Insulating under grip warmers

fourbarrel

fourbarrel

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There's been a few threads over the years about trying to make the grip warmers more efficient,everything from using spray foam or silicone in the handlebar tube to rewiring the circuit.I do remember reading a few years back about someone trying a different tactic to keep the heat from soaking out into the steel bar and I believe they were going to use thin cork sheet to line the between the bar and the grip.Has anyone tried this route,using some kind of insulation between the grip and bar to keep the heat from being leached by the bar? How did it work and what did you use?
 
BTV did this using shrink wrap for electrical wire. Also skidoo makes a thin cork wrap that insulates the grip from the bar. Heard results were good but ive never had heated grip problems so havent done myself.
 
I used electrical tape and a layer of foil tape on mine. Bars are now on Andy's sled so you'll have to ask him how they still work but I was happy with them that way. My brother in law ended up doing his the same way.
 
Hmmm interesting idea. I have problems keeping mine warm, especially with the 300watt ignition system. Maybe something like Teflon might work?
 
Just corked my grips with 1/16th cork sheeting.... Wow what a difference. I did a side by side comparison and the corked side got hot a lot faster than the stock side running on a stand
 
helps if you hook the grip up to a 12v battery and heat them up, and put the cork on the bars then spiral wrap it with electrical tape leaving a gap between each wind. the tape holds cork in place and allows the grip to slide over it with a little soap and water with out wrinkling.
 
image.jpgimage.jpgimage.jpgHere's my insulated grip job.
I had some pink foam insulation that I shaped into cylindrical shape and stuffed the pieces into the bars. It was shaped w/ a rasp. My thinking on this is ... Insulation is usually used to keep heat in. For this project, we need to keep the heat out(side) of the handle bars. I don't know how much of a difference this will make but it will definately help.
I then put on heavy walled adhesive lined heat shrink from GB. Leave about 1/2" of shrunken heat shrink out past the bars. Trim it when completely cool to prevent tearing.
Reinstall grips with some silicone on the heat shrink and inside the grip. Buck new rivets and your done.
 

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As far as insulating the inside of the bars, there is a muuuuuuch easier way. At the end of the grips there is a small hole. You could easily put some GREAT STUFF expanding spray insulation through this hole without removing anything. Insert the straw into the hole and pull the trigger till it comes out the other side.
 

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A couple of bucks said:
As far as insulating the inside of the bars, there is a muuuuuuch easier way. At the end of the grips there is a small hole. You could easily put some GREAT STUFF expanding spray insulation through this hole without removing anything. Insert the straw into the hole and pull the trigger till it comes out the other side.
Click to expand...

Have you done this? I'm thinking about trying that...
 
IMO, insulting the inside of the bars won't do too much, as it's the steel pulling the heat not the empty space, and stagnate air is one of thee best Insulators around. Thermodynamics at its best, you have to stop the grip from wanting to equalize and be the same temp as the bars, thus the cork/ shrink wrap.
 
Another unexpected plus from the cork was the grips are now thicker, I actually like this. It gives me some more meat to hang onto when these triples are screaming @ WOT
 
If you want, I have a set of super hot bars I made to use on a sled. just needs grips. I used RSI rubber grips. I hated them, too sticky and the corner ripped through once I turned the bars up on high. They use cork under with plastic hooks they are dam hot. Thy do make the bar a little thicker so if your a big guy, you might like it better. I found them a little big, might be alright with cat style grips. I used to make bars with those and liked them better than the rsi ones. These bars are hooked forward as well, not down. More for trail corners than standing up riding like a snow cross wanabe.
foam in the bar is fixing a problem that is not there.
dual bulb sleds have warm up issues because they do not put 12 to the bars at lower rpms. you can wire in a 12 bypass if it is an issue.
if your building your bars from scratch and don't want the extra that cork ads, use a layer of athetic tape. This isolates the heater from the steel but ads almost no thickness.
If you look for superventure, and my black viper, you will see a couple sets of bars I made using different cruves and heater arangements. I have a set here with two sets of heaters stacked as well. The cork works so good, I never needed to double the heater after that.
 
Cooper0809 said:
Have you done this? I'm thinking about trying that...
Click to expand...
I did it the harder way w/ the pink foam insulation. I had a piece laying around so there was no $ involved. After I was all done , I thought about the GREAT STUFF. But I still would have needed to take the grips off in order to install the shrink wrap on the outside of the bars.
 
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