Oxford Heated Hand Grips Review

I got some Oxford Heated Grips for Christmas and I installed them today. I have a 2008 Silverwing.


Here is a link to the ones I installed.

Right out of the box I didn't like the feel of the new grips. The OEM ones are a lot softer on the hands, but I wear gloves 100% of the time so I don't really feel those too much anyhow. Removing the old ones was an easy project taking a grand total of about 2 minutes. I put some used motor oil on them to get the new grips to slip on as they were really tight.

I had to remove a couple of other accessories to install these. I had a RAM mount on the left side that came with a cup holder (which I rarely ever used) and I had a Vista Cruise throttle lock on the right side that I have used frequently. The wiring for the heated grips comes out of the grip at the exact place where the vista cruise is designed to grip the throttle. These items will be missed, but I'm hoping to figure out a way to reinstall the vista cruise.

The Oxford Heated Hand Grips comes with a control box and bracket that mounts nicely to the two bolts that hold on the left brake cylinder assembly. It comes with new, longer bolts that fit right in there with some spacers. The finished product looks pretty nice, almost like it came that way.

The left grip you can hardly notice the wire but the throttle side has a wire hanging out of it and must be adjusted so that it both has enough slack to be able to spin and not hit the brake handle.

I didn't have to remove a whole lot of panels for wiring access. I took off the windshield cover in the front, the handlebar plastic cover, the passenger left foot peg and the lower plastic panel below the left foot rest. I did break one of the holding tabs but was lucky enough so that it was where three pieces came together and still was able to move the speed nut onto one of the other pieces and you cant even tell there's anything wrong.

Now for the only negative I really found for installation. The wiring has pre-made connectors that have to snap together just a certain way and there is a hidden junction box that has to mount up under the plastic somewhere. The connector for the main control box HAS to be fed from the handlebar end down and not the opposite direction unless you want to pull the controller itself back up through the plastics. The wiring could be about a foot (30cm) longer. I was just barely able to get the wire back to the junction box. It came with a fuse and a link to put on the battery and there was room in the battery box for those with no problem. There is a separate wire that you have to pull down that connects to the grips themselves, but it was plenty long enough.

After I got it completely installed (as per instructions) I realized that there was no interface with the ignition so that it can run when the bike is not. I may go to an auto parts store and buy myself a little 12V relay and install it so that if you turn off the engine then the headed grips automatically shut off. I am worried that if I leave them on it will quickly run down the battery.

Installation took me about 2½ hours, but I was taking my time. There were no "gotcha" moments or strange surprises and the kit came with everything I needed including 4 wire ties (although I used more than 4.)

I didn't get to ride it today but I did start the bike up and run it for a while and they heated up nicely. The controller has 4 heat settings shown as 100%, 75%, 40% and 30%. Every time you turn it on it starts at 30%. I'm looking forward to finding a decent day to ride and giving them a good trial.

I hope that's of any help to anyone interested in these.

A somewhat easy-fit alternative:

At the beginning of the winter of 2011 I bought a set of Oxford HotHands Over Grips (OF694) for my SH300i & plugged them into the 12v socket. Held in place by Velcro, they heated up quickly & worked perfectly - there's only a simple on/off switch so sometimes they got too hot!!

The advantages are they take 10seconds to fit/remove & can be used on any bike. They are also designed to be velcroed (?) to the inside of Oxford's handlebar muffs.

I don't need the overgrips with my Swing as it's got heated grips fitted so I've kept them to use on my Harley if I ever need to (not likely - long rides on warm sunny days only!).

Today it was just barely warm enough to ride in to work so I did. Was 35°F (1°C) when I left the house. I used those heated grips the whole way. They kept my hands nice and toasty. They have 4 settings: 100%, 75%, 40% and 30% and I kept it on 40-75% most of the way. They warmed up in about 5 minutes when I started. I'm very impressed with this product. Happy happy happy!

I like that they come with a 2 year warranty, Its a real good product.

I'm wondering if there is any problem having these with my weighted bar ends installed? I'm in San Francisco and as someone once said, the coldest winter I have experienced is summer in San Francisco.

Thanks for any pointers!

They fit like the stock honda grips . A good selection of heat range.

Oxford grips made up the road from me ,so I bought a pair .Had them fitted when my bike went in for a service ,great product cannot stand cold hands .As tinman said comes with 2 yer warranty and on the newer ones they will switch off automatically if left on .Also haakon should not be a problem with bar end weights .   

I got my Oxford Heaterz off Amazon.com and now I just need to install. My local shop said they wanted 3.5 hours for install,which equals nearly $400. Looks like I will have to get my hands dirty on this one.

Haakon seems a lot of money for fitting .Cost me £ 40 for labour guess that's about $60 your end .Perhaps a more labour intensive fitting on the big wing ,go steady .

Cycle Gear has Heated Grips on sale for ~$40 http://www.cyclegear.com/motorcycle/Heated-Grips

And a Grip Heater kit on sale for ~$20 http://www.cyclegear.com/motorcycle/Trackside-Grip-Heaters

Tim

Glad to see your product choice works for you.
I put Hot grips brand on my Silverwing because you can get them in 4.25 or 5.25 width (an inch longer than stock grips giving you more hand real estate.) Also it has a PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) control giving you a full range of heat strength.

I can get the original hot grips here in Alberta

Hot Grips can be installed on any motorcycle or ATV with 7/8" handlebars and an electrical system
capable of running a headlight. (Not recommended for metal throttle sleeves.) Complete with
resistors and switch for high/low heat.
•
Touring Hot Grip fits 0.875" handlebar and 1.00" throttle tube.
DESCRIPTION PART #
RETAIL
1" x 4.75" Hot Grips 709-041 $71.95- w shipping in Alberta

or even cheaper.  I have used these on snowmobiles.  cant beat the price

                                     http://www.ebay.ca/itm/Warm-Heat-Heated-Heater-Hand-Grip-Kit-Pads-for-Motorcycle-Handlebars-/310645594901?pt=Motorcycles_Parts_Accessories

The big problem with "bargain" grip heaters is the resistor. Unless you can figure out how and where to securely mount that big ceramic resistor it just going to hang there suspended by those thin resistor leads and eventually break --right where the lead enters the ceramic, leaving not so much of a stub to reattach a line to.

Then good luck in finding a replacement resistor.

After having two of those resistor leads break on my scoot I finally eliminated the resistor all together by figuring out how to wire up standard turn signal type relay to replace that resistor. So now on the low-heat range the circuit runs thru the relay so that the full heat pulses ON/OFF thus effectively reducing the heat output. Works for me.

Haakon wrote:

I'm wondering if there is any problem having these with my weighted bar ends installed? I'm in San Francisco and as someone once said, the coldest winter I have experienced is summer in San Francisco.

Thanks for any pointers!

Haakon,
That quote was by Mark Twain.

Andy

I have installed dozens of these cheap heated grips. they wrap around the stock ones. easy .


and CHEAP                          http://www.ebay.ca/itm/12V-Quick-Flexible-Motorcycle-Motor-Bike-Heat-Warm-Grip-Pads-Hand-Bar-Heater-/271618196885?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&

Here's the link

Every time I see your handle, Model28a, it reminds me of the old Teletype model 28. I hope you work better than they did.

Sorry for the

exavid I used this handle when I was restoring my 1928 Model A Ford. I started out using model27T when I was restoring my 1927 Model T ford that I restored first. Then when I restored my Model A changed my handle to model28a and never bothered to think up a new handle. I guess I'm lazy.

Restoring an A is something I always thought I'd do but doesn't look like it now. I've worked on them and get a kick out of the A but never had one. The T must be a lot of fun, I followed a T pickup with a canvas top on a back road a couple weeks ago. It was chugging along at 25-30mph on a 50mph road but I followed it just to watch it. Love the sound of those old machines.