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Heated grip troubleshooting


JimmR75

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I have a new-to-me 95 R1100RS with factory heated grips that were not working when I purchased the bike. The #4 fuse in the fuse box is intact and tests ok. What is the best method/sequence of troubleshooting the grip heater circuit?

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I have a new-to-me 95 R1100RS with factory heated grips that were not working when I purchased the bike. The #4 fuse in the fuse box is intact and tests ok. What is the best method/sequence of troubleshooting the grip heater circuit?

 

Afternoon JimmR75

 

Place I would start is to make sure that fuse #7 is good. (not just by looking but by replacing or measuring across it with an ohmmeter)

 

If fuse 7 ok then look for power into the heated grip switch (green wire).

 

From there you will have to look for power out of the switch & check the handlebar heater resistance on each side.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Thanks very much for your input.

I checked the fuse, and all the fuses, with an ohmmeter and all are good.

How do I remove the switch from the fairing or is there another point to test for voltage?

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Thanks very much for your input.

I checked the fuse, and all the fuses, with an ohmmeter and all are good.

How do I remove the switch from the fairing or is there another point to test for voltage?

 

Morning JimmR75

 

There should be a pig tail coming off of the switch -- the (green/yellow) wire is 12v power INTO the switch.

 

The (orange) wire coming out of the switch is the grip heater low.

 

The (black) wire coming out of the switch is grip heater high.

 

(the above wire colors are on the switch side of the connector/ the bikes side of the connector used slightly different wire colors)

 

The brown wire coming out of the grip heater connectors are the grip heater grounds.

 

 

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I cured my non-working heated grips by removing the switch from the panel. Turn it over and there is a small hole just big enough for a spray cleaner straw to fit. I used CRC electronic cleaner but all my electrics needing cleaning will get Deoxit from now on.

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On my 96 RT, my left side is working but the right side is not. I'm guessing a broken line to the right grip....

Edited by Dave P
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On my 96 RT, my left side is working but the right side is not. I'm guessing a broken line to the right grip....

 

Morning Dave

 

That is usually the case when one side works the other side doesn't. It could be the wire going to the heated grip, or the heater in the grip has a broken grid wire.

 

It isn't that difficult to track down with a voltmeter & ohmmeter.

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  • 2 months later...

Finally had a chance to pull the fairing panel off and check things with a meter.

1. Full 12V power to the switch.

2. Appropriate continuity through the switch in both settings.

 

Since neither grip is working I suspect a bad common ground.

 

Does the grip circuit share a ground or do the grips ground separately?

 

If common, where is the ground?

 

Thanks in advance for any help.

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Finally had a chance to pull the fairing panel off and check things with a meter.

1. Full 12V power to the switch.

2. Appropriate continuity through the switch in both settings.

 

Since neither grip is working I suspect a bad common ground.

 

Does the grip circuit share a ground or do the grips ground separately?

 

If common, where is the ground?

 

Thanks in advance for any help.

 

Morning JimmR75

 

Yes, the heated grips use a shared ground. (way up under air box). If everything else is working then the ground is probably not the issue.

 

Just ohm out the ground side between the connector & the battery (-) post.

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As always, thanks very much for the input and guidance provided in these forums.

 

How can I identify the shared ground referenced above?

 

I've cared for my now 40-year-old Airhead for 25 years now so have some experience with the eccentricities of BMW electrical systems, but am quite new to my 20-year-old Oilhead.

 

Thanks in advance for any guidance or assistance.

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Afternoon JimmR75

How can I identify the shared ground referenced above?

 

Brown wire-- Just use an ohmmeter between the brown wire in the heated grip connector & the battery (-) post. If it is open then you have a grounding issue. If it isn't open then look elsewhere.

 

 

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Still trying to sort out the grips.

 

Switch is functional, power to the switch.

 

Which connector are you referring to ohm out to the negative (-) battery post?

 

Thanks in advance, as always.

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Still trying to sort out the grips.

 

Switch is functional, power to the switch.

 

Which connector are you referring to ohm out to the negative (-) battery post?

 

Thanks in advance, as always.

 

Morning JimmR75

 

The connector where the grip heater pig tails plug into the sub harness going back to the switch. (just follow the grip heater wires from the grip back to under front of fuel tank)

 

You can also reverse that & ohm out the pig tails going to the grip heaters looking for opens.

 

Shouldn't be difficult to find the problem as you seem to have power to the switch & the switch shows functional so that leaves an open in the ground side, or an open in the wiring between the switch & grip heaters, or an open in the heater grid themselves.

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  • 6 months later...

The wiring to both grips each indicated an open when metered separately. I pulled the bar end weights off and found each grip had both wires broken at where they made the turn at the end of the grip.

 

These were very difficult to solder to but I managed to splice in a short piece on each wire and now have functioning heated grips.

 

The design lends itself to this as a point of failure and I am surprised that they did not develop a more robust method of connection.

 

Thanks to all here for their input.

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The design lends itself to this as a point of failure and I am surprised that they did not develop a more robust method of connection.

Maybe it could be more robust, but failure of the grip anywhere in the system is very rare unless it has been tampered with in the past.

Some of these bikes are getting on for 20 years old, left out in all weathers, done hundreds of thousands of miles and all is good. I'd suggest that you were exceptionally unfortunate.

Well done for getting them going again.

 

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The wiring to both grips each indicated an open when metered separately. I pulled the bar end weights off and found each grip had both wires broken at where they made the turn at the end of the grip.

 

These were very difficult to solder to but I managed to splice in a short piece on each wire and now have functioning heated grips.

 

The design lends itself to this as a point of failure and I am surprised that they did not develop a more robust method of connection.

 

Thanks to all here for their input.

Actually, the design is not that bad, I do not know of any other bike manufacturer or aftermarket heated grips manufacturer that allows heated grips with hidden, yet functional, wires. The implementation is pretty neat on both the RT and the GS handlebar types.

Other brands have bulky wires, interfere with the buttons, levers, etc.

IMHO, BMW did it pretty well on the 1100/1150 bikes. The 1200 series heated grips fail a lot, can't be fixed and cost pretty much to replace.

 

Dan.

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I agree with Dan Cata. Other than the outdated use of the resistor for "low", instead of a pulse, I've been pleased. I've had 3 sets of BMW grips on 3 BMW motorcycles each for about 110K miles. (K75, R1100rs, R1150RT). My RT's are starting to split rubber but they still work.

Edited by Sam Taylor
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Another well designed feature is that if the rubber wears, you can just replace the rubber and keep the heated winding. Not possible on aftermarket grips...

 

Dan.

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