Broken heated grip again

[Joesmoe]

And I forgot to mention, this cool season (late fall into winter into early spring) I will also have the heated seats going (rider plus pillion) and double jackets/gloves (rider plus pillion).

And I have the series R/R thanks to the suggestion of DEcosse.

I may need to install some sort of recording ammeter - perhaps a modern version of the old analog ammeters on cars, showing the current draw. The only time I ever watched that closely, was on my 1971 Jaguar Series III E-Type V-12 2+2, when once I drove from Houston to Boston with no alternator, carefully choosing my fuel stops for places that still offered repair service, and after fueling up, I would pull over to the side, where they would hook up the battery charger and I would take off again. Ended sleeping in the car in New York, because the draw of the headlights far exceeded what was required to run the 12 spark plugs, and while it daylight the battery would last as long as the fuel tank, I could get barely 50 miles with the lights on.

@DEcosse - you had the suggestions for R/R, FuelBot 2.0 -- might you also have one for a recording ammeter ?

 

[Idaho Red Rocket 3]

I have been thinking of adding heated grips to 2006 standard. I have heard the Triumph grips are poorly made and fail easily. Is that still the case today 12 years into the build ? If so, what is recommended today ?

 

[Pete]

Those number are WAY off
The Standard, Roadster and Touring all use the same stator - this is rated to produce 37A at 2000 rom and 41A at 600rpm
37A is ~ 444W at a nominal '12V'
Sticking with current, a Standard or Roadster (with twin headlights) draws somewhere in the 16-18A range; a Touring model with the driving lamps on is going to be marginally more (or a bit less if they are off)
This is not accounting for 'momentary' loads such as Brake Light, Horn and Turn Signals - or indeed the cooling fan
But you can see there is a LOT of excess current available from the stator.... And 4A from heated grips puts a MINIMAL impact on that available capability.

I have not seen any reference to any 'high current' stator option but would be pleased to have info on this if indeed is the case.
If there is, it most certainly is not to cater for a heated grips load of 4A.



We have to be careful in selecting some factors out of context: I myself have alluded to replacing lights with LEDs "to reduce load" but this is on CLASSICS (and NOT Roadsters) and the object is to reduce the current through the key-switch, nothing to do with the stator.
(I also made similar suggestion re Touring for same fundamental reason of the key-switch current although I also took pains to suggest I did not believe the current through was a problem on those models, however if someone wished to reduce that current, an LED was one good way to do so)
Not withstanding that in their own right, many of the currently available LEDs simply offer much better lighting.
But specifically to Roadsters, there is no real electrical advantage (or reliability improvement) in converting to LEDs - unless a user is really tapped out on that 37A limit with multiple accessory lights and two sets of full heated gear (rider plus passenger)

As far as reducing load to "make more available for accessories", that should not typically be necessary as illustrated above (but there may be exceptions).

Also important to note that reducing any load used by the bike does absolutely nothing to the current load on the stator, which is always at maximum with the OEM Shunt R/R; the R/R is already burning all that excess available power.
Nor however does a Series R/R give you any more power available for accessories - however it does greatly reduce the current generated by the stator, therefor influencing its reliability and longevity.

Thanks DEcosse, your advice is (as usual) detailed and very helpful.
Much appreciated
Pete

 

[Joesmoe]

I have experience with two -- both fine alternatives. There could be more.

1) Oxford Cruiser Heated Grips for 1" handlebars

2) Avon cushioned heated grips

I chose the second one when I purchased the bike, and I'll not do this again -- for anything -- when the dealer knows they have your money, THEN, and only then do they call in the back and "drop everything - get this bike ready for delivery" and in the rush, things are missed -- and in my case, the mechanic apparently didn't know the bus had a connector for heated grips, and chose another method for connecting them, that didn't work. Amazing. I blamed the grips, and took the bike to someone I trust, requesting the grips be replaced with the first one (above) because I had been happy with those on my Suzuki 650 DL V-Strom. When I got the bike back from the mechanic, he said, "I did what you asked, and the Oxford grips are on the bike. Here are the Avon grips, and there is nothing wrong with them -- the previous guy yada yada yada.
I still have the Avon grips in a box, waiting for, I dunno ?

I'm sure there are others. Don't think you can go wrong with either one of these.

 

[rainman]

As far as I know the problem with the heated grips was with the touring model

 

[Itse saatana]

As far as I know the problem with the heated grips was with the touring model

Is this not the Touring model forum?

I bought my bike last february with the Triumph heated grips on. Didn´t take more than two thousand kilometres or so to break the trottle grip. I put the ISO grips on and forgot about the poor genuine heated grips. My bike is 2009 model and I don´t know when the grips were installed but no better quality there.

 

[Joesmoe]

This is the ROCKET forum -- ALL Rockets and their Captains are welcome here.

@rainman has been around a long time, and one would be wise to hesitate to doubt his collected wisdom, though to my knowledge, we are all human and suffer human frailties of all manner.

So, *I* do NOT/NOT know. I was influenced by this thread before I purchased my Rocket, had had a good experience on the bike I just sold, and elected to go back with those in lieu of taking a chance on the Triumph-branded version.

 

[blip]

As far as I know the problem with the heated grips was with the touring model

I can attest that on my last bike (2010 Touring) the heated grips didn't last morethan 8000 km before the throttle tube broke. I have heard the same story many times, but not from the standard or roadster models.

 

[cr0ft]

This is the ROCKET forum -- ALL Rockets and their Captains are welcome here.

While I won't argue against that, this specific sub-forum is definitely named the "Rocket III Touring Forum", so the assumption would be that it's for discussing Tourings specifically. Since they're very different in some areas.

But yeah, I'm planning on replacing the grips on mine this winter, not sure with what exactly but something better.

 

[Joesmoe]

@cr0ft I can attest the Oxfords are reasonable and work well.

Love your post about the hand guards -- between a set of those, the deflectors from @Bedifferent -- and the heated grips, I should be all set this season.