So in my continuing effort to thwart BRP making every accessory cost $300 for mediocre stuff I decided to add a set of Oxford heated grips. I've had Oxfords on literally every bike I've had for the past 15 years (that didn't come with factory heated grips) Multiple levels of heat, comfortable grip surface, and at full crank they get so hot you can't hold them. Much better than the one heat setting of the BRP grips, which I've experienced to be less than awesome. However, as usual BRP has set about making every single aspect of the job as difficult as possible and uses as many non-industry standard parts as they can get away with. Handlebars that aren't really handlebars? Check. Throttle tubes that are non-standard diameter, that are also not removable from the throttle electronics? Check. Requirement that you remove nearly every piece of plastic on the bike to access the headlight bulbs? Check. (Side note I did a headlight upgrade while I had the body off, but that's only one part of the 'different' headlight upgrade so that'll be posted in a few weeks) Anyway, here's the process. The controller is fully potted into it's housing so no making it smaller or hiding it anywhere. The controller came with a bracket that mounts to the clutch perch of literally every other motorcycle ever made, but not this one. It also can mount to the handlebars with a clamp, except not this one due to a nonstandard size bar. So I looked at the way it all works together and came up with a plan. I cut the stock mounting bracket apart first, and measured the thickness of the steel, fifty four thousandths of an inch. I did some magic to make the lower clamshell fit in my mill vise and machined a slot in it slightly over a half inch wide, fifty thousandths of an inch deep. Then I rounded off the back of the post on the mating clamshell, and cut/sanded/drilled a piece of metal to fit into that and around that post. Next I reassembled the clamshell with the mounting tab in place, figured out where to cut it, did so, and welded the mount plate to the mount tab. Makes more sense when you look at the pictures. Anyway, I gave it a quick coat of epoxy paint and mounted the grip controller, and reassembled that side. The clutch side grip mounts to the handlebar stub with a pair of screws under the grip, so it came off pretty easily. Of course this left a non-standard size bar to mount the new heated grip to, so I had to add some shim stock and lots of superglue to get it to fit correctly. One other side note, I generally mount my Oxfords upside down relative to how they expect because it fits my hands better that way. So once I got the grip in place I had to take the clamshell off again for some filing and grooving to make a place for the wire to pass through. Wrapped both wires in matching loom and zip tied to the stock harness, then on to the throttle side. Here is where I had my 'well, if I screw this up I'll be getting the BRP grips anyway to fix it' moment. Once again, nonstandard size parts. Two throttle return springs. BRP used an enormous amount of glue to hold the stock grip onto the throttle tube. The throttle tube cannot be separated (that I could figure out, and the FSM doesn't say anything) from the throttle electronics, which makes mounting it in a lathe problematic. Once I cut/pulled/shaved/wire brushed the stock grip off the throttle tube, I measured the diameter of the tube at 1.060", when everybody else in the universe uses 1". This left me with thirty or so thousandths to take off the tube, without the lathe. Ended up cutting a 2x72" sanding belt in half and using it to slowly grind off the thirty thousandths per side. This of course led to thin spots, thick spots, etc. which took a fair amount of work to even out. Then I reassembled that side, applied the glue and drove the grip onto the throttle tube. Allowed enough slack to make sure I can get full throttle, then carefully zip tied the wire along the stock look to meet the other wires in front of the headstock. I grabbed power from the customer accessory circuit on the left side of the bike, connections crimped and heat shrunk to seal, then wrapped the wiring in matching loom cover and dropped the excess down next to the headstock. Quick test to verify that I didn't break anything and it all went back together. Quick test showed that the grips reach a bit over 110*f in about a minute on high, which is much hotter than the stock BRP grips ever get. Following that was reassembly of the rest of the bike, and tomorrow my daughter and I are taking it out for a couple hours for proper testing.
Untitled by Uncle Grr!, on Flickr√
Item 4 is the stock mounting bracket I cut apart.
Untitled by Uncle Grr!, on Flickr
Why the actual hell do you need to get this far to change a headlight bulb?
Untitled by Uncle Grr!, on Flickr
Pretty awful picture of the bracket. Imagine it rotated 90* clockwise and you can see the mounting tab with the hole that goes into the clamshell.
Untitled by Uncle Grr!, on Flickr
Post rounded over on the upper clamshell
Untitled by Uncle Grr!, on Flickr
Slot left when clamshell is reassembled. If I ever get rid of these grips that's the only evidence I modified anything at all.
Untitled by Uncle Grr!, on Flickr
Controller installed, but no cable management applied yet. It looks much neater in person now.
2019 F3S SM6 , Black metallic with pearl color change
I love it when someone does a quality workaround. That was a neat way you came up with a mount for the controller and you are so smart to place it and the grip with the cable on the left side. The BRP grip heater is just on or off, you have something better. Good job. And good photos too.
Ours is a red, black and chrome 2017 F3 Limited. Bought new in 2/2019. The avatar is my first bike back in 1952, a Simplex Servi-Cycle. Photo taken at the Barber Museum.
whodat I love your expertise and your creativity. I read every post you make. The only improvement I can suggest to to use paragraph breaks because your OP in this thread is nearly impossible to read. I copied it to my text editor and added some.
As for your ability I have no equal nor do I have the tools to make those detailed works. But, I do tend to make improvements to my bike that everyone can do. Just as a lark, here is a link to my removable heated grips which cost a few hours and less than $20 to make and install. They are also removable when the season ends (like now here ins SC). I'm taking them off today!
I printed your DYI treatise out too, so it would be easier for this oldster to read. You are a genius at improvising.
Ours is a red, black and chrome 2017 F3 Limited. Bought new in 2/2019. The avatar is my first bike back in 1952, a Simplex Servi-Cycle. Photo taken at the Barber Museum.
I bought the same grips a couple years ago and couldn't for the life of me figure out how to get the throttle side on. If I understand correctly, I have to cut the OEM rubber grip off the throttle, then sand down the tube itself and then try and glue the heated grip onto my now shaved down throttle tube?
I bought the same grips a couple years ago and couldn't for the life of me figure out how to get the throttle side on. If I understand correctly, I have to cut the OEM rubber grip off the throttle, then sand down the tube itself and then try and glue the heated grip onto my now shaved down throttle tube?
Yup, that’s exactly it. On any other bike the throttle tube is right at 1” so the Oxford is a tight press fit straight over it. My F3’s throttle tube was around 1.060” so I had to sand it down after I cut off the grip.
Side note, today was the first longish ride with them. This morning was 55*f, wearing winter gloves, 70mph. 100% was too hot to hold the grips, 70% was fine while I was moving. I occasionally had to take my hand off the grips and let the wind cool down the grip and my gloves. On the way home, same speeds, 60*f, lightweight summer gloves. 100% was too hot to hold, 70% was fine but I ended up at 50% most of the ride.
2019 F3S SM6 , Black metallic with pearl color change
Whodat thank you so much for posting this. I've been following it pretty closely to install my Oxford grips. I've got a quick question. It seems that I have the same exact model grip as yours but I'm realizing now that my model is designed for 7/8" grips. Did you somehow manage to squeeze the 7/8" grip over the 1" handlebar after you sanded it down? I'm panicking because I noticed now that Oxford also has a 1" version for cruisers but it's awfully gawdy with flames and stuff. Hopefully I did not make the wrong purchase, as I've already begun modifying the bracket like you. Hopefully I hear from you soon cause I'm losing my mind! Thanks!
Hey! Just wanted to let you know I figured it out. I didn't realize you had to remove the plastic tube on the clutch side. I spent 2 hours trying to sand it down to almost paper thickness, then realized it wasn't going to go all the way down to 22mm, panicked, and contacted you lol. Anyway, want to say thanks again for posting this thread. My grips are now installed!
Just followed everything you did to get the grips on, thank you!!! But how did you keep the grips from interfering with the gear selector? Right now I have to use two hands to put the bike into Neutral/Reverse.
Just followed everything you did to get the grips on, thank you!!! But how did you keep the grips from interfering with the gear selector? Right now I have to use two hands to put the bike into Neutral/Reverse.
I also have an SE model. How much interferance do you have with shifter? Where you able to resolve it?
Heated grips installed, differently
Untitled by Uncle Grr!, on Flickr√
Untitled by Uncle Grr!, on Flickr
Untitled by Uncle Grr!, on Flickr
Untitled by Uncle Grr!, on Flickr
Untitled by Uncle Grr!, on Flickr
Untitled by Uncle Grr!, on Flickr
Untitled by Uncle Grr!, on Flickr
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to see MY heated gear PAGE
Originally Posted by SmoovOpRatoR
