I live in the Chicago area and after having carpal tunnel surgery on both wrists, this was one of the better options I added on the bike! May not be manly, but it allows me to ride longer in the year!

 

when I bought my 07 RKC the dealer said they were having problems with the HD one so they were installing snowmobile ones. The wired them to the extra switch opposite the running light switch. Won't be without them. When cold temps I can still ride with light gloves.

 

they were $20 plus labor to install.

 

20,000 miles on the bike, HD grips installed by dealer when bike was new. Never had a problem and I really like them in April and October. Otherwise they are turned off. Bike is usually put away for the winter up here in MN. I guess when they go I will look into the heat demons.

 

I have Hot Grips on my 95 RK and HD grips on my 09 RK. The Wife has HD grips on her 07 RK.
I like the heated grips very much. They are of most value to me when it is only slightly cold. That is, when it is not cold enough to make me stop and change gloves but cold enough to be uncomfortable. Just flipping (turning) that switch has often been a blessing. For real cold, heavy gloves/heated gloves have no equal.

The HD heated grips are very complicated. They have about 13 electronic components in the left grip. A simple high-low-off switch would have been better. I disassembled a heated grip last year. Do a search for my posts about that.

If I had to do it again, I think I would go with the Demons. Right now the grips on my Wife's have failed. I am seeking a work-around for that now. The grip itself can't be repaired.

I think we would be wise to bombard HD with complaints about the grips altho I can't imagine they do not know of the very high failure rate.

E

 

I ride all year, and i dont use heated grips its to uneven, I do use Gerbings G3 electric heated gloves plugged into the heated jacket liner. I stay warm and i havent even turned it up half way in 20 degree weather. look them up they are pricey but not as pricey as HD.

Jim

 

Lets see. $260.00 + labor unless you install yourself for the grips and life expectancy seems to be less than 2 years on average. I bought my Gerbings gloves on impulse from the dealer at $180.00 so know I could have paid much less and this with a satisfactory warranty. I didn't stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night but somehow I feel like I should have in order to do the math and figure out which is the better of the 2 options. Just sayin' is all.....

 

i have them , installed them myself . they worked then didn't but with an electrical tester i found my problem ( a small connector socket pin had broke connecting the two grips ) but with some splicing and good rubber electrical tape on every connection they work great . wonderful . but i can see where the problem is with them and have read a lot about how they fail . but after struggling with them for a month i've learned quite a bit about them .

 

I put the factory heated grips on the bike so they would always be there rather than forgetting to bring the heated gloves. Dislike the grips alot. Inside of hands warm, outside cold. Better than nothing, but I'm going to try heated gloves and socks.

 

i have used heated grips and heated gloves. the gloves were gerbing. the gloves are much better for warmth and were water resistant. they are not bulky. about $300 for gloves and thermostat. i didn't consider the battery operated gloves because of battery life was stated at five hours. one must have the thermostat to avoid baked hands.