Yep, some winters are better/worse than others. Last winter was pretty mild, I was riding non-stop into mid January with the heated gear and still managed to get out every couple of weeks after that. The killer is when the salt goes down and there's no rain to wash it away. I'm hoping for another mild winter.....

 

The parts person at my local dealership stated they were a waste of money. Too many failures. (And we know how HD takes care of failures!) He stated that the heated gloves were a better value.

 

I went with theaerostich grip heaters. I think they were $35 with shipping. They are thin heating pads that mount using existing grips and so far no probs. I have a buddy that have had them on his Road King for a couple of years and they are still keeping him toasty.

The thing I like about them over heated gloves is I prefer to wear fingerless gloves in teh summer months. With these, you can turn them on for the cool morning rides and then switch them off. No need to pack multiple pairs of gloves. They also have a high/lo setting which is nice. The high gets things quite hot in a hurry and the low is great for when it is just a little cold.

If anyone is looking to get these, I found that they work just as well mounted inside the bar. This way you don't have to worry about clearances on the throttle grip side. I packed the bar with insulation and then ran the wires out one of the existing holes.

D.

 

Been running standard H-D heated grips now for on my 05 since it was new.
No problems of any kind.
[sm=pcwhack.gif]
dave

 

try these-- www.symtec-inc.com/heatdemon.htm

 

I spent about four hours riding in the rain a couple of week ago. If they never work again, the heated grips have paid for themselves.
The instruction said I need to run wires under the tank to the battery, but I'm not so sure I couldn't have found all the power I needed under the headlight. Half the job was running the wires.
Hint #1 You don't need to take the tank off. Take the bolts off the front and lift the tank up enough to snake the wires through.
Hint #2 Don't try to save the left grip. Just cut it up enought so that it comes off easy and you won't hirt yourself. Then throw it out.
Hint #3 They give you new plastic things to hold the wires to the handle bars. Yank out the old ones and throw them out or they will snag the wire as you try to run it from the right grip to the left.
Hint #4 use a shop vacuum to suck a string from the right side to the left and then pull the wire through with the string.
Hint #5 don't pinch any wires when you screw things back together.
Hint #6 back off the throttle cables like the instructions told you to do. And don't lose that little shoe that goes on the little screw that will set some tention on the throttle.

 

I have had the HD heated grips on my 06 for a year no problems. Need gloves like the Lee Parks that will absorb the heat from the grips. Most gloves just insulate you from the heat. If you go with the heated gloves look for the ones that have the heat coils that go down each finger.