Anything I need to know about removing our grips?

[naudan]

I am thinking about ordering some oxford heated grips, however, before making the plung, I just want to know if there is anything special i need to know about our stock grips.

Is Removal of our grips easy? I see some videos where simple compressed air will get them off. Others there is glue so people are using a knives or a coat hanger, etc.

Anyone with experience, help a newbie out?

[Sprocket]

razor blade sliced lengthwise is the easiest method

[tenover]

I removed the stock grips and put the $20 Aerostich heaters in there.....Still holding up 3 years later, I love 'em. It was easy enough to to with a long, skinny flat head screwdriver and a little bottle of compressed air. Slowly wedge the screwdriver in further and further as your blowing a little compressed in there and they will pop right off.

[naudan]

Originally Posted by tenover

I removed the stock grips and put the $20 Aerstich heaters in there.....Still holding up 3 years later, I love 'em. It was easy enough to to with a long, skinny flat head screwdriver and a little bottle of compressed air. Slowly wedge the screwdriver in further and further as your blowing a little compressed in there and they will pop right off.

Anything special I need to know about the throttle side? Feel uneasy about ramming a screwdriver in there since it actually moves.

Sorry -- never removed grips from a bike before.

[tenover]

Nope, it's no big deal. Throttle side grip is just fit over a spinning "roller" piece of plastic. I was a little nervous too, but it turned out to be nothing.

[naudan]

Originally Posted by tenover

Nope, it's no big deal. Throttle side grip is just fit over a spinning "roller" piece of plastic. I was a little nervous too, but it turned out to be nothing.

[mickeyman]

I used the compressed air. They came off easy. Thinking if I ever sold the bike I could put the stock grips on again.

[Dann_g]

If you remove the bar end weights first, watch out for the red locktite. The hex head screws holding them on will strip without some heat to break the locktite...... Ask me how I know.

[naudan]

Originally Posted by Dann_g

If you remove the bar end weights first, watch out for the red locktite. The hex head screws holding them on will strip without some heat to break the locktite...... Ask me how I know.

Happen to me too when trying to install my barkbusters ��

[flak]

The grips come off easy, long screwdriver in deep and rotated around the grip a bit...comes right off. The stock glue was brittle and there was barely any on the throttle tube. I had to sand some of the dried glue off the clutch side bar just to be sure the new grip would slide on easy and the new glue would make good contact. I just installed Oxfords and the OEM Kawi handguards on my new V and they're working just fine. Both were a much needed addition for riding last weekend as the weather has turned cool rather quickly in recent days.

[ScottyNeal]

I removed the bar-end weights, and hand guards. Then, starting from the inside, just peeled the grips off, backwards, inside out. Much easier than I expected. Didn't know about using compressed air. Of course, you could just cut them off too, as Sprocket suggests.

I, too, was a bit concerned, but found it to be a fairly easy mod to implement. And great to use on these cold days we're starting to have.

[Jmason]

I used compressed air - super slick and made removal AND re-installation a breeze!

[count0zero]

Be careful on the clutch side, I've just removed my Oxford grips (they stopped working after 1 year) and the left grip had melted into the switchgear plastic. This wasn't the reason for them not working, they still heated up just wouldnt go any higher than the lowest heat setting.

Anyway binned now, back to standard grips and looking forward to trying some heated inner gloves!

[naudan]

Originally Posted by tenover

I removed the stock grips and put the $20 Aerostich heaters in there.....Still holding up 3 years later, I love 'em. It was easy enough to to with a long, skinny flat head screwdriver and a little bottle of compressed air. Slowly wedge the screwdriver in further and further as your blowing a little compressed in there and they will pop right off.

Can you send me a link to which model you used? Also, did you just reinstall the stock grips with the aerostich installed?

I would prefer spending $20 instead of $80 if I can

[Jmason]

I bought a set of aerostitch locally, install was easy. Longest part was setting up the relay and tapping into the wiring harness.

[davidg]

Originally Posted by naudan

Can you send me a link to which model you used? Also, did you just reinstall the stock grips with the aerostich installed?

I would prefer spending $20 instead of $80 if I can

I've had Symtec wraps on one bike, and Oxford heated grips on two. They both have plusses and minuses, but I chose Oxford Sport grips for the Versys.

If you know what you're doing choose whichever makes sense to you. For the rider who doesn't know how to use a multimeter and how to make sense of their bike's wiring diagram I recommend buying a complete heated grip kit like Oxford. Some people like Hot Grips a lot, but I have no personal experience with them.

When I removed the grips for the grip wrap installation I used compressed air. For the Oxford grips I just cut the old ones off.

As was brought up in another thread, it seems like you could put grip wraps over the stock grips and slide grip puppies over those.

[davidg]

I think these are the wraps I used:
http://www.casporttouring.com/thestore/prods/16025.html

Inexpensive and they have advantages over some of the competing kits. High and low are via separate heating elements, instead of via a ballast resistor as I've seen on some cheap kits--the ballast resistor type is OK if you're gonna use a separate controller instead of the resistor though. And the clutch side element is hotter than the throttle side, to provide more even heat to your hands.

I think they have an ATV kit which doesn't have that last feature. Next time I may try those over the grips, and slide grip puppies over that.

[drdiesel1]

I just installed heated grips. To remove the factory grips without damage, just use a long thin screwdriver. Slide it under the grip and shoot it with WD-40. Remove the screwdriver and twist the grip and it should slide off without damage. Wipe down the bar with window cleaner to remove all residue and prep it with 120 grit sandpaper and wipe it down again.

My heated grips are replacement grips, so I just re-glued them to the bar and throttle tube.

[tripper]

Just stick a "blow gun" between the grip and the handlebar and it will somewhat inflate the grip and come right off and the grip is still good.