Sunday, February 2, 2014

Done!!

Heated grips, that is.

Installed, tested, marvelous.  Within a few minutes, the grips get uncomfortably hot to the bare hand.

I'll be posting a detailed project report to show how it's done, but it'll take a while to get it posted.

Here's a glimpse of the heat control seen from the rider's position.

I was concerned that the LED for the control wouldn't be visible because it's fairly recessed due to the thickness of the kneepad plastic.  But, as you can see, it turns out not to be an issue.

I apologize for the background noise, no it's not the noise that heated grips make, it's my heat gun hanging overhead in an attempt (successful) to get the garage to a temperature conducive to working on the Vespa in light clothing.

14 comments:

VStar Lady said...

Congrats ... hopefully you won't need them, but heated grips are soooooooooo nice!

Keith - Circle Blue said...

You know how much I love my heated grips. I just added a pair of Lithium battery powered gloves to my arsenal. Now if the snow and ice will stay away I'll be comfy in the cold.

RichardM said...

Nice, clean installation. 'Tis the season to try them out...

Trobairitz said...

Hooray for heated grips. Will make your commuting so much more pleasant in inclement weather.

Shad said...

This is great! I'm so afraid of modifying my Vespa and breaking it.

SonjaM said...

Well done! I am impressed, and I hope they'll do the trick when needed.

Unknown said...

David:

You'll love your heated grips. I use mine in the rain to help dry my gloves other than that, they are great for those cool summer evenings

bob
Riding the Wet Coast

David Masse said...

Karen, when I get the bike buttoned up, I'll install my tall screen and the Tucano Urbano Termoscud apron. With those bits on, March and April commuting is going to be a whole new comfortable experience.

David Masse said...

Keith, you and Steve are the cold weather gurus.

I checked out a pair of Gerbing gloves at the local dealer, and they provide truly delicious heat. I debated going that route, but ultimately I prefer the convenience of heated grips because they are always there. So if there's a chill in the air in June, there's no reason to suffer.

David Masse said...

Richard, you'll rethink 'clean' when you see the project report and all the added electrical bits come tumbling out of that kneepad recess: wiring terminal with 6 direct feeds from the battery (+ and - ), relay for the outlets and heated grips, fuse holders for the Stebel horn and the outlets and heated grips (25A and 7.5A), control unit for the Heat-Troller, and all the wiring to makes it all work. It ain't pretty.

A lot more discipline would be required on a naked bike for all that stuff.

David Masse said...

Brandy, amen to that.

David Masse said...

Shad, you'll see my project report when I get it done. It takes a while to write it, and upload all the photos.

If you're interested, this is something you certainly could tackle. Unlikely you'd do any harm to your bike.

David Masse said...

Sonja, in only a few minutes, running off the battery without the bike running, they were already quite hot. I'm confident they're going to be exactly what I wanted.

David Masse said...

Bob, that's the beauty with heated grips. No need to put up with even mild chills at any time of the year.

The copyright in all text and photographs, except as noted, belongs to David Masse.