Viper/Apex handle bar update

stein700sx

stein700sx

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Joined
Feb 12, 2005
Messages
1,999
Location
Southern Manitoba Canada
Went out with my Viper for about 40 miles in -20c last night.The 07 Apex bars mounted on rox pivot adapter and a 4 inch riser adapter felt and worked great.Loved the height of the bars.Felt like thats where they were meant to be. My hand were not very warm tho. They only got warm if we were traveling less than 40 mph. I guess with the higher bars my hands are not behind the windshield anymore.Crud.. I guess now I will be looking to get some handguards to remedy this.
 
Handguards help alot if your bars are above your winshield,I run them and they keep my hands warm enough that I wear thin gloves most of the time.
 
apex grips

I installed the 06 apex bars/grips on my 02 srx and they get relatively hot, but not hot like my original grips. With the handguards and good gloves, hasnt been isssue.

Mark
 
otis700 said:
I installed the 06 apex bars/grips on my 02 srx and they get relatively hot, but not hot like my original grips. With the handguards and good gloves, hasnt been isssue.

Mark
Click to expand...

how did you wire the grips...series (like oem viper grips) or in parallel?
 
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Put a set of and guards on this weekend and made no diff. ( -17c/1f)
Left hand was warm and nearly froze my right hand.Takes about twenty miles before I get any noticable heat from the bars. Same problem I had with the stock grips. Going to try changing the cdi next since the hand warmer circuit runs thru it.
 
yeah i put apex bars on my viper two years ago and the grips take foreverrrrrr to heat up. I also have the rox risers at 3.5 inches and hand guards. I think the guards help a lot but I do wish the bars heated up quicker.
 
Use gauntlets for cold weather. Get or make some that are easily removeable.
 
very common with the apex/nytro/phazer setup....have had many complaints at the dealer with this problem.....one option is to use the stick on grip warmers from companies like RSI and then use hockey tape for grip....super tacky and super hot. RSI and other companies make a grip wrap that looks a little nicer than hockey tape if you want to go that route.....i believe the thickness of the newer style bars are what robs the heat from the grip warmers...another trick i have heard of is to fill the bars with tuff stuff spray foam to help insulate the bars...havent tried this myself but have heard it works good from others. i went to the old "hot grip" style grips from the mtn. max on my viper and they get alot hotter than my originals plus i like the hard feel of the grips vs. the "soft grips" that came stock......
 
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I am going to do the "heat shrink tubing" idea and see if it helps. Heat shrink the bars before sliding on the grips. However, the OP did this without much luck, but his viper grips also didn't work well, so there could be other problems there.
 
Is there something in the CDI that controls the amount of voltage going to the grip warmers? If it takes sooo long for the grips to warm up I can't see any other make of grip warmers making a diff.
On mine I used heat shrink tubing before I wrapped the warmer elements on.Isolating them from the metal that acts like a heat sink(robber). Did not make much of a diff.
I wonder if there is a way to bypass the CDI and get the power to the grips directly?
Yes gauntlets will work for the cold days but they are a pain to ride with.Using these would be my last resort.I think fixing the problem with the grip warmer circuit will be first on my list. As Tim Allen would say " More Power ha ha haaa"
 
I know they take some time to warm, but once they are hot, do they stay hot? I had aftermarket elements on my viper prior to the apex bars and while they took longer to warm, they were fine once they did get hot.

I am going to test out my apex bars and grips this weekend, so I'll see if they are any different then my old setup.
 
What year or style of grips are you using?

I put 150 miles on yesterday and my apex grips got super hot instantly. They are hotter then my previous setup with aftermarket elements and got hotter than my orig oem viper grips. They actually started burning the leather palm on my gloves when turned up all the way. I am going to wire them in "series" (oem way), because they are way too hot right now. The grips I'm using are from an 06 apex with two piece grip/hook design.
 
Yep the original handwarmers were not that great.Hardly ever turned them down.Coming from a 97 sx which were HOT to these that are warm at best was quite the change. Expected more from newer tech.Was hoping 07 tech would be better but will have to start looking in other areas.
The reason I went to the 07 updated bars is becase I had read alot topics on TY about people complaining about the lack of heat in the 02-02 Viper (the hooks are nice too).So was thinking it was a grip problem not a electrical problem on the machine. I have an extra CDI that I can try for now but looking for other ways to correct this problem if this does not work.
 
I have used the "hot grips" brand warmers on my old 95 Vmax after I had to cut off the original grips to replace the throttle block. They worked well and were hot, even with the old stator design.

I did try a 60/100W headlight bulb on the old machine and warmers did not heat up as much, and dash lights were dimmer. Finally went back to stock 55/60W.

Is something else draining the power? My 02 Viper ER grip warmers are nothing to write home about, but the thumb warmer will grille my thumb if I turn it up.

The old add-on grip warmers (in the 80's) wired direct to a "hot" power source. Why not try that?
 
BRADLEYDICKS said:
how much did this conversion run ya? any pics?
Click to expand...



I got a good deal... $30 for new takeoff bars with grips online (ebay).


here are some pics of my setup...06 apex bars and grips with 5" riser. 3" pivot and 2" fix. You need about 3" to bring the apex bars back to the orig height as the oem viper bars. The bottom pic is before putting the handguards back on and rerouting the cables.
 

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