Yamaha OEM Heated Grips Review

[VertigoTX]

Thank you,@rick

 

Can't say I'd know what to do with that, but I have a basis to start research from.  I appreciate it

[stev74]

I'm sure they need more than than 22W.
In my opinion the Yamaha grips looking good but they steal precious space for my left hand with that switch? isn't it?
Also its too expensive for me.

I measured the controller of the oxford grips yesterday. The automatic shutdown is really good.
If the voltage is too low they shut off but also if the voltage is for example at 13V and not changing.
So in other words if the voltage is too constant, which means normally the engine is not running, they shut off.

[stev74]

Update for the oxford controller:

13V running at 100%....runs forever
dropping to 12.9....Heater still on
dropping to 12.8....Heater shuts off, battery saving mode flashing
dropping to 12.7....Heater turns ON again!
after 1-2 minutes...Heater turns Off, Led flashing
dropping to 12.6...Off and flashing
dropping to 12.5...Heater turns ON again!
after 1 minute...OFF and flashing
dropping to 12.4...Heater turns ON again! lol
after 1 minute...OFF and flashing
dropping to 12.3...Heater turns ON again! This is getting crazy
after 1 minute...OFF and flashing
(now I wait 3 minutes before dropping to 12.2V)
dropping to 12.2...Heater turns ON again!
after 1 minute...OFF and flashing
dropping to 12.1...Heater turns ON again!

after 1 minute...OFF and flashing
Now I make it slower. to 12.09, 12.08, and so on till 12.00
still OFF and flashing
Now I go in 0.01V steps down to 11.85V
still OFF and flashing

After approx. 3min the controller shuts down completely at 11.85V and draws now only 50uA. Thats very good.

So I think under "normal" conditions it works fine. The crazy thing is that voltage drops of 0.1V turning the device On again. That could be improved but I guess its not necessary.

The only bad thing is that if you don't wire it with the ignition...some stranger can come and turn your heater-grips on at your bike.




 

[faffi]

I should probably check my heater to see what happens if I turn it on without the bike running, just to see. 11.85V is very, very low, though! A fully charged battery should be 12.6V or better in my experience. I have had bikes that couldn't produce a spark with voltage below 12.

[rick]

At idle, the charge voltage will drop from low 14v to near 13v. That's normal. If you sit in traffic and the radiator fan comes on, it'll drop another volt or so. With the grips on, the same thing will happen at idle - still normal. With the revs up while riding, the charge voltage should go back to 14-ish, unless you have a ton of accessories running. I guess it's possible that if you sit in traffic long enough, these heated grips will just shut off. It also looks like a float charger that cycles voltage on and off like my Optimates will turn those grips on.

[rick]

12 hours ago, VertigoTX said:

Thank you,@rick

 

Can't say I'd know what to do with that, but I have a basis to start research from.  I appreciate it

This will help. Think of the "Power from Switch" #86 as the positive side of the accessory plug and #85 as the ground wire in that plug.  #30 is a heavy wire direct from the battery - this will power the grips. #87 would be a heavy wire going to the grips - . To finish the circuit, you'd need a heavy wire from the grips to a solid ground. Easy! 

 

[VertigoTX]

14 minutes ago, rick said:

This will help. Think of the "Power from Switch" #86 as the positive side of the accessory plug and #85 as the ground wire in that plug.  #30 is a heavy wire direct from the battery - this will power the grips. #87 would be a heavy wire going to the grips - . To finish the circuit, you'd need a heavy wire from the grips to a solid ground. Easy! 

 

 

@rick, Thanks!

[stev74]

I'm sorry for writing it stupid. The oxford heater shutting also down at a higher voltage. Not only when the battery reaches 11.85V. Its not really related to an exact voltage where the oxfords shutting down.
So there is nothing wrong with that behavior. Its working good. The guy who designed that circuit did a good job.

For example. If you drop the voltage very slowly from 13V down. At some point it turns first the heating off and after some time completely.
So the battery draining is not really much even if you turn off your bike and let the heater at 100%.
 

[cyow5]

11 hours ago, stev74 said:

In my opinion the Yamaha grips looking good but they steal precious space for my left hand with that switch? isn't it?

That was my first thought, but the buttons are more on the topside rather than the backside, so they look to not be in the way. 

[faffi]

For me, the stock Yamaha grips are already terribly narrow, and the switch pod do take some space to make the useful width even less. However, the bar end weights do help on the MT07 - I use them also to rest my palms against, so in reality my grips are wide enough. Without the bar end weights, the grips would be uncomfortably narrow, even without the switch pod.

[AlbatrossCafe]

14 hours ago, stev74 said:

I'm s
In my opinion the Yamaha grips looking good but they steal precious space for my left hand with that switch? isn't it?

 

2 hours ago, faffi said:

For me, the stock Yamaha grips are already terribly narrow, and the switch pod do take some space to make the useful width even less.

 

3 hours ago, cyow5 said:

That was my first thought, but the buttons are more on the topside rather than the backside, so they look to not be in the way. 

 

I usually wear size XL or XXL gloves. I wear insulated gloves in the winter. I have Renthal Ultralow bars with my mirrors mounted directly on the bar (no bar-end to rest my hand on). My hands have no issue fitting between grip controls and the bar-end mirror.

 

Don't quote me on this, but I think that actual grip surface of the heated grips is the same as OEM... the heat controls just make the entire piece slightly longer. Again, don't quote me on this. I held them next to each other during install but forgot already.

[faffi]

The width overall is the same, meaning the space for the hand is a little less on the LHS.

[Burley]

Installed the grips yesterday.  Good and chlilly this morning, but the grips were very toasty.  Fantastically toasty!  

[AlbatrossCafe]

REVIEW UPDATE: I have been commuting all week in exactly the kind of weather I bought these grips for. It has been about ~34-39 degrees for a 45 minute commute where 80% of it is highway. With these grips at max my hands feel GREAT. I used to have tons of pain from the cold after only about 5-10 minutes. Now, I am comfortable the whole commute. Even without hand guards, the inside of my hands gets warm enough so that the outsides aren't too bad.

 

Also, here are some pics with my hand on the grip in my setup. Some people were concerned about lack of grip space with these. As I said, I have size XXL gloves/hands. It looks tight with the bar-end mirror but they don't interfere at all when riding - I don't even notice them. My hand kind of nestles in under that curve in the bottom right of my mirror.

 

[VertigoTX]

@AlbatrossCafe When you use yours, which setting is max?  I got mine installed last weekend and can't tell a difference.  I suspect they forgot to configure them for a large bike.  Also, how does yours cycle?  The documentation states it starts with 1 light going up to 3, with 3 being the highest setting.  Mine starts on 3 and goes down to 1 before turning off.

[AlbatrossCafe]

15 minutes ago, VertigoTX said:

@AlbatrossCafe When you use yours, which setting is max?  I got mine installed last weekend and can't tell a difference.  I suspect they forgot to configure them for a large bike.  Also, how does yours cycle?  The documentation states it starts with 1 light going up to 3, with 3 being the highest setting.  Mine starts on 3 and goes down to 1 before turning off.

You can configure them yourself in like 1 min. I forget how but it is in the directions you got. I have them set at the largest bike setting. Mine starts 3 and goes to 1 like yours with 3 being the warmest. I can totally tell a difference between each setting of Max, medium, and minimal.

[VertigoTX]

19 minutes ago, AlbatrossCafe said:

...it is in the directions you got...

Oops... I failed to ask for anything left in the package.  Mine were installed by Dealer as part of my overall purchase.  I've found them online, I'll reconfigure them before my next ride.  Thanks!

[Bigturbomax]

If you need to "program" the grips its real quick. Press and hold the button on the controller for about 5 seconds until the lights start to flash. Each light indicates which mode it is in. Click the button until all three lights are blinking. Thats full power mode. Simply wait 5 seconds again for it to stop blinking and youre done!

 

As a side note, i finally tested the actual draw as im adding auxilary lights wanted to make sure i wanst taxing the charging system too much. The lights im adding a 1 amp each. So i measured current draw with a DMM across the fuse socket with the grips running. This tested was done with the grips programmed to full power mode. Im this mode level 1 draws 1.5 amps, level 2 draws 2.95 amps and level 3 draws 6 amps!!! That explains why they heat better than the 22 watt rating, because they are not 22 watt lol! 

 

So just a heads up if anyone wants to know, these puppies will pull 6 amps at full tilt. Maybe ill test the other modes later if anyone is curious.

[faffi]

So we are getting about 80 watt in charging mode.

Edited February 22, 2018 by faffi

[Bigturbomax]

9 minutes ago, faffi said:

So we are getting about 80 watt in charging mode.

Thats exactly what it looks like

[AlbatrossCafe]

@Bigturbomax thanks for the research. I also was curious about this.

 

The heated grips are still doing great for me so far. However, I noticed my grip glue on the right handgrip has started to wear out. Can the constant heat/cold cycling cause that glue to dissolve? I'll need to reapply it now.

[stev74]

6A. That sounds too much to me. Are you sure bigturbomax?
 

 

[Bigturbomax]

2 hours ago, stev74 said:

6A. That sounds too much to me. Are you sure bigturbomax?
 

 

Yes sir. I was using a proffesional grade DMM, engine running and measured from the fuse terminals in socket. DMM completed the circuit instead of the fuse. I could take another readimg with my other DMM tomorrow i suppose. I also thought it was quite a lot. In fact, youve inspired me. Probably tomorrow ill take the same readings with my other meter JUST to be sure this is solid data.

Edited February 22, 2018 by Bigturbomax
Forgot something

[Bigturbomax]

2 hours ago, AlbatrossCafe said:

@Bigturbomax thanks for the research. I also was curious about this.

 

The heated grips are still doing great for me so far. However, I noticed my grip glue on the right handgrip has started to wear out. Can the constant heat/cold cycling cause that glue to dissolve? I'll need to reapply it now.

The temp cycles arent too much the problem, its more the inside surface of the tube. If you look inside the grip tube (the part that touches the handle bars) youll find it isnt a flat suface.  Its got several raised rubber ribs. I belive this is how they heat evenly because it allows less heat transfer into the bars. It also allows less friction fit. I had to use more adhesive on these than on other grips in the past. 

[myKidsPwnedU]

I thought I would post my own experience, having just removed the Yamaha OEM Heated Grips from my FZ-07 and replaced them with Oxford Heaterz Premium (Touring model, which are the same size, 120mm). 

 

Why? I had thought the Yamaha grips were good, riding around Los Angeles in the winter. Kept my hands comfortable on cold days.

 

Then, this week, I went to the mountains (around Bishop, CA). Riding with my brother in temperatures as low as 21F with Dainese winter gloves, the Yamaha grips were pretty useless. My hands and especially fingertips were freezing no matter what I did. He said his hands were also cold, but when I switched to his BMW R1200RT there was no comparison - there was about twice as much heat coming off his grips as mine sitting at a stop. I actually had to turn the heat on his down after a short time riding his bike, and he swapped back with me pretty quick after experiencing my pathetic grips!

 

Of course I could install hand guards too, but the point is the grips themselves didn't generate nearly as much heat as the BMW grips, and I was pretty sad about it. So, I read the glowing reviews of the Oxford grips on Revzilla and decided to swap them. It was painful having to pull out all the wiring and redo it, but now they are installed, the Oxford ones seem much hotter on full - can't keep hands on them with bare skin at 100%, but could do so with Yamaha grips. I am pretty optimistic that the Oxford ones will be comparable to the BMW ones.

 

BTW, I know the Yamaha grips have three power settings for different size bikes which you configure with a long press - I had it on big bike/max - that wasn't the problem. 

 

Once I was back where the weather was 45F and higher, I thought the Yamaha grips were quite good again.

 

So, if you ride with weather in the 40s and especially if you have hand guards, you may be very happy with the Yamaha grips. However, if your riding includes below freezing temperatures and you want warm hands, I would go for Oxford.

 

This is just my experience, but I wish I had read a review like this before I bought the Yamaha grips, especially since they were $120 compared to $89 for Oxford.