2002 vs 2001 Grip Heaters

[EotS1]

Quick question for you all:

I have a 2001 SXR600. As is known of this sled, my grips get good and hot, but my thumb gets fried.

My buddy just bought the 2002 model with separate grip and thumb controls. I was envious.

But he's reporting that his grips don't get warm enough, even on high.

Is there something in the design that made these grips less warm? I could guess that the dual headlight vs my single could be drawing power away from the grips. Or possibly the split controls and that design may have taken something away from the grips?

If it's not a known difference between the models, my next question would be whether a Voltage Regulator could be the issue? Most of the time when they fail they deliver too much voltage, but is it possible it could be delivering too little?

 

[roudyroy1]

I went through the same thing on my machine. The dual headlight is the newer 300w ignition system, which only puts power to the grips above 3500 rpm. The older system puts power to the grips all the time. Therefore the older system gets hotter.

I would pull the connection apart under the handle bar pad and bring the sled up to 3500 rpm and look for 12 volts, then check the resistance of each grip( think it's 2.3-2.5kohms). Then look for continuity on your ground.

I find they still don't get as hot even when working right, so I insulated between the grips and steel bars using a cork sheet. It really helped.

 

[EotS1]

Thanks, I'll put it on the testers and check it out. How did you get a layer of cork sheet between the grip and the bar? I can't imagine being able to get the grip over something that thick without destroying it...

 

[roudyroy1]

heated the grips up with a hair dryer, taped the 1/16th cork sheet to the bar with electrical tape then used some windex and compressed air and just slipped it on. very easy.