Upgrading Avon Custom Contour heated grips.
#1
Upgrading Avon Custom Contour heated grips.
So, I have Avon Custom Contour heated grips installed on Reaper, and I LOVE them. The only problem is that whatever rubber they use, wears out fast. I get about 2 years out of the rubber on their grips. With the non-heated version I had installed prior, I would order replacement rubber sleeves, and well, replace them, haha!
When the heated grips rubber wore out, earlier this year, I called Avon to see if I could send the grips back to them for the sleeve replacement, since the heater pad is something I never dealt with before.
They told me that they don't do re-sleeves on the heated grips because they're worried about cutting the heating element, when removing the old rubber.
So, I said, "ok, can I just buy a pair of grips, since I don't need the controller or anything else. They said "Nope, you have to buy the whole system". That costs over $300.00 these days, so I said no thanks. I also told them that's a ripoff, and they should sell the grips alone, because sometimes the heaters fail, and why have to buy an entire system to replace one grip? Same for the rubber sleeves...
Anyway, I figured what the hell? I'll see what the grips are all about. So, I easily removed the old rubber without damaging the heating element. The clutch side heater wasn't working when I removed the grips, because the wire connection had corroded.
Looking at them, it's just a set of standard grips with heating pads glued to them. So I did some research online, and found what I needed: polyimide heating pads. 30 bucks later, I had 6 pads delivered to my door. I also ordered 4 replacement rubber sleeves for another 30 ish bucks. I had measured the working heater, and found it to be an 18 W pad. The replacements are 25 W. I removed the old pads, installed the new ones, installed the sleeves, and Bob's your uncle. Not only do I have new sleeves, the grips are hotter than original, which is AWESOME!!!
So, bottom line: they wanted me to drop 300 bucks for a new complete system that will last 2 years. Instead, I dropped about 60, did the job, and have enough materials to do another complete job next time, AND the grips perform better now!
Cheers!
When the heated grips rubber wore out, earlier this year, I called Avon to see if I could send the grips back to them for the sleeve replacement, since the heater pad is something I never dealt with before.
They told me that they don't do re-sleeves on the heated grips because they're worried about cutting the heating element, when removing the old rubber.
So, I said, "ok, can I just buy a pair of grips, since I don't need the controller or anything else. They said "Nope, you have to buy the whole system". That costs over $300.00 these days, so I said no thanks. I also told them that's a ripoff, and they should sell the grips alone, because sometimes the heaters fail, and why have to buy an entire system to replace one grip? Same for the rubber sleeves...
Anyway, I figured what the hell? I'll see what the grips are all about. So, I easily removed the old rubber without damaging the heating element. The clutch side heater wasn't working when I removed the grips, because the wire connection had corroded.
Looking at them, it's just a set of standard grips with heating pads glued to them. So I did some research online, and found what I needed: polyimide heating pads. 30 bucks later, I had 6 pads delivered to my door. I also ordered 4 replacement rubber sleeves for another 30 ish bucks. I had measured the working heater, and found it to be an 18 W pad. The replacements are 25 W. I removed the old pads, installed the new ones, installed the sleeves, and Bob's your uncle. Not only do I have new sleeves, the grips are hotter than original, which is AWESOME!!!
So, bottom line: they wanted me to drop 300 bucks for a new complete system that will last 2 years. Instead, I dropped about 60, did the job, and have enough materials to do another complete job next time, AND the grips perform better now!
Cheers!
#3
The polyimide heater pads came from amazon (Canadian version, so they're probably cheaper in the USA):
The replacement grip sleeves came from Avon: https://avongrips-com.3dcartstores.c...nly_p_408.html
Cheers!
The following users liked this post:
Goose_NC (Today)
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
Clammy
General Harley Davidson Chat
8
10-26-2023 09:49 PM