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Heated Grips are intermittent on F800ST
- Thread starter MotoMo78
- Start date
My 2011 F800ST has an issue...heated grips sometime work. Had the shop "reset" them already...any ideas out there? Thank you
Two chances for input here in NE Kansas; buddy and I both ride 800STs. Mine has had zero issues with heated grips, but buddy has had problems like you are describing; his battery even ran down twice already and he has had it to the dealer for a checkup. Hint: your bike has a fail safe circuit that shuts off the heated grips when the battery is low on charge.
Question for you: are you running ANY auxiliary equipment that draws electrical power from the bike?
The way you shift gears might be the culprit. Yep, that is correct ... shifting gears, or rather revving the engine, might be the culprit here. My buddy shifts earlier, below 4k rpm mostly, and I tend to shift closer to 4.5k or 5k rpm. The 800 engine does not make enough electrical power to operate all standard equipment PLUS anything extra. The max power output of the alternator is about 400 or so watts (substandard in my view for a touring or sport-touring ride) and it does not reach that max output until somewhere around 4,200 rpm. My buddy was essentially running his battery down each time he rode his bike around town (highway riding usually spins the engine at 4k and above, so no issues) and the heated grips were therefore routinely shutting themselves on and off.
You will have better luck if you learn to ride around town in one gear lower than you currently do. Don't worry about the engine overrevving, that engine seems to love to rev a little higher than you might think.
