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Adding heated grips to my 75/5
- Thread starter 9842
- Start date
happy wanderer
Day Dreaming ...
I put a set of Oxford "original" heated grips on my R80G/S using power direct from the battery but switched via a relay. This insures they go off when the bike is switched off. Normally these will fit right on with a little lubricant like soapy water or some use hairspray however in the odd case (like mine) the throttle side was a bit too tight. Luckily my good friend had a lathe and we took a wee bit off the aluminum throttle. I am very happy with the results. These grips work extremely well and with a digital control give you a much wider variety of temperature selection than OEM grips. Not quite as pretty as the wiring goes down the bars instead of inside but in my case OEM grips were near impossible to find anyway. I paid under $80 for the Oxford set and they are well worth it.
AntonLargiader
Active member
I don't know that much about aftermarket heated grips, but the BMW grips don't draw very much power (they also don't get really hot). I haven't measured, but I recall numbers like 22W being thrown around back when I cared. Although the /5 has a low charging output, I don't think this would be a problem. I have run a heated jacket on my /5 at partial power which is probably 40W or so. I usually try, on any Airhead, to shut off extra loads and the headlight a few minutes before parking the bike, just to help the battery recover from whatever I may have done to it.
I have to say, though, a charging system upgrade is nice if you want to use the bike in the cold. You can pile on the jacket, grips and 55W H4 headlight without worrying about things.
I have to say, though, a charging system upgrade is nice if you want to use the bike in the cold. You can pile on the jacket, grips and 55W H4 headlight without worrying about things.
R75/5 charging w grips
I have to say I found the 180W /5 rather marginal unless I was really on the highway. I upgraded to a /7 280W system 30 years ago and can't believe the difference. It actually maintains charge around town. (same electronic regulator through it all). You probably want to cob together a voltmeter to monitor this- you may be unpleasantly surprised how much even 22W pulls it down. That's a bit more than the brake light, and that makes a big difference at slow speeds. I suspect you will find you need an average of about 500 rpm more to maintain the battery state, and that will seem like a lot. If you are going to draw any extra power, you will get most warmth for your watts from a vest or jacket liner.
I have to say I found the 180W /5 rather marginal unless I was really on the highway. I upgraded to a /7 280W system 30 years ago and can't believe the difference. It actually maintains charge around town. (same electronic regulator through it all). You probably want to cob together a voltmeter to monitor this- you may be unpleasantly surprised how much even 22W pulls it down. That's a bit more than the brake light, and that makes a big difference at slow speeds. I suspect you will find you need an average of about 500 rpm more to maintain the battery state, and that will seem like a lot. If you are going to draw any extra power, you will get most warmth for your watts from a vest or jacket liner.
