Oxford Heated Grips

[Action]

Being on the frugal side I surfed E-Bay until I found some heated grips I liked. I wanted grips that had the heating element built in, a controller that had multiple settings, and that looked good and did not have a knob. I settled on Oxford grips. I got them on sale and the total damage was $49.00 delivered. The kit was complete with two grips, a controller with 4 settings, and wiring to hook everything up. Installation was very simple and there are a couple of “how to” threads out there. I used hair spray instead of the supplied super glue. The grips were so tight going on, even after removing every trace of glue, that I felt hair spray would be sufficient. So far, so good, the grips are solid. The only thing I did different is to wire in a relay so that the grips work off switched power rather than battery power. I mounted the relay under the seat and used the tail light wire as the trigger power source.

Pluses –
If you ride in any kind of cold weather heated grips rock! I ride down in to the high teens and my hands used to get very cold even with winter riding gloves. Problem solved! I rode in today; 25F when I left and my hands were toasty warm with the grips set at 75%. It had warmed up to about 45 on the way home and rode with my summer gloves on and the grips set on 50%. Most enjoyable wearing thin summer gloves at lower temps.

Negatives –
I don’t like the extra wire coming out of the grips but I don’t see any way around it. The grips were very tight; it was all I could do to get the left one on. Last neg, I think the kits should come with a relay, but I realize that would make them more expensive and some people could not figure out how to wire them up.

Over all I am very pleased with the Oxford grips. I think they are a good value for the money and they are working well so far.

Action

EDIT - I've since moved the controller down to the inner faring. Not as easy to reach but looks better.

[NorcalBoy]

Nice work Action! the wiring definately isn't skimpy coming out of the grips - they look very heavy duty. The switched lead relay is definately the way to go.

[northernrider]

hey i was looking for a better alteritive than the sticky hot grip elements and i was debating on the oxford but your thread convinced me i have the exact same vfr and now i know the exact outcome . hey just one question not sure what u meen by tapping into the real trigger light . do u meen that u wired the grips so that when u turn the ignition off the grips are off to prevent leaving them on and draining the batterie ?

[Craig in Alabama]

I've had these same grips on my Buell Ulysses for about a year and a half and they work great! I have mine connected to a switched source, but the controller is designed to monitor battery level and turn the grips off before they drain the battery. In the event that you accidentally leave them turned on, they will turn off with enough battery power left to start the bike.
Great product!
Cheers!

Craig