[jlezin]

I'm in the process of installing heated grips on my Versys. So far, so good. The last step is tying the switch to the positive side of the battery. However, I'd like to avoid going directly to the battery (it doesn't take too much imagination to see how you could drain down the battery). So . . .

Does anyone have a clever idea of where to tie in to a SWITCHED power lead? IOW, I'd like the heated grip switch to be powered up only when the key is in the ON position. Better yet, the switch would receive power only when the motor was running.

I thought of soldering in to the headlight, but I'm cognizant that the total load might far exceed the fuse. Thanks in advance to anyone knowledgeable that can take time out from their turkeyfest to offer an idea.

 

[healdem]

depends on the grips you use
Oxford Hotgrips, or whatever they are called over there, have a voltage sensor which supposedly shuts off power when it reaches a threshold to 'save' the battery.

its surprising hiow quickly you can discipline yourself to turn off such stuff. the human mind is a remarkable device in many respects

Although you can wire stuff like GPS's into the headlight (or even side light) I'd be very cautious wiring grips to the headlight circuit.

the option is to put in an aux fuse box switched by a relay so that the aux fusebox (or just the grips) are switched on only when the ignition is on (if you wire the relay to the sidelight or rear light circuity, or on when the engine is on (if you wire the relay to the headlight circuit). the neater relay wire in my view is to have the relay in under the seat and trigger it from the rear light.

theres lots of posts about it, on this forum
theres several solutions
one is to buy something like fuseblock.com
another is to go to (IIRC) eastern beaver
another is to go to a quality auto electricicans store and buy the bits yourself. the main problem I found was to find a fuse block that didn't take up to much space under the seat.

turkey fest doesn't land here for another 29 days

 

[cuff]

I ended up going with the relay. I was uber careful about turning off my grips when they were wired to the bat, but some dip**** decided to turn them on for me on day and needed a jump. Go with the relay, you won't look back.

 

[freewheeler]

To save alot of screwing around ... I've always used the horn circuit ... I use a piggy back spade right at the horn on all my bikes ... it is a switched ... high amp circuit that doesn't get alot of use ... I've been using this circuit for 30 years and never had one issue on any bike ...

 

[Bones]

Since someday you're going to want to wire up something else (you will), make the small investment of money and effort now to wire in a relay and fuse block. There's a very handy space under the seat aft of the battery. Tap any switched circuit to fire the relay, run a fused wire to the positive terminal and a ground wire to the negative. Done. When you add extra lights, a power port for heated gear, a GPS, radar detector, etc., it will be a simple matter of running wires and turning a screw. I have and like the Fuzeblock, which has the relay and ground bus built in, and it lets you choose between switched and hot circuits. Very compact. Eastern Beaver makes nice gear, too.

 

[Chicken Little]

Eastern Beaver is the way to go.

 

[jlezin]

I settled on the Eastern Beaver fuseblock. I already have two 12v outlets for heated jackets, a horn circuit, a lighting circuit for my topcase. Rather than cobble something together with yet another relay, I decided (based on all of your excellent input) to just spring for the fuseblock and run everything into this. Much better than doing it piecemeal. Thanks for the quick input. Especially the guy in England that woke up 8 hours earlier than the rest of us. Jeremy

 

[edpet]

I just saw this thread. As it happens, I just posted a complete thread just earlier, with pics, look for "heated grips installed - just in time". I'll see if I can add the actual link:

http://www.kawasakiversys.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6243