Heated grips and power distribution point intalled


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toddjcruz

New Member
Touring Setup

The grips and the distribution node arrive and have been installed. Grip cables were long, but not really long enough to reach my power distribution point. Ended up running my own power cable from the node and cable-tied all the stuff under the fairing.

PDU was cheap, but did the trick. Would have been nice to have a grounding bar as well as all the accessory cables have the +pos and -neg wires together, they end up at the same spot. Having a grounding bar on the left or right of the fuse box would have been great as most of the stuff there is plastic. Nice to have everything on key-relay fused control rather than just connected to the battery. Was able to remove all the inline fuses from te accessory stuff so when a fuse does blow, I'm not looking at all the accessory cables trying to find that inline fuse! However, the kit didnt come with fuses. Really? Another two bucks worth of stuff and they cant ship it with it? Oh well, another trip to the store.
 
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toddjcruz

New Member
I'd love to do a write up, but I havent had it out yet! Although the rain looks like it's over with here in Portland, I won't be on the road till this weekend. My only comment is on the install at this point. They feel good and went on easy.

I have black and yellow hand guards coming this week so I'll be testing them both at the same time.

Orderd both from Twisted Throttle, 44.95 for the pdu, 79.95 for the grips. I like the look and feel of the control module for the heated grips. A standard bar mount would have been nice, as well as having the power cord come off the back side rather than the bottom, could have hidden it more. Nothing major.

I'll let you all know when I get them turned on and tested!
 

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toddjcruz

New Member
Nope, the ones below. Sports Style is what you want, as they are 7/8-inch and the cruiser ones are 1".

OXF.26.0696 Oxford Heaterz Heated Motorcycle Handlebar Grips for 7/8-inch Diameter Handlebars (Sports Style) $79.95
 
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owldaddy

New Member
Kewl, I did a search on that web site for heated grips and the only ones that came up were the 1". I do have heated grips on my BMW, they work ok, but the back of the hands still get cold. The addition of the hand guards will be a big help. Cutting wind is more effective then the grips themselves. Good luck with your install. Looking forward to hearing about how well they work.
 
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toddjcruz

New Member
Yeah, talkling with the vstrom people, the had guards to great at keeping that 45* wind off your gloves. I'm told with the guards and the heated grip, you can ride with your summer gloves or light weight winter gloves without any problems. Cant wait to try it. Should have a review by Sunday night!
 
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Roaddawg

New Member
owldaddy said:
Kewl, I did a search on that web site for heated grips and the only ones that came up were the 1". I do have heated grips on my BMW, they work ok, but the back of the hands still get cold. The addition of the hand guards will be a big help. Cutting wind is more effective then the grips themselves. Good luck with your install. Looking forward to hearing about how well they work.
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I haven't seen anyone on here do the hand guards yet. I thought about putting some on as well just (for the winter time) but didn't know if they would be worth it or not. I'll be curious to hear what you have to say about them. How much for those, BTW?
 
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owldaddy

New Member
Roaddawg said:
I haven't seen anyone on here do the hand guards yet. I thought about putting some on as well just (for the winter time) but didn't know if they would be worth it or not. I'll be curious to hear what you have to say about them. How much for those, BTW?
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They are very popular with the BMW crowd as well. I have heard only good things about them. If you ride during the cool season, they are a big help from what I hear. I have no first hand knowledge myself, just what is posted on a BMW forum I visit on a routine basis.
 
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toddjcruz

New Member
The hand guards were 33.95 for the set and 23.95 for the mounting kit. 65.85 with shipping. Might be money down the drain if they don't fit well, but anything I get for under 80 bucks I consider disposable if it ends up not working. Any more than that, I gotta have some 1st hand use before I'll shell out (or at least known reviews from people I trust).

Delivery is tomorrow!
 
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JSP

Super Moderator
I do miss the heated grips I had on the 6R! These cold mornings here were great with them... not having them on the R6 sucks. Thinking about putting another set on. I knew I loved them, but now that they are gone, I realized how much they rocked!
 
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toddjcruz

New Member
All done, new pics posted on my page. Had a chance to test the grips and the guards (windscreen as well):

Grips: I did my testing without gloves as the clouds vanished and 78* sunny weather appeared. So, testing without gloves let me feel a bit more cold during the ride. First thing, I didnt like the 'spike like' feel of the grips. Hard on the hands. With gloves, ok. Without, they hurt. I was used to foam grips over the stock ones, so this was a shock. As for heating, they are nice! 5 settings for the temp, the lowest was great for this condition.

Guards: Found they were mounted too far to the outside of the bike and not low enough. I could feel the wind catching my fingertips. I also ran into an issue making a u-turn where the guards hit the mirrors. So when I got back, I pulled them in an inch and lowered them 1/2 inch. This solved the mirror issue and also provided perfect wind protection. If you look at my photos, you can see all the bugs it saved me from as well!

Windscreen: I lowered and tilted the Madstad back a bit before the ride and once I was doing 75, there was a low rumble around my helmet. If I ducked down about 1", it was gone. So, I raised it an inch and tilted it just a bit more upright by bringing the bottom of the windscreen a bit closer to the bike. This solved it all. No wind noise at all now. The perfect tour setup. Very happy with the Madstad. Allows me to adjust to my riding desire as well as height and sitting position.

Tour Photos
 
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frelay

New Member
toddjcruz said:
All done, new pics posted on my page. Had a chance to test the grips and the guards (windscreen as well):


Guards: Found they were mounted too far to the outside of the bike and not low enough. I could feel the wind catching my fingertips. I also ran into an issue making a u-turn where the guards hit the mirrors. So when I got back, I pulled them in an inch and lowered them 1/2 inch. This solved the mirror issue and also provided perfect wind protection. If you look at my photos, you can see all the bugs it saved me from as well!
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Hi,

I just bought the same guards. In order to capitalize on your experience, could you take and post a couple of pictures that show where they are attached to the steering as well as the angle you gave those.

Thank you (very nice setup by the way, it gave me a couple of ideas! )
 
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toddjcruz

New Member
Sure, will do. I'm riding it to work tomorrow. 80* here in Portland Oregon! Crazy. I'll snap them in the morning when I have some good light.

I did install my foam covers over the heated grips for those who want to know. They work great. The grips I have get HOT. I use them on the low setting and they still get very warm! Don't know what I'll use the other 4 setting for. Looking forward to the colder weather to really give it a try, but I'm not going to complain about 80 at the start of October.
 
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toddjcruz

New Member
Here you go. Sorry for the one that's a bit out of focus, my HTC Evo auto-focus just couldnt lock in on that one.

1st one, you can see the mounting on the bar. The brake lever has that round knob that gets in the way of placing the brake lever as close to the end of the bar as possible. I still have plenty of length, but it would have been nice to not have that gap. I mounted OVER the bar vs under. I could try an under mount, but its still fairly thick and would get in the way still, although you can see a slight gap at the bottom of the knob, but at best, I would get only about 1/8 of an inch.

2nd pick, you can see that I mounted it inside the two plastic mounting holes, with the locking device on the outside (right of the support bar). I am thinking about moving the locking piece to the left of the support bar, this would bring the guards in a little bit more than before. Originally, I had the support bar on the far left, outside the guards two mounting points. This pushed them WAY out from the center of the bike. Found the best coverage is really near the end of of guards.

3rd pic, clutch side of the bar. No problems mounting the support bar here. Simple. Same mounting spot on the guards as well.

Love that the colors are close enough to be a nice match with the bike. The black parts are also removable for summer to allow wind in but still protect your hands from rocks and larger bugs.
 

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frelay

New Member
Hey Todd,

Thanks for the information and the pics. I wonder if the hand guards hit the mirrors (or windshield) when steering is turned all the way. Did you run into this problem? I hope I'll have some clearance cause I would hate that to happen:rant:

I am expecting to receive my set second week of October. I hope that I will get it right the firts time! :steve:

Thank you again!
 

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Roaddawg

New Member
frelay said:
Hey Todd,

Thanks for the information and the pics. I wonder if the hand guards hit the mirrors (or windshield) when steering is turned all the way. Did you run into this problem? I hope I'll have some clearance cause I would hate that to happen:rant:

I am expecting to receive my set second week of October. I hope that I will get it right the firts time! :steve:

Thank you again!
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toddjcruz said:
All done, new pics posted on my page. Had a chance to test the grips and the guards (windscreen as well):

...

Guards: Found they were mounted too far to the outside of the bike and not low enough. I could feel the wind catching my fingertips. I also ran into an issue making a u-turn where the guards hit the mirrors. So when I got back, I pulled them in an inch and lowered them 1/2 inch. This solved the mirror issue and also provided perfect wind protection. If you look at my photos, you can see all the bugs it saved me from as well!

...

Tour Photos
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Here you go.
 
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