Cold Hands...

[recurveshooter]

With the weather getting cool (40 degrees and 20 miles to work this morning ) I'm thinking I need to do something for my hands. The hand protector/wind guard type thing looks good. Does Yamaha make one? I've seen a few others online ( GIVI ) but $150+ for a piece of plastic seems a bit dear.
OR should I be considering heated gloves or grips? Those are very expensive and it have to wonder if they are worth it. Any thoughts?
Thanks / Recurveshooter

[hobbs]

Heated gloves sound superior to heated grips, to me anyway.
 
I tough it out with leather gauntlets, but I'm also a weirdo.

[NICKY NEON]

tourmaster has winter gloves, i bought a pair there pretty good when its cold out

[fz07fanboy]

You could also try glove layers. Some cotton gloves inside a more robust touring glove.

[Beemer]

40 degrees and 20 miles? I might consider wearing a car with a nice heater ...... I kid.
 
I once rode about 80 miles from Austin, Tx. to Ft. Hood when it was 30 degrees. It was right after Christmas and San Antonia just had a freak snow storm dump 12 inches of snow on them and it was heading toward Austin. I don't know what the wind chill factor would've been at 70 mph. but lets just say my boys were huddled inside, close to the fire. To keep my hands warm enough I just wore good winter riding gloves. That's it, nothing special, nothing tricky. I did stop once for a quick coffee and then back to racing the storm. 

[NICKY NEON]

floridians can't take it when it's 60 degrees lol. layering is hard to get a good grip, try a pair of winter riding gloves before spending a ton of money on other stuff.

[rick]

I used to ride in all manner of nasty weather and drew the line on winter commutes somewhere around 20F, as long as it was dry. Can remember getting to morning college classes 30 minutes early so I could take write legibly enough to read at a later date. Ahh, the good old days - open face helmets, crappy gear and just toughing it out.
 
I had a 1996 K1100RS for 6 years years with heated grips, so here's my take on them.
 
They are just wonderful when temps are cool or you get caught in cold rain in temps/seasons where you would normally be wearing non-insulated gloves. They can be the difference between being comfortable and wishing your hands weren't quite so numb from the cold.
 
But when it's cold, say below 40F, and you're wearing insulated gloves anyway, the heat from the grips (what gets thru the insulation) can't help the backs of your hands. And as soon as you grab a handful of brake or clutch, that nice cold aluminum sucks the heat right out of the glove.
 
Anything that will take the wind off your hands will help - Barkbuster Storms or maybe better yet, the Blizzards and then there's Hippo Hands. The real solution for spending time on the bike in winter temps and actually keeping your ands warm, though a bit of a pita due to the wires that must run down your sleeves - imo, heated gloves.
 

[jake]

I just picked up heated grips http://www.revzilla.com/motorcycle/oxford-heaterz-premium-sport-heated-grips these things are amazing 50 out and I had to put it at 50 to 75 percent heat 100 percent will melt your hands off.
 
I also have hand guards I got these with the help of another FZ http://www.amazon.com/PowerMadd-34410-Black-Sentinel-Handguard/dp/B00S1NDC9Y/ref=sr_1_4?s=automotive&ie=UTF8&qid=1445090149&sr=1-4&keywords=powermadd+handguards and you will need the hangers http://www.amazon.com/PowerMadd-34452-Black-Sentinel-Handguard/dp/B00RAQXD8I/ref=sr_1_9?s=automotive&ie=UTF8&qid=1445090149&sr=1-9&keywords=powermadd+handguards I bought the guards before the heated grips and they basicly didn't help much the heated grips are where its at.
 
 
thanks to all the other FZ guys out there that helped decide what to get.

[ravenlord]

Try wearing a pair of nitrile gloves under your gloves. Believe it or not it does help a little bit.

[fooschnickens]

I'll be going with a combination of handguards and full-length gloves. I love my a* alloy gloves to pieces, but they're made to vent (and do it quite well) and don't cover the sleeve opening on my jacket like a gauntlet would. Between those and my tourmaster pants I should be good to go well into December before it gets below 40, then i'm calling it quits.

[recurveshooter]

Does anyone know if that aux 12v outlet under the tank is fused? I know it is switched but I'm wondering if you can get enough juice out of it for gloves or handgrips. Is anyone here doing that? Thanks 
 
 
Recurveshooter

[Cruizin]

As stated in another thread, Oxford heated grips are very good, easy to install and cost between $85 and $95 Click here

[rick]

That aux fuse is only 2A. So it depends on the wattage of whatever is getting hot. Gonna guess that's not near enough for grips, don't know about gloves, but maybe not enough capacity there either. Yer basically looking at 25 or so watts before the fuse goes pop.
 
you could switch a relay with that outlet and power directly from the battery - fused separately at the battery of course

[Cruizin]

The Oxford grips kit mentioned above wires straight to the battery. Pretty easy install and they work awesome.

[fooschnickens]

Yeah, the wiring going to the aux plug is nowhere near thick enough for anything more than a phone charger or other small device (GPs, radio, etc). Routing wiring would be super easy once you take the side panels off. Lots of room under there to have it follow the factory loom or route it around the tank.

[crazycracka501]

Anybody got a good beat on a decent pair of heated riding gloves that are battery powered and offer good protection? I've looked at a few pairs but the only things I found with substantial protection are wired to the bike battery.

[fooschnickens]

You'd probably be better off looking at heated liners. I've found most glove offerings don't offer much protection, and the ones that do cost as much if not more than regular gauntlets. With the liners you can use them in any glove they'll fit under at a fraction of the cost, seems they average around 80 bucks.

[Cruizin]

Anybody got a good beat on a decent pair of heated riding gloves that are battery powered and offer good protection? I've looked at a few pairs but the only things I found with substantial protection are wired to the bike battery.

 
 
Open this thread and check out the first link, to Revzilla's guide to heated gear. All of it
 
http://fz07.org/thread/4008/heated-insulated-weather-riding-grips?page=1&scrollTo=59077
 
I also snowmobile, ALOT. Almost all snowmobiles come with heated grips now, because they work. I ride in the mountains in 20 degrees, with heated grips and well insulated gloves.
 
I do have heated boot inserts and vest though.

[rick]

Yeah, the wiring going to the aux plug is nowhere near thick enough for anything more than a phone charger or other small device (GPs, radio, etc). Routing wiring would be super easy once you take the side panels off. Lots of room under there to have it follow the factory loom or route it around the tank.

I ran a wire for an SAE connector forward from the battery to the bars on the right side w/o removing anything - there's just nothing in the way on that side.  
I'm using the aux circuit to power my little LED volt monitor. Was nice of Yamaha to make it switched.  

[ShiftHer]

Try wearing a pair of nitrile gloves under your gloves. Believe it or not it does help a little bit.

Hm. Never heard this before. Worth a shot! 

[kamalv]

@ crazycracka501
 
I used Volt Titan heated gloves last winter. Leather ones. The leather is nice and supple. The gloves with a combination of heated grips and hand guards makes winter riding easy, for the hands anyway. During the summer, you are supposed to keep the batteries at least 25% charge. I did that mostly i think. Charged them every couple of months or so. I have begun using the gloves again and they seem to be working fine. Only thing is, between rides, while I leave the battery within the gloves, I don't keep them plugged in.