screw, once tightened, securely held the resistor in against the three remaining sides of the block. I forgot to take a picture of the thing before I mounted it, but hopefully this picture can give you some idea of what my makeshift bracket looked like.

The best part is that the frame has an extrusion with two empty bolt holes, one of which was the perfect target to ziptie the bracket to. My only concern are the wires that disappear into the ceramic encasing the resistor: they’re awfully thin and I’m not sure they’re going to hold up to the vibrations on the bike.

Update: Yep, looks like my concerns were correct: Motorcycle: 1, Ceramic Resistor: 0. I ended up chucking the resistor and replacing it with a Gerbing’s Permanent Dual Temp Controller.

I routed the positive and ground wires down the right side of the bike and back to the area under the seat. Once in place, it was a simple matter to connect them to the distribution block. The heavy lifting was complete.

Installing the new grips was easy. I used a tiny bit of Windex as lubricant and slid them up the bars, taking care not to disturb the heater elements in place. The throttle tube has a small lip near the kill switch control assembly and the stock grip has a groove to match. The new grip didn’t have this groove so the Dremel came out once more and made short work of the protruding plastic.

Here’s the finished clutch side:

And the finished throttle side, showing the heater wires and the amount of slack required:

The very last part was fabbing up a bracket to hold the heater switch. The included switch is big and ugly, and the best thing I could think of at the time was drilling some holes in some aluminum bar stock and mounting the bracket to the clutch lever perch.

It’s not pretty, but it works! We’ll have to see how the switch holds up to an Oregon winter.

This was a fun project, and the heated grips are oh so nice on those chilly commutes to work in the morning. The heater kit can be found for around $30, and the gel grips were $10 more, so for $40 I feel like I got a tremendous amount of bang for my buck. These heaters work so well that I’ve been commissioned to replace the stock heaters and grips on an F650GS with ones like them!

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