Heated grips or heated Gloves

[Old Guy]

Heated grips or heated Gloves? I live where it is relatively warm, but below 40 my hands get cold pretty quick. Seems as though the gloves would be cheaper, and heat the back sides of the fingers as well. Any thoughts on what you guys prefer?

Below 40? Heated gloves. When the temps get into the 30s, heated grips just won't do it for me.

I do enjoy my heated grips though. When temps are too chilly to ride comfortably with summer weight gloves, I use the heated grips. Or going over a mountain pass where the temps drop dramatically for 30 miles or so, the grips work well.

 

[Chuck35]

Heated grips and hippo hands do the trick for me.

 

[JamesW]

They also have the little heat packs at the hardware stores, nice to keep some onboard just in case.

 

[Niehart]

Heated grips and hippo hands do the trick for me.

+1 Heated grips and hippo hands [Watershed hippo hands] and Cycra hand guards.

 

[Rrarthur]

I have heated grips, so when it gets cold 40's and i go on a long ride, i will put one of the chemical heat packs inside the glove to warm the back of my hand. They are easy to take along, last a good 8hrs,and ar very cheap. That lets me get by on the colder days.

 

[escapefjrtist]

Heated grips and hippo hands do the trick for me.

+1 Heated grips and hippo hands [Watershed hippo hands] and Cycra hand guards.

This ^^^^ be the solution! Works in all temperatures [down into the 20's] plus keeps things nice and dry in the PNWet!

--G

 

[Geno]

Heated grips are fine for your palms, but at 40 F and below, my fingers would freeze even with serious winter gloves. Finally got some Powerlet heated liners, and the problem was solved. Toasty hands even in the teens, and you can wear uninsulated gloves and still have decent dexterity.

 

[backfill]

I have heated grips on my '07. I use them in conjunction with an electric vest and it all works great, even when the temperature is just above freezing. I find that the vest keeps my core warm so the blood circulates better. The heated grips are enough to keep my hands warm and even my toes don't get cold when I use both.

But as others have said, as i get older i get colder faster. This combination works right now, but maybe not so much in a few years.

 

[Mihalis fjr]

... I'm using Oxford grips and V-Strom hand guards with good winter glove...What I need now is heated levers for when I have to sit in traffic and hold the clutch and/or brake...

The heated levers is the best solution for the fingers!But you can't find nowhere these things..!Ι tried to find these but nobody make them..

Are you ready to go into business with me on this? Lessee, we could do like glove liners with heater wires in a cloth tube that slips over the levers, or we could do rubber sleeves that have heater wires that work like mini heated grips that slip over the levers. My favorite is to have the levers heated by engine coolant but that may have some unnecessarily complicated install problems and there are also issue with induction heated levers

Exactly the same idea i thought!But i think is a bit difficult to install heater wires inside the rubber sleeve..This job need a machine or a like that.The foamy lever sleeve is very good for this job,but how you could install heater wires inside?This could be make in the factory,foam,heater wires and a second foam over of the heater wires,as the heated grips is..

Or a like this heated pad over of the levers and heat shrink or a rubber tube or foam over of it..

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Universal-Motorcycle-ATV-Heated-Hot-Hand-Grips-Inserts-Handlebar-Hand-Warmer-Kit-/360790865837?pt=Motorcycles_Parts_Accessories&hash=item5400cfb7ad&vxp=mtr

 

[John d]

These are the foam lever covers I use, available from Cyclemax

 

[Mihalis fjr]

These are the foam lever covers I use, available from Cyclemax

I have these,i don't feel the cold levers too much but i really don't know why they don't install heater wires inside the foam..??I believe it is pretty easy to do that.It would be a very good solution..!

 

[ThrottleJunkie]

I have Gerbings heated gloves that plug directly into my heated liner jacket, so there is only one wire from the 2-way controller to the bike and it is down by my waist. I have the V-Strom hand guards with an extra black rubber flap (about 4 inches wide) attached to the lower side of the guards since I found that wind came up from below and cooled my hands excessively. This works well and recommend this mod. I have foam grips and no grip heaters. With this setup I have ridden comfortably in 17 deg F weather. My knees get cold if I ride for more than 45 minutes or so in these temps, so I have a pair of bibs that match my winter jacket if I am going to be out for awhile.

I use the heated gloves whenever it is below 40-45 out. I like having the warmth on the backs of my hands and fingers all the way down to my fingertips. The jacket is very warm. In fact, I have to turn it down to keep from cooking myself, but I usually run the gloves WFO most of the time. I have noticed that the gloves will get hotter when wired alone using Gerbings' simple on/off switch instead of the dual controller with the jacket.

When riding, I have found that it is warmer to rest all of my fingers up on the levers so they are in the lee of the handguards more. I have two bikes and both are wired for the Gerbings jacket liner/glove combo which is part of my winter riding gear setup so it is readily interchangeable between my FJR and my KLR650.

I have no experience with grip heaters, so I cannot make a comparison, but I will say that the Gerbings gloves work well. And their warranty service is very good. I had one glove fail due to fatigued wire dongle emerging from the glove. They replaced the gloves with new gloves rather than repair the glove. I expect that the dongle is the weak point in the electrical system since it gets man-handled every time I put the gloves on and off.

As another point, the concentric electrical connector holds nicely, but will separate safely if you happen to dismount (either planned or unplanned) and forget to unplug.

 

[Northwoods Snowman]

I have to install heated grips yet on my FJR, but I've had the heater elements under the grips on all my other bikes. On my dirt bikes I would also put the handle bar mitts on that are designed for snowmobiles/atvs and are pretty much a pouch that you stick your hand into. I could ride my dirt bike in sub zero weather with summer motocross gloves and be perfectly fine. Look odd, yes, but VERY functional. And I was trail riding on snowmobile trails so not a whole lot of body movement to keep warm.

 

[ANZAC]

My wife ordered me a set of the new Gerbings Hybrid battery powered gloves and I can't wait to try them. Before this I used First Gear Warm and Safe liner/gloves but that combo killed my stator on my Street Triple.

No need for the heated liner on the FJR but need heated gloves even with the V-Strom hand guards. The battery powered gloves will help reduce the electrical drain on my 2003.

Not a fan of heated grips as they only heat you palms and not entire hands.

 

[ANZAC]

Well, I have some more seat time on the Gerbings gloves and they get a Gold Star A+

The gloves take a little getting used too due to the battery pack and wiring but they are more than up to the job of keeping my hands warm on cold wet PNW mornings. I find that I have them on the middle setting for mornings and low for evening rides home which should give me lots of riding time between charges.

So, no worries about toasting my stator like I did on my old Streety.

 

[Panman]

Heated grips and hippo hands do the trick for me.

+1 Heated grips and hippo hands [Watershed hippo hands] and Cycra hand guards.

I'm with Niehart and escapfjrtist on this, I run St1330 grips with the v-strom gaurds and the Watershed covers, I use unlined Deer Skins gloves with silk liners. The day I took these photos I should have put the covers on sooner but most of ride up was in the shade and slick so I waited till I hit Washington Pass look out to put them on.

 

[RichDoyle]

This is the first bike I've had with heated handgrips, and they definitely help. But I still use Hippo Hands to keep my gloves dry. And they do help a lot in keeping the fingertips warm.

One does also need hand guards to keep the HH's in place, though, so I have the V-Strom guards as well. In dry and not quite-so-cold weather I sometimes pull the HH's off, as they do add to the blockage of the mirrors.

 

[Panman]

This is the first bike I've had with heated handgrips, and they definitely help. But I still use Hippo Hands to keep my gloves dry. And they do help a lot in keeping the fingertips warm.
One does also need hand guards to keep the HH's in place, though, so I have the V-Strom guards as well. In dry and not quite-so-cold weather I sometimes pull the HH's off, as they do add to the blockage of the mirrors.

With the fat boy required FZ1 mirrors that don't happen.

 

[RichDoyle]

Installed the SW-Motech mirror extenders and blocked-mirror syndrome is now gone, even with the muffs. Yay, I can actually see what the heck is behind me.

 

[Chuck35]

Since my last post I have added WnS hated glove liners to the mix.

Reviewers had stated they were thin and not very warm with most warmth at the fingers.

As this sounded like just the ticket I ordered a pair, and am happy to report they are indeed a great last line of defense when the temps get below freezing.