Oxford Heaterz Wiring Question

[ribbert]

The left side on the handlebars is a good spot, easy to reach and easy to see the lights when turning the temp up or down. I had to put a couple of small nuts under the bracket to pack it out so the bracket wouldn't bend when tightening the screws but otherwise fitting was straight forward.

That's where I'm going with mine also. I did mockups on the throttle side and on the plastic but I liked the way it will be easy to access with the non-throttle hand. Is that an oil temp gauge on the right?

Just make sure your bracket is braced or pretty thick, those buttons require a very hard push with thick gloves on.

Noel

[Easterntide]

managed to get both bikes done last night and did the mountings on the bar, same as everyone seems to do. Of course thinking that starting at 100% makes the most sense i very quickly realized that 30% is the sweeter spot :-)
thanks for the help here everyone.

now i just need to find a way to keep the back of my hands warm!

[FJ1100mjk]

now i just need to find a way to keep the back of my hands warm!

These will keep both sides of your hands warm, plus your thumb.

http://www.warmnsafe.com/ultimate-sport-mens-heated-gloves/]  [url]http://www.warmnsafe.com/ultimate-sport-mens-heated-gloves/ [/url]

Having electric gear may have a some drawbacks, such as connecting and de-connecting, and purchasing a controller possibly. However, they are not dedicated to one bike, so can be switched between them if you suffer from MBS. After my aforementioned install of electric grips, that were sold witb the bike, a drawback to them in a way. I stuck with electric gloves and gear only. IMO, electric grips are okay for non-highway speeds, but their effectiveness suffers above that. As you mentioned, the back of your hands being cold. A numb and/or painful thumb is no picnic either, if you experience that. It's all subjective, of course.

[ribbert]

IMO, electric grips are okay for non-highway speeds, but their effectiveness suffers above that. As you mentioned, the back of your hands being cold.

I've had heated grips for about 80,000km's.  They do not mean you can ride in light weight gloves in Winter.
Winter gloves distribute the heat much better but the back of your hands do still feel the cold.
Having said that, I didn't realise just how much they do keep all of your hands warm until I had a failure on one side recently. The back of that hand was suddenly waaaay colder than on the working side. While I believed the backs of my hands did not benefit from them, clearly they do, even if they feel cold relative to the front.

Heated gloves are no doubt better, but in my *climate, the grips do a magnificent job and allow me to ride all day in comfort in conditions that would otherwise see my hands freezing.

I also have a '93 which I think offers better hand protection.

A great investment in rider comfort.

* Most Winter rides start off in low single digit temps and drop to several below if headed for the hills.

Noel

[FJ1100mjk]

Winter gloves can help as you indicate, but dexterity is comprimised with them. Although I haven't tried all brands of winter gloves, so some are better than others for sure, they are for the most part bulky, which affects grasping the grips, and reaching for the controls.

Another benefit of say these gloves  [url]http://www.warmnsafe.com/ultimate-sport-mens-heated-gloves/]http://www.warmnsafe.com/ultimate-sport-mens-heated-gloves/]  [url]http://www.warmnsafe.com/ultimate-sport-mens-heated-gloves/ is you can get around the bulkiness, and still have good dexterity too. Something to consider in regards to a panic situation, or working some twisties. The latter, not a factor, if droning down a highway. I guess.

Another benefit to consider when using electric gloves of this type, and regular non-heated grips, is keeping the diameter of the grip on the smaller side, easier to maintain a hold on them, than say the extra diameter of a heated grip, and the extra thickness that some non-heated winter gloves will add to the diameter that you're gripping. Something akin to using those foam grips, whose diameter is quite obvious, when you get off one so-equipped bike, and onto another that uses regular rubber grips.

As I mentioned in the earlier reply, it's all subjective of course.  

[Easterntide]

We ride fatbikes (bicycles...w 5" wide tires) all winter long. anytime its in the - digits we just put on Pogies. Our physical effort + the shelter from the elements for our hands means that very very lightweight synthetic glove liners are comfortable down to -25c or so.
My partners hands get painful for her when they get cold. so if the grips don't do enough i may find a set of pogies that'll fit her CBR 125 as a backup option.

[magge52]

I'll be the 1st to tell ya I'm not a mechanic but I've done routine maintenance stuff on my bikes, motorized and pedal, and cars over the years so I' know my way around a tool box pretty well and figured this install would be easy enough. I got the wiring routed with no trouble. Next was taking off the bar ends which were a bit of a stickler. They are torx ends so I pulled out my bits and found that 25s were too small and 27s too big. Okay prowled the web in search of 26s. Lots of kits with 25s & 27s but none with 26s. Getting desperate I tried my allen wrenches metric and sae still a no-go. So I thought maybe they will come off with a turn of a pair of channel locks. Sure enough wrapped a rag around them and one little twist and off they came. A few shots of WD40 under the grips with a little elbow grease and the grips are off. Okay now lets test fit the clutch side grip. Ha-that thing went on with a lot of elbow grease so much so I think I can skip the superglue. Only problem is there's about a 1/2" gap between the grip and the end of the bar...too short. Same with the throttle side. I bought the sport grips a while back planning to put them on the Duc but decided on the FJ instead. Looking at the instructions it looks like the adventure size will fit better. Is that what you guys have? I will stop here and get the adventures if that's the case and put these on the Duc as originally planned. At least I'll know the drill and get them on lickety split. Gotta get them on quick, we had the first frost last night.

[Bones]

Only problem is there's about a 1/2" gap between the grip and the end of the bar...too short. Same with the throttle side. I bought the sport grips a while back planning to put them on the Duc but decided on the FJ instead. Looking at the instructions it looks like the adventure size will fit better. Is that what you guys have?

I wasn't aware they came in different lengths, only different sizes to suit standard bars or the fatter cruiser bars. I've got the standard grips on mine which are 125mm long and with the bar ends fitted don't look out of place at all. If longer ones are available they might be better for you as they can be trimmed down a bit to fit if needed.

[ribbert]

Winter gloves can help as you indicate, but dexterity is comprimised with them. Although I haven't tried all brands of winter gloves, so some are better than others for sure, they are for the most part bulky, which affects grasping the grips, and reaching for the controls.



Another benefit to consider when using electric gloves of this type, and regular non-heated grips, is keeping the diameter of the grip on the smaller side, easier to maintain a hold on them, than say the extra diameter of a heated grip, and the extra thickness that some non-heated winter gloves will add to the diameter that you're gripping. Something akin to using those foam grips, whose diameter is quite obvious, when you get off one so-equipped bike, and onto another that uses regular rubber grips.

Absolutely right, I hate thick gloves for just that reason. If riding in the cold I change gloves when I get to the twisties.

Heated grips, or at least the Oxfords, are not bulky. I have side by side bikes and I've never noticed any difference in feel. The fact they don't feel different would suggest they're not. I would not be surprised if they were standard diameter.

Noel

[magge52]

Only problem is there's about a 1/2" gap between the grip and the end of the bar...too short. Same with the throttle side. I bought the sport grips a while back planning to put them on the Duc but decided on the FJ instead. Looking at the instructions it looks like the adventure size will fit better. Is that what you guys have?

I wasn't aware they came in different lengths, only different sizes to suit standard bars or the fatter cruiser bars. I've got the standard grips on mine which are 125mm long and with the bar ends fitted don't look out of place at all. If longer ones are available they might be better for you as they can be trimmed down a bit to fit if needed.

The latest version comes in three flavors, sport, touring and adventure with sport being the shortest at 4.48" (114mm), touring in the middle  4.72"" (120mm) and adventure the longest 5.19" (132mm). Each has their own grip pattern. It looks like the adventure is the best fit for the FJ for size and pattern. I did put the sports on my Duc and they fit well. The grip is slightly larger in diameter than the original grips but they have 17 years and 49k miles of life on them and the difference isn't enough to cause a problem for me. I'll be ordering the adventures for the FJ.

[Easterntide]

Without knowing any of this length issue i ordered the sport. fine on the clutch side but a tad short on the throttle. oh well. Our LBS only had cruiser so i did buy online. However they fit great (actually could trim a bit) on her cbr125 though...oddly enough its a sport bike :-)