dewang Posted November 2, 2012 Share Posted November 2, 2012 Hi, I'm getting ready for the cold weather and have bought a set of Dr Bike heated grips. The pack says that it is best to connect the loom directly to the battery. However I have seen quite a few posts suggesting that I should connect it to the switched ignition circuit which does make sense to me. My question is how to connect to the switched circuit? I have the wiring diagram from the Haynes manual which shows a starter relay. Is that where I should connect it? Would the red and blue/white terminals be the right ones to use? Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommy Boy Posted November 2, 2012 Share Posted November 2, 2012 I'm guessing the starter relay is for the starter motor. Just connect it to the live coming from (not to) the ignition switch. Couldn't tell you colours as i dont have a YBR or manual. But by doing this you don't risk leaving them on and draining your battery. If you upload the circuit diagram I might be able to help you further but it will be down to you to relate the diagram to the bike itself Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike1949 Posted November 2, 2012 Share Posted November 2, 2012 I thought that part of biking to work in the winter was that you got cold hands, I'm always putting my hands on the rear exhaust pipe to warm them up when I got to work. I'm always wary about putting extra electrical supply to the battery, maybe I'm wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator Airhead Posted November 2, 2012 Moderator Share Posted November 2, 2012 Connecting to the battery direct is fine untill a: You forget to switch them off at your destination b: Some meddling tw4t thinks it's funny to switch them on in your absence If these are never going to happen...go for it, dont forget to fit a 5A inline fuse If you want to go down the switched live route how about making one of these and fitting it into the rear brake light switch feed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dewang Posted November 3, 2012 Author Share Posted November 3, 2012 Thanks for all the replies. Airhead - It is quite possible that one day I would forget to switch off the heaters. Although I intend to switch them off while still on my way so that the battery can charge back up. The instructions say to not connect to the light feed as "problems may be experienced". mike1949 - I have an approximately 40 minute ride and it's not much fun when I can't start to feel my fingers half way through the ride :-) I agree with not wanting to put more drain on the battery but the grips I've got have a draw of about 1.5A so hopefully if I only use them for around half the journey I should be OK. Tommy Boy - I've got a scanned image of the wiring diagram - http://sdrv.ms/SnjVTQ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator Airhead Posted November 3, 2012 Moderator Share Posted November 3, 2012 OK then, use the brake light switch feed to operate a relay and feed from the battery + (via fuse) to the relay contact Terminal 85 connect to brake light feed Terminal 86 to chassis Terminal 30 + feed (via fuse) from battery Terminal 87 + feed out to grips control Grips control - (Negative) to chassis I would start by investigating what type of plugs feed your brake switch, if it's a bullet youll need to make up of of those splitters I posted earlier unless you're gonna rough arse it with a scotch block...Yuk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dewang Posted November 3, 2012 Author Share Posted November 3, 2012 OK then, use the brake light feed to operate a relay and feed from the battery + (via fuse) to the relay contact Terminal 85 connect to brake light feed Terminal 86 to chassis Terminal 30 + feed (via fuse) from battery Terminal 87 + feed out to grips control Grips control - (Negative) to chassis I would start by investigating what type of plugs feed your brake switch, if it's a bullet youll need to make up of of those splitters I posted earlier unless you're gonna rough arse it with a scotch block...Yuk Thanks but I'm not entirely sure how I would go about making the splitter. This is my first bike so I haven't really worked with the electrics. I'm fairly certain the switch has a bullet connector. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator Airhead Posted November 3, 2012 Moderator Share Posted November 3, 2012 Thanks but I'm not entirely sure how I would go about making the splitter. This is my first bike so I haven't really worked with the electrics. I'm fairly certain the switch has a bullet connector. Confirm It's a bullet connector and I'll make one for you FOC (provided I can find my bullet connectors at work) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dt502001 Posted November 3, 2012 Share Posted November 3, 2012 corect me if i am wrong but by hooking it to the brake circut the heaters would cut out every time you put the brake on?As the circut is then grounded. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator Airhead Posted November 3, 2012 Moderator Share Posted November 3, 2012 corect me if i am wrong but by hooking it to the brake circut the heaters would cut out every time you put the brake on?As the circut is then grounded. in a word ...no dt The + feed to the brake lamp is never grounded or you'd blow the fuse. Switched live always have a 'load' between them and ground...often lamp bulbs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dewang Posted November 4, 2012 Author Share Posted November 4, 2012 Confirm It's a bullet connector and I'll make one for you FOC (provided I can find my bullet connectors at work) Thanks Airhead that is very kind of you indeed. I can confirm that it is a bullet connector. Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator Airhead Posted November 6, 2012 Moderator Share Posted November 6, 2012 PM me your address dewang Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommy Boy Posted November 8, 2012 Share Posted November 8, 2012 Spot on Airhead. Let us know if they're any good dewang Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MadisonMotorsportUK Posted November 8, 2012 Share Posted November 8, 2012 in a word ...no dt The + feed to the brake lamp is never grounded or you'd blow the fuse. Switched live always have a 'load' between them and ground...often lamp bulbs Sorry Airhead, you are wrong and DT is right. The +ve feed to the brake lamp is only live when the lever is pulled/pedal depressed. This would result in the grips only working when the brakes are on. The easiest way to do this mod is to connect into the TAIL light circuit, the wires are easier to get at than the ignition wires. This means that the grips will work when the sidelights or headlights are on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator Airhead Posted November 8, 2012 Moderator Share Posted November 8, 2012 Sorry Airhead, you are wrong and DT is right. The +ve feed to the brake lamp is only live when the lever is pulled/pedal depressed. This would result in the grips only working when the brakes are on. The easiest way to do this mod is to connect into the TAIL light circuit, the wires are easier to get at than the ignition wires. This means that the grips will work when the sidelights or headlights are on. Err if you read the post 6 you will see I am talking about the positive feed to the brake switch...hope I havent confused dewang though he never did PM me an address to send the stuff to! and no I'm not wrong the positive feed to the brake lamp / switch or where ever is never grounded . What IS grounded is the other side of the bulb filament that's permanently grounded...get a meter on yours if ya wanna check as for connecting to the tail light feed and only having warm hands when the lights are on...fair enough if you have a bike with permanant lights on, but the feed to the brake switch is there all the time so thats the usual place to go for Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommy Boy Posted November 9, 2012 Share Posted November 9, 2012 I'm with Airhead. The +ve feed sits at the relays contact until the relay is energised, where it is then given a path to the bulb. By connecting the heated grips here you are just sending the same voltage down two separate paths - The grips, which get a constant supply (as long as ignition is on), and the brake light (When the brake relay is energised). Pulling the brakes has no effect on the grip circuit (apart from a slight current draw but I doubt it). I do understand the confusion though. Madison, if the grips were hooked up on the contacts other side (87) then it would have the effect you're talking about. As far as the best place to connect goes, it depends on how fussy you are and what wires are easiest to get at. I'd personally go from somewhere on the switched circuit that has thick enough wires and before any fuses but like I said i don't know bikes (let alone 'the' bike) well enough to comment. Airhead seems to know his stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j0hn Posted November 16, 2012 Share Posted November 16, 2012 Hey, how did you get on with this? I recently installed a set of R&G Heated grips on my XT 125 X and works great. Pretty much similar setup to Airhead's. It just seems better to have the grips powered off the batter through the relay operated by the tail light than have it pull 12v from the main wiring loom. Just incase something goes wrong, you've got the fuse but it's also isolated from rest of the electrics on your bike. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dewang Posted January 29, 2013 Author Share Posted January 29, 2013 So, took me a while to get around to it but I did eventually fit the grips and they're great! Now I get in to work and don't have numb fingers any more. I read on a few places that with a 125 engine it does still drain the battery a bit, so I do switch them off about 10 minutes before the end of my journey just to make sure the battery charges back up. I would definitely recommend these. On a cold day I have them at a setting of 3 initially (goes up to 5) and then turn them down to 2 since it is plenty warm on that setting. The one downside is that the ends of these grips are open so the inside of the bar is exposed. I'm going to get some bar ends to put on there so that I can close off the bars. Thanks again to airhead for sending me the connectors. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dewang Posted March 26, 2013 Author Share Posted March 26, 2013 Update for anyone who might come across this thread. The grips are good, but when it's bitterly cold you do need muffs or some sort of protection from the wind. The inside of my fingers stay warm but the outside of my fingers get quite cold and numb after a while. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DkD Posted March 26, 2013 Share Posted March 26, 2013 (Thanks dewang.. it's great to have an honest review. The finger tips are the parts that get the brunt of the cold for sure... nasty indeed). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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