$30 heated grips for Suzuki SV650S.

Article by Tom Monroe

Winter riding presents the motorcyclist with many challenges. Among them is the debilitating effects of cold hands due to exposure to extreme temperatures and wind.

For a bit less than $30.00 (plus shipping), and a couple of hours of your time, you can equip your SV650S with this luxury (this process will actually work on just about any motorcycle).

Dual-Star makes a heated grip kit for $29.95.

The kit includes a throttle and clutch grip element, wiring, wire ties and instructions.

I found the instructions concise although not particularly detailed. The kit is a "one size fits all", that suits the SV650S fairly well.

The first step of the installation is to remove the existing grips. You can do this very quickly by cutting the grips off with a sharp knife. If you do this, you'll need to replace the grips. I chose to replace the stock grip with a pro-grip from Lockhart phillips. They were about $8.00, and seem a little softer, and seem to tone the vibration down a bit. If you decide the keep the existing grip, you'll need to carefully pull the grip off the handlebar.

The instructions mention using compressed air, but I'm not exactly sure how. I guess if you had one of those needle tips used to inflate footballs and soccerballs, you could insert the needle under the grip, and try to use the air to sort of inflate the grip so it loosens up. You can also work the grips off the bike with a little patience.

it took me about 10 minutes to work the right grip off.

Once the grips are off, the next step is to attach the heating elements. The heating elements are two plastic sheets about 1/3 the thickness of a credit card.

They come with wires attached, and are backed by a special "3M adhesive". There appears to be a different element pattern used for Clutch and Throttle cables. This makes sense, because the handle on the throttle on many bikes is plastic. The handle on the clutch is usually metal, so it acts like a big heatsink, and it takes more power to heat it.

Basically you just clean the handle really well, peel the back off the element and attach it to the handle.

Dual-star recommends you start in the center, and work your way towards both ends.

Once the elements are installed, the instructions recommend installing the grips. I decided to see how well I could conceal the wiring before I started installing the grips.

On the SV650, there is a housing on both sides (for high-beam switch, horn, turn signals, starter switch, engine cutoff). I decided to cut a notch in the housing on the clutch side, and run the cables into the notch.

I then ran the wiring on the clutch side along with the rest of the wiring from the left side housing.

For the Throttle side, Suzuki puts a blank where the turn signal goes on the clutch side. I pulled out the blank, and put in a grommet, and ran the wiring through the grommet.

Short loop of cable remains to allow free throttle operation.

With the elements installed, next its time to install (or reinstall) the grips.

On the Suzuki SV650, the left hand grip is held on with adhesive, while the throttle handle has raised sections that hold the grip in place. Dual-Star recommends using a two-part epoxy to glue to grips on. For the throttle grip, I liberally applied adhesive, then carefully pulled the grip onto the handle, using the adhesive as a sort of lubricant.

I was worried about element being pulled out of place on the throttle side, so I used a recommendation that I've read someplace - I wet the inside surface of the grip with a little soap and warm water, then slid it onto the throttle handle. The soap makes the rubber slippery, and the grip easily slid into place. On the throttle side, once the soap dried, the grip became completely firm.

My goal was as much as possible make the wiring invisible - concealed except for the loop on the throttle side.

The next step is to route the wires and install the control switch. Dual-star includes small black wire ties, and a wire tap for power. The ties make it easy for the grip wiring to appear as if it is stock wiring, and are a nice touch.

Mounting the switch presented an interesting challenge. Unfortunately they do not provide any type of mounting hardware for the switch other than two nuts. The switch is designed to be mounted in a 1/2" hole. I opted to drill a hole in the right inner fairing on my SV650S, because its in a good location, doesn't interfere with anything else, has reasonable space behind it for wiring, and would be easy to fix or replace if I change my mind.

Finally, the wiring needs a ground connection, and a hot lead. I used a 3M wire tap connection to get a ground connection, but the power connection proved to be a little problematic.

The first thing I did was to use an inline Ammeter to determine the power drain of the heaters. The control switch is a two position switch with high and low settings. High setting draws approximately 3 Amps, while low consumes approximately 1.6 Amps.

I used a feed from the the "signal" fuse, because it seemed to me to be the least likely to cause a serious problem if the fuse blew. (My first choice was the gauges power lead, but that circuit is hot even while the bike is off).  It may not be a bad idea to run a fused wire directly from the battery. The problem with that would be that you would need to remember to shut the grips off when the bike isn't running.

I've had the bike out a few times with the heated grips, and they make a big difference. You can feel the heat within a few minutes. I've had them out on the freeway at 35 degrees Fahrenheit, and my hands were warm and toasty. The nice thing about using heated grips is that they work with any gloves you're wearing. I believe that they are actually a safety feature, since frozen fingers become numb and stiff, and make it difficult to operate a motorcycle, and thick heavy gloves (which might be warmer) really aren't that much safer.

This grip kit has a three position switch with high-off-low positions. Some of the more expensive kits have a variable controller, however I have found the high-low selection works fairly well under most circumstances. Dual-star also offers a variable controller with these elements for either $49.95 or $59.95 (depending on the mounting). Personally, I would try the grips with the switch, and if you need more control, you can always install the variable controller later.

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