Soft Grips....Make Your Own!!!

Hi All,

I was thinking of buying and installing a set of Grip Puppies for the Swing. Well,,, I thought they went a little to high when they went over $9.00 a pair. I went to a local plumbing shop and bought a 6 Foot piece of NON-SPLIT 1" I.D. pipe insulator for $1.80 and trimed a couple of pieces to 4 3/8" long and pushed them carefully on over the honda grips (NO GLUE). Here's what they look like and they work well.











DennisB

DennisB wrote:

I was think of getting and installing a set of Grip Puppies for the Swing. Well,,, I thought they went a little to high when they went over $9.00 a pair. I went to a local plumbing shop and bought a 6 Foot piece of NON-SPLIT 1" pipe insulator for $1.80 and trimed a couple of pieces to 4 3/8" long and pushed them carefully on over the honda grips (NO GLUE).

Smart idea.

I wonder if the premium insulation (more rubber feel and less closed cell foam) would even be better for reduced vibration.

I reserve the right to steal your idea.

I thought I posted a reply, but it is not here.
Dennis, sorry this is a bit off the topic, but I was wondering what those black plastic things on both sides of plastic front fairing are? Speakers? Driving lights? Also, I noticed that that you have mirror extenders, how do you like them? Where did you buy them? Thanks, Miro.

P.S. Grips do look good.

Hey Bill, Have at it! Cheep to do and works great. this material is a very soft foam.

Hi Miro, Those are spot lights. each one is 55 Watts. They are made by a company called Optronics and are about $12.90 a set. I had to make the brackets to mount them in this location. The switch is on the handlebar cover on the left side.
They really brighten things up when I need them.

The mirror risers/extenders I got off Ebay. They work great. both are 10mm right hand thread (normal).

DennisB

Wow. What a simple, great idea. I never would have thought of it. My JC Whitney foam grips are starting to wear, and I've been thinking about ordering the Grip Puppies, but I'm gonna do your method instead. Thanks for the ingenuity.

By the way, how did you attach the small bag onto the front of the dashboard?

Hi matthew,

Here is the thread to the SilverWing glove bag installation.
https://www.silverwing600.com/silver-wing-accessories-modifications-f5/handy-storage-spot-for-silverwing-t81.htm

Ride safe,

DennisB

Thanks Dennis. Another great, simple, practical idea. Keep 'em comin'. I may just copy this one too.

Where was this idea about a month ago when I orderd my grip puppies?!?!?

BTW, I do like my grip puppies and I only paid $8.80. The price of ignorance...

Sorry Gene....When you finally wear out your puppies give this a try.

DennisB

Gene, I feel the same way. I really like the Grip Puppies and don't feel real bad that our "Friend" Dennis didn't come up with this suggestion until after we bought the professional models. I will clear any future purchase with Dennis to see if he might be working on his model before spending good money that I can save.
Gary

Dennis:

How a bout posting a pic of the brackets you made for your twin spot lights and their locations.... Thanks, Tom G

Hi Tom,

I was thinking about moving them because of a small accident I had in a parking lot and the scooter went over and because of the lights and brackets being where they are located it busted out a lot of tupperware instead of just getting a few scratches. So if you ask me, this location looks good but it is very bad if you just drop the bike. I will be moving them up to in front of the fairing and will post some pictures of the new brackets I make.

DennisB

O.K. Dennis....

Yeah, sounds like a good idea..... I'll wait to see your new location.....I've got a pair of 55w lights I bought from Wal-mart for 15 bucks, but need to figure a place to put them...Will look forward to your new location... Thanks for the reply and thanks for all the other helpful info you post on here... We really appreciate it....

Regards and stay out of the bushes., Tom G.

I haven't given it a lot of thoughts yet but isn't the spot on the front fork (where reflectors are mounted) a perfect place for mounting a set of driving lights? I might have even seen something on the web that fits in that location perfectly. What do you think? What's your experience on this subject?
Thanks. Miro.

Hi Miro,

Please...Mount your lights wherever you want to.

I've been riding motorcycles for almost 50 years now. With groups sometimes. Whenever I had an M/C behind me with the wheel mounted lights I have always noticed the lights bouncing up and down with the road in my mirrors. I personally like my lights mounted to the scooter up high with no wheel bounce.

DennisB

I guess I got lucky... had bought some one inch "split" pipe insulation at Lowe's Home Improvement Center about two months ago to slip around some small trees that the cats kept sharpening their claws on.

So after reading the DennisB Grip Puppies substitution fix, and since I was in a hurry to get home and couldn't find any of the non-split type in Lowe's, I thought I'd try the split type that I (thought) I had on hand. Luckily I found the leftover portion out in my shed (which was a minor miracle in itself).

This split type had the "self sealing" edges on it and worked very well to my amazement. Just cut it to length, removed the protective plastic from the edges, slipped it around the handle and squeezed the edges together for a perfect fit. So now I've got the "happies" too!! Thanks Dennis!!

Good point. I have the fork mounted markers on the GW and noone has ever said anything.....gotta have a talk with some of them!!

Let me know what you've designed now Dennis....you appear to be in line for a job @ Honda Eng'g.!!!!

I've been feeling some arthritic type pain in my right hand (no jokes please, ladies read this) so I went to the Lowe's and got some of the closed pipe insulation, gonna try it out. My friend who rides bicycles got some of the soft spongy type and we agreed to split them. His is split so I'm not sure how well it will work.

I'm looking forward to trying them both out, thanks for the idea!

How many people here have thought that headlight modulators are a good thing? People spend a lot of money to make their headlight flicker, so why wouldn't you want your added lights to bounce or flicker as well? I have my Wal-Mart lights mounted in place of the front wheel reflectors (with the reflectors on a bracket right above the lights). I don't see any flicker while I ride, but I know the bouncing around sure catches driver's attention. I also like that the lights are distinctly different from the headlight instead of being blurred together into one big light.

I went on a long group ride Saturday. One of the guys mentioned that the lights really stand out. The fork mount seems to be the perfect position to me. Just wrap the wires around the brake line and leave a little slack for fork extension and turning from side to side. Mine have been on for about six months without a problem.

To see and be seen.

I can only speak from experience. Talking with hundreds of Silverwing riders from all over the U.S. and the world that mounting a set of very bright lights on the front of their Scooters gets the same responce from other riders. It does not matter where you mount the lights so long as they are there doing their job and people notice and you can see better at night.

The higher you mount your lights the better road coverage out in front of you... and that's important to.

Now, as far as your choice of locations...well, I personelly know of 2 silvering riders that did the same thing you did and ended up breaking that little reflector bracket off causing damage to their fenders and lights. That bouncing movement, you like, causes a tremendous amount of strain on those little reflector brackets that was not designed to carry that much weight and stress. You need to replace that bracket with something a bit stronger before you damage your scooter.

6 months and you have only one person say anything...HUMMM.

One more thing...the Optronics (burners) lights you purchased from Wal-Mart are driving lights and should be mounted higher on the vehical. Fog or marker lights get mounted lower. Just thought you might want to know.

http://www.optronicsinc.com/driving-new.html

Apparently some states have laws against having more than 2 lights on the front of a motorcycle. I have no idea why. Maybe they just really hate "The Who."

Hi DuggleBogey,

What states are those? Do you know off hand?

I know South Dakota but I haven't checked them all out.

EDIT: Looks like Florida as well

316.400 Headlamps.-- (1) Every motorcycle and every
motor-driven cycle shall be equipped with at least one and not more than two headlamps which shall comply with the requirements and limitations of this chapter.

Also: Connecticut, Rhode Island, Montana, Nebraska, North Carolina, Virginia, Colorado, Louisiana, Texas, Ohio, California, Pennsylvania, Nevada, Missouri, Minnesota.

This list is NOT comprehensive, just a bunch that I found with a quick search.

Hi DuggleBogey,

From what I'm reading "least one and not more than
two headlamps".

What I would do and armed with this information, go to your local State police, Highway Patrol, and Sheriff station and ask about "Driving Lights" installed on a motorcycle/scooter. Driving or fog lights are a different thing from "headlamps".

That's very true. Some of them specifically say "headlamps" and others simply say "electric lights." Check carefully in your own state.

Some of them even specify the number of fog lights you can add. I guess they wouldn't want you to be too safe, it might make other motorists jealous.

Oregon says "not more than three headlights." Very generous.

"headlamps" and others simply say "electric lights." Well it looks like you'll be OK with GAS lights on your scooter. Some of these states need to update their information.

Just kidding...They had gas lights on the first cars and horse drawn wagons and carriages a few years ago.

Some are very specific, like Wisconsin:

Trans 305.43 requires every
motorcycle manufactured after 1/1/72 have two amber directional signals
on the
front and two amber or red directional signals on the back. In
addition,
a motorcycle may be equipped with no more than two auxiliary lights
(spots, in
Harley lingo). Trans 305.43(3) permits additional marker lights, but only
under the following conditions: 1) no marker lamp exceeds 10 watts; 2)
no
marker lamp interferes with the visibility of a head or tail lamp, stop
lamp,
or directional signal; and 3) no lamp shows a color except red to the
rear and
amber to the front.

Massachusetts:

Auxiliary driving lamps and fog lamps. These lamps are not
required, however, if so equipped shall be aimed in accordance with
specifications provided by the Registrar. Reject motorcycle if:
1.
Auxiliary equipment is placed in front of or obstructs any required lamp
or reflector.

2. Fog lamps operate with high beam of headlamp.

3. Auxiliary driving lamps operate with low beam of headlamp or alone.

4. Equipped with more than two fog lamps or more than two auxiliary
driving lamps.

5. Auxiliary driving lamps or fog lamps are not mounted at a height
above the road surface between 12 inches and 42 inches.

I've no idea what you're to do if you're driving across the country. Bring some tools?

There are a load of laws on the books that are out dated. Here's one...The little town named Henrietta, OK, south of Glenpool. Just removed the city ordinance against dancing in public. I don't now about you...but people dancing in public really scars the heck out of me. Just Kidding.

You need to go to talk to your local police, it sounds like, to ease your mined, if anything.

Nah, I bet nobody's gotten a ticket for too many lights in a long time. You'd have to catch a cop having a really bad day, and then if he even knows about the statutes.

But some people like to conform with the laws just because they're laws. Not me of course!

That's all right....I'm here to help, if I can.

DennisB wrote:

To see and be seen.

I can only speak from experience. Talking with hundreds of Silverwing riders from all over the U.S. and the world that mounting a set of very bright lights on the front of their Scooters gets the same responce from other riders. It does not matter where you mount the lights so long as they are there doing their job and people notice and you can see better at night.

The higher you mount your lights the better road coverage out in front of you... and that's important to.

Now, as far as your choice of locations...well, I personelly know of 2 silvering riders that did the same thing you did and ended up breaking that little reflector bracket off causing damage to their fenders and lights. That bouncing movement, you like, causes a tremendous amount of strain on those little reflector brackets that was not designed to carry that much weight and stress. You need to replace that bracket with something a bit stronger before you damage your scooter.

Quote :

6 months and you have only one person say anything...HUMMM.

One more thing...the Optronics (burners) lights you purchased from Wal-Mart are driving lights and should be mounted higher on the vehical. Fog or marker lights get mounted lower. Just thought you might want to know.

http://www.optronicsinc.com/driving-new.html

This is the first group ride I participated in. I followed one guy most of the ride. Prior to that, I have ridden with two other riders, one at a time. (Not knowing a lot of other scooter riders, I tend to ride alone a lot.) Each also mentioned the lights are very visible.

I'm pretty sure that I did not indicate that only one person in six months said they were easily seen. I think I only mentioned that one person of the four other riders in Saturday's ride spoke of it.

It may be that the bracket is not strong enough for the weight of the light. I will consider replacing the bracket. However, the lights are the small round lights and probably don't weigh much more that a few ounces apiece. Were the ones that you know of that broke the bracket the cheap Wally World lamps, or a higher quality (and heavier) light?

Philip,

Since your new to riding in a group, it's considered a courtesy to turn off your spots, driving, or fog lights so you don't cause the rider in front of you problems with your lights blaring at him or her in their mirrors on a ride. Remember to turn them back on for the trip back home.

I don't now about you...but people dancing in public really scars the heck out of me. Hey Dennis, I've heard of dancing with a single lady when her husband shows up. Now that will really scar you. I'm looking foreward to your trike project with Gary. Be sure to take lots of pictures.

My Grip Puppies arrived this morning and are now fitted with the aid of a little liquid hand-wash.
I'll trim them when they've had a chance to settle.

I wanted to use Dennis's home-made ones but the local DIY stores don't have pipe insulation with a big enough hole.

Incidentally, I have Honda heated grips.

MikeO wrote:

Incidentally, I have Honda heated grips.

Are you going to remove the grip puppies for the colder temperatures??

Or is it safe to run heated grips with the Grip Puppies??

I have hand warmers and grip puppies .They work fine together .

Yes, and I read on the site (I think) that officially they work in conjunction with heated grips.

Bumping ...

My trip to the UK last weekend was done in non-stop heavy rain.
I had my heated grips on for much of the time and can confirm that they work very well under Grip-Puppies.