Hand warmers/ Heated grips

[somegirl]

I have the Dual-stars, and have been happy with them except my switch just recently went bad and we have to replace it.   I haven't had issues with uneven heating that Triple J mentions.  I got aftermarket grips from Dual-star.

I'm ok with the high-off-low switch.  We live in the SF bay area and the coldest weather I get is in the 30's.  High is good for any speed when the weather is in the 30's-40's or for the freeway when it is in the 50's; low is good for lower speeds in the 50's.

As He Man says, they are not sufficient, they won't warm the fingers, but they are certainly better than nothing and it's nice to have a warming solution that is always there (in case the weather suddenly changes).  I have poor circulation to my extremities (as do many women) and these temps cause me severe pain in my hands without the grips, even if I have a heated jacket liner on.

I would love to have heated gloves but haven't found any that are small enough for me.

The only issue you may have given that your girlfriend has smaller hands is that the Oxfords are of a larger diameter than the stock grips. I preferred this for myself and have no problem with them. She may not be comfortable with them.

Sorry to say, but this probably will be an issue.   I know I wouldn't be comfortable with larger grips.

[He Man]

Warm N Safe do have womens heated gloves size small...but Golden Child is steering people away from them because they dont have any customer support for their items.

[eastview]

Great feedback, now to find out if the Oxfords fit her hands........Where do you folks mount the switch?

[somegirl]

Great feedback, now to find out if the Oxfords fit her hands........Where do you folks mount the switch?

Check out the tutorial, there's pictures of mine in there:
http://ducatimonsterforum.org/index.php?topic=2520.0

[somegirl]

Warm N Safe do have womens heated gloves size small...but Golden Child is steering people away from them because they dont have any customer support for their items.

Good to know.

Gerbing's XS Women's gloves were too big for me.

[He Man]

Good to know.

Gerbing's XS Women's gloves were too big for me.

you have pretty small hands! Maybe you can buy a heated pair of gloves and have a tailor make it smaller?

[somegirl]

you have pretty small hands! Maybe you can buy a heated pair of gloves and have a tailor make it smaller?

We asked about it on TOB but the consensus was that it would be risky with all the wiring in there.

[rmcobb]

..but Golden Child is steering people away from them because they dont have any customer support for their items.

Interesting comment. We're using Warm-n-Safe jackets, heat trollers, grip kits, and have not had any problems with their Customer Support. Had to send a heat-troller back due to a defect and it was handled promptly. And then recently the grips stopped working and Mike had me check a possible short where the wires contact the element....which a layer of tape over the bar fixed.

All in all, Warm-n-Safe has been good to us.

[vwboomer]

I've had DualStars on my S4R for probably 2 years. They are ok down to maybe 50's. Just don't seem to get warm enough. I installed Aerostich's version on my GasGas and they seemed better, but the wire broke on the throttle side. Whether due to defect or crash I'll never know.

I picked up a pair of A* cold blockers (or whatever the name is) with GoreTex cold block stuff. It's got a leather palm which transmits heat better, and it's ok for rides in the 45 range to/from work. But the thumb is always the coldest on any ride and no heated grip will fix that.

[greenohawk69]

I'm using these heated grips from HEAT GRIPS that work well.  Made in the US also. 

http://www.hotgrips.com/store.php?rn=121&action=show_detail 

I have a '97 M900.

[Jarvicious]

I'll bet her hand size would be an issue but I have one bike with heated grips and one I ride with heated gloves so I figured I'd weigh in. 

Like a few others have said, the heated grips are great down to a certain temperature and even then you HAVE to have wind protection.  It doesn't matter how ridiculously hot the grips get (and they do get hot) the wind just carries the heat away from the top of your hands too fast.  I have the grips on my BMW which also has a full fairing and I've ridden it 140 miles at 70mph at 20 degrees before with little discomfort.  I can also tell you though that the entire ride I was thinking how absolutely unbearable the same trip would have been on the Ducati without all the wind protection. 

I have the wiring harness for my Gerbings run into the Ducati and I gotta say they work like a charm.  I don't have the body protection for my legs or torso that I'd need for long trips though so I only take her around town (20 minutes one way) so I guess you  have to decide whether or not you want to get heated gloves AND pants AND a vest to make her bike rideable at highway speeds for long periods of time or whether you just want her to be able to do 30 minute stints with really comfy hands.  I chose just the gloves for the Duc because I don't get cold easily at all with the exception of my hands (not to mention my front brake fingers are the last thing I want to fail on me). 

Aside from the cost of Gerbings gloves, wiring, and temp adjuster, the only real beef I have with the gloves is the fit, though YMMV.  I've found that the leather on the palm (which has a small amount of thinsulate underneath it) has a tendency to walk along the trips causing me to have to grip a lot more firmly than I normally would, causing fatigue and cramping.  I'm sure there are a lot of other quality gloves on the market for better price, but you can pry my Gerbings from my cold (zing!!) dead hands.  Oh, and I can assure you that you will NEVER have to turn them all the way up unless you want to remove a layer or two of skin. 

Recap:
Grips - cheap. only good to a certain temp, require extra wind protection
Gloves - not cheap, good on their own, but only with the right fit