Which brings up another, related, issue....heated grips. Ever been cold and run warm water over your hands ? Remember how it seemed the heat went directly to your heart? Wanna experience that, cheaply, on your next cold ride ? Read on.
I've been using heated grips for years. The kits are inexpensive, and easy to install. There are a number of options. Some kits have the elements cast into the rubber grips (Oxford, for one). I find them too thick to be comfortable. Typically I used elements/switch/ballast resistor kits:
They work well, but I wasn't loving the switch (on the bracket, I fabbed, to the right of the stock switch pod):
I stumbled on this kit recently, and liked the look of it. Integral, variable, switch. Cheap too, I don't know how they manage it (E-bay, $15.00US, shipping included!).
The rubber is on the hard side, but other than that, seems a quality (at any price) item. And though the elements are cast into the grips, there is little difference in their thickness.
I couldn't use the, supplied, throttle tube. It was cut out (broken up with needle-nose pliers, actually) and a plastic plate bonded onto the grip's end to cover the wires:
The switch was opened, and I added some silicone paste to protect the contacts.
Then it was locating a 'hot' wire (with the key on), and a ground. I really like the look of these. Plus, they're a LOT hotter than the old elements, easily adjustable, and integrate well with the rest of the bike.
