Retrofit BMW heated grips r1100rt

[JapaneseBob]

Ebay.co.uk Gentlemen, I have just removed some failed after market heated grips, and wish to install genuine bmw ones.  

I can purchase the grips and the switch on eBay, but I'm not sure if my bike has the wiring loom in place.  I have been advised (by watching Chris Harris) to look for a white plug on the left side about level with the lower part of the tank.  

 

I will attempt to attach photos of what I found and I need to know if I am looking at the white plug in question or something totally unrelated... 

 

My bike is a 1998 r1100rt, it has the glove compartment without radio - so not a forces/police bike. It has a blank in place of the heated grip switch.  It is a UK bike. 

 

The first image is a bunch of wires that terminate with big plastic caps on - what on earth are they for? 

 

Thw second is a bunch of stuff I assumed was for the non existent radio, and the third is very close to the heated grip switch. 

 

 

Your advice in appreciated! 

[dirtrider]

19 minutes ago, JapaneseBob said:

Ebay.co.uk Gentlemen, I have just removed some failed after market heated grips, and wish to install genuine bmw ones.  

I can purchase the grips and the switch on eBay, but I'm not sure if my bike has the wiring loom in place.  I have been advised (by watching Chris Harris) to look for a white plug on the left side about level with the lower part of the tank.  

 

I will attempt to attach photos of what I found and I need to know if I am looking at the white plug in question or something totally unrelated... 

 

My bike is a 1998 r1100rt, it has the glove compartment without radio - so not a forces/police bike. It has a blank in place of the heated grip switch.  It is a UK bike. 

 

The first image is a bunch of wires that terminate with big plastic caps on - what on earth are they for? 

 

Thw second is a bunch of stuff I assumed was for the non existent radio, and the third is very close to the heated grip switch. 

 

 

Your advice in appreciated! 

 

 

 

 

Afternoon JapaneseBob

 

I don't know what connectors are under those rubber caps (those are not OEM BMW) but the white 4 pin that you show above is for the heated grips. 

[JapaneseBob]

Oh jolly good, I think I just need the two grips and the switch then.  Thank you for your help. 

 

[Miguel!]

I am in the process of also retrofitting BMW heated grips on my 2001 R1100RT. It did not have them when manufactured and also came with the blank cover for the switch hole. 

 

At this juncture, I've purchased a switch and heated grips. I verified the grips heated up and the switch operated as expected. There are two connectors associated with the heated grips: one is connected to the switch via a short cable. That connector is behind the dash board, just above and to the left of the brake handle. I got to it by removing the dashboard. That is pretty straight forward. BTW, there are a couple screws behind the mirrors that have to be removed to get the dashboard out of the way. The first picture in my thread show this connector. Its a unique shape that interfaces to the heated grip switch connector cable and pretty obvious when you see it. It just inside the fairing, to the right of the left mirror. 

 

The second connector connects the two wires from each grip to the bike. Photos 2 and 3 of my thread show this connector. Your photo above shows the mating connector. I haven't found that connector yet tho BMWST member Still Cal shows it was behind the left leg shield, just to the left of the left heat vent tunnel. I'd appreciate a bit more info about its location and how you accessed it. Once I know that location and how to access it, I should have heated grips. 

 

I hope that helps you and I look forward to hearing back about the location of that mating square connector on the bike. A photo zoomed out so I can see its location on the bike would be great. 

 

Cheers and congrats on the bike. Enjoy it.

[JapaneseBob]

Okay Miguel, I will take some more photos today. Between us perhaps we can both get our heated grips sorted. 

 

[Miguel!]

I"m confident we will be successful, one way or another. I tested the grips (they get really hot on high) and the switch when connected to the bike. They work as expected. 

 

I purchased a pair from eBay and one of the grips didn't work. If you want to check the grips before installing and you have an Ohm meter, they measure about 8 ohms each. 

 

BTW, the grips are connected to a 4 amp fuse in slot 7 of the  fuse box (its under the seat). My bike didn't have a fuse in that slot and I suspect your bike won't either. You'll have to get a blade-type 4 amp fuse. I attached a fuse box diagram below. It's the view you get when viewed from the left side of the bike. The diagram is for a GS but I couldn't find one for the RT tho I suspect they have the same layout.

 

I look forward to the pictures.

 

When I get this all completed, I'll write up a how-to and post it on the forum for posterity. 

 

Miguel

[JapaneseBob]

Excellent, thank you.  I have taken a couple more photos to show where the socket is, and I found the other socket as well by removing the front fairing.  I have ordered the grips and switch from ebay, I await their arrival... 

[Miguel!]

Perfect JBob. That's exactly where Still Cal shows it. Thanks for verifying that! 

 

I have a of other projects I need to finish before I can get back to the heated grips. I'll post back when I get it completed. 

 

Best

Miguel

[dan cata]

My suggestion is go for the OEM heated grips but control them using an aftermarket controller, like Oxford produces.

They are just a resistor, so no polarity. The OEM setup has 2 steps, lower one and you won't feel a thing, hi-beam and it will burn your hands

Now if you were to adjust the heat in le't say 5 steps... that would be a nice thing.

 

Dan.

[Miguel!]

Dan, Interesting thought about the Oxford controller. There are other 12V "dimmer" that can be use as well, I found some on Amazon that are used for ATVs, boats and other weather exposed vehicles. This one for example will control the current of a source up to 4.3 amps. Sorry the image is so big, I don't know how to control that. 

 

 

The current draw on the grips is I=13V/(4.5 ohms) = 2.9 amps (each grip is about 9 ohms and they operate in parallel). So the dimmer can easily handle it. The switch uses pulse width modulation (PWM) to control the current to its load, heated grips in our case. PWM essentially turns the current on and off periodically with an internal electronic switch. The higher the percentage time its on, the warmer the grips. At the extremes, when its on full, the current flows continuously. When off, no current flows. When its on 50%, current only flows 50% of the time. And so on.

 

TO use this, you'd have to modify the switch (pretty easy) to put this in series with the power going to the grips. For myself, I'm sign to try the OEM switch and see how it works for me in my environment. I hope to do the install by the end of the weekend. We'll see. 

[dirtrider]

6 hours ago, Miguel! said:

Dan, Interesting thought about the Oxford controller. There are other 12V "dimmer" that can be use as well, I found some on Amazon that are used for ATVs, boats and other weather exposed vehicles. This one for example will control the current of a source up to 4.3 amps. Sorry the image is so big, I don't know how to control that. 

 

 

 

The current draw on the grips is I=13V/(4.5 ohms) = 2.9 amps (each grip is about 9 ohms and they operate in parallel). So the dimmer can easily handle it. The switch uses pulse width modulation (PWM) to control the current to its load, heated grips in our case. PWM essentially turns the current on and off periodically with an internal electronic switch. The higher the percentage time its on, the warmer the grips. At the extremes, when its on full, the current flows continuously. When off, no current flows. When its on 50%, current only flows 50% of the time. And so on.

 

TO use this, you'd have to modify the switch (pretty easy) to put this in series with the power going to the grips. For myself, I'm sign to try the OEM switch and see how it works for me in my environment. I hope to do the install by the end of the weekend. We'll see. 

 

Morning  Miguel!

 

After you ride with the stock grip heaters for  while you will start noticing a difference in heating between the L/H side & the R/H side.

 

The L/H side grip heater is solid mounted around the cold metal handlebar so doesn't feel as hot as the floating twist grip mounted R/H grip that is somewhat insulated from the cold handlebar. 

 

Plus a rider usually grips the R/H side tighter (so more heat transfer) due to the heavy throttle body return springs forcing a tight grip on the throttle tube & grip heater.

 

Then in my case I would constantly remove my hand from the L/H grip  for a number of riding related functions so that made the L/H grip cool off even more due to cold air flowing over & around the exposed grip heater with hand removed. 

[Miguel!]

DR. Thanks for your nuanced and detailed description of the heated-grips differential performance characteristics. Left to my own devices, I'd have attributed it to differences in resistance rather than the subtle mechanical configuration. I hope to get them installed in the next couple days and will report back. 

 

Cheers! Miguel

[Miguel!]

I made good progress the last two days and finished the heated grip install today in time to get a 90 minute ride in. The grips work well. On low, they are a pleasant temperature. On high, they are just below uncomfortably hot. I'll post more about the overall install in the next few days so future owners of the R1100RT without heated grips can install them decades later.  Thanks for all the help everyone!!

 

Miguel

[Ladioviro]

Do you ever notice when they get hot that the throttle sticks? 

 

Maybe my closing cable is too slack, works great it the cold though

[dirtrider]

1 hour ago, Ladioviro said:

Do you ever notice when they get hot that the throttle sticks? 

 

Maybe my closing cable is too slack, works great it the cold though

 

Afternoon  Ladioviro

 

That is/was a somewhat common problem as the twist grip being heated grew in length then it would drag on the bar end weight.

 

The cure was to either shim the bar end weight out slightly with a washer or loosen, then  move, the switch/grip assembly inboard slightly.   

[Ladioviro]

1 minute ago, dirtrider said:

 

Afternoon  Ladioviro

 

That is was a somewhat common problem as the twist grip being heated grew in length then it would drag on the bar end weight.

 

The cure was to either shim the bar end weight out slightly with a washer or loosen, then  move, the switch/grip assembly inboard slightly.   

Ahhhh, well, good to hear it's common and curable, I'll look at that before I go out next. 

 

thanks!

[Miguel!]

Sorry I'm late to the reply on this. I put in a 14 hour day and just now looking at things. I have not experienced that problem. When I put the grips on, I cleaned the handlebars and the inside of the throttle grip of dust, grease, oil, and gunk. I then sprayed WD40 Dry Lube on the bars and inside the throttle grip. My bike also has a friction-based throttle lock in place of the bar-end weight (I don't know which one, installed by the PO) and that may be the reason I'm not seeing any sticking. It might make sense to pull off the throttle and clean the handlebars and lube it with dry lube of some sort or silicon spray if Dirt Rider's the washer trick doesn't work. Let us know what happens please.

 

Best

Miguel

[Mike1997 RT]

15 hours ago, dirtrider said:

 

Afternoon  Ladioviro

 

That is/was a somewhat common problem as the twist grip being heated grew in length then it would drag on the bar end weight.

 

The cure was to either shim the bar end weight out slightly with a washer or loosen, then  move, the switch/grip assembly inboard slightly.   

 

I had found the same issue with my twist grip even without using the grip heaters. Found a small thick washer in my parts bin that spaced the bar end/weight just enough to allow the throttle to rotate smoothly.

Now I don’t feel so bad knowing this was a common problem!