Also interested in exactly what pieces were bought/ modified.
Exactly the solution I was hoping for!!
The Count
Aftermarket heated grips
- Thread starter suprphreak
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- aftermarket grips heated
Also interested in exactly what pieces were bought/ modified.
Exactly the solution I was hoping for!!
The Count
Joined Oct 2015
545 Posts | 0+
Minnesota
So as someone who works at a company that makes literally hundreds of different styles of heaters, I was curious as to why nobody else had tried my solution yet. A heater is a heater, plain and simple. Resistance over a length of wire. I figured as long as I had the wattage relatively close to the factory grips, the system wouldn't know the difference between factory and aftermarket.
If I was to redo my installation, I would use oxfords. But please note that they are higher wattage than most heated grips, so there's a potential that they draw too much current and pop the fuse that the grips use. I haven't done enough digging to know if that's the case, I'm not sure what fuse they actually use. Since I didn't want to waste money in case my idea didn't work, I'm actually using some cheap chinese heated grip pads:
Not the greatest idea ever, and I wouldn't recommend you choose these. They don't produce much heat. Symtec heated pads have much much higher quality and aren't much more $$.
Here's what you'll need:
Heated grips or heated grip pads
solder & soldering iron
heatshrink
As for how to wire them: Disassemble the "nose" by removing the fairing, headlight, windscreen, etc. Inside, you'll find there's 2 wire bundles ziptied up behind the dash. Snip the zipties, and look for a small white connector in each bundle. Like this:
Ignore the third white connector not found in the 2 wire bundles, this is for a GPS. Remove these plugs from both sides, and cut the heatshrink off each as best you can, as we will need enough wire to solder to them. Cut the connector off your grip or heated pads, and solder (with heatshrink) to the two male-end connectors that you just removed. Polarity doesn't matter, since the heaters are nothing more than a big resistor. Make sure any soldered connections are covered with heatshrink, and plug back into the female connector on the bike. Reassemble the bike in the opposite order, and pat yourself on the back.
In my case, I also wired in separate 2 amp fuses to each grip (between the pad and the male connector), in case the cheap chinese quality proved to be problem. If I was using a brand name kit, I'd have skipped this part as space is very limited.
A few disclaimers: I can't be held responsible if you mess up, and I also can't guarantee your dealer will turn the grips on (if you think this might be a problem, have them turn the feature on before you do your own install). If anyone wants photos, I can disassemble and show exactly where to find everything, and how to wire them. Hope this helps.
Joined Oct 2015
545 Posts | 0+
Minnesota
Pony up and get the Duc grips. They integrate with the bikes controls flawlessly.
If you wanted cheap parts you should have bought a Suzuki
This is an easy enough thing to do, soldering a couple wires isn't rocket science. Some of us are smart enough not to have to pay Ducati's premiums on accessories.
Joined Nov 2012
1K Posts | 9+
Mobile Al.
Pony up and get the Duc grips. They integrate with the bikes controls flawlessly.
If you wanted cheap parts you should have bought a Suzuki
What this man said!!
Joined Oct 2015
545 Posts | 0+
Minnesota
After doing quite a few 24 degree days with my heated grip pads, I decided to upgrade to some Oxford grips. Doing the same method as above, I wired them with the factory grip connectors. After an initial test, no blown fuses.
Get grips that melt your hands off for $45 instead of Ducati's $300. And they both work the same!
Get grips that melt your hands off for $45 instead of Ducati's $300. And they both work the same!
Joined May 2015
268 Posts | 1+
Denver, CO
This is an easy enough thing to do, soldering a couple wires isn't rocket science. Some of us are smart enough not to have to pay Ducati's premiums on accessories.
I'll stick with my $300 grips that didn't involve hacking apart the harness, voiding my warranty and are also warrantied themselves. Seriously dude, you bought a Ducati. Don't hack it apart like some kind of Honda Civic owner.
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Joined Oct 2015
545 Posts | 0+
Minnesota
You're either dense, or stupid. None of the factory harness was modified. Why on earth would I spend a premium for parts that are no different than something 7-8x less?
Joined Oct 2015
545 Posts | 0+
Minnesota
It's well documented what connectors (JST JWPF) Ducati uses for the heated grips and for the GPS switched power. Same connectors on all new models. Here's the image again of the pigtail that they use to keep the connectors free from dirt:
There are tons of photos around on ducati.ms and elsewhere of Diavel and Multistrada owners (google "ducati gps connector" to see these photos) who use these pigtails to wire their GPS's. The female end of the connector is the side that is part of the main harness, which doesn't have to be touched. The soldering and splicing is on this short pigtail, which again, is nothing more than a way to keep dirt out of the female end if it isn't being used. If I decided to take the grips off, all i need to do is cut the wires off again on the pigtail and use heat shrink to seal off the ends, just like Ducati does from the factory.
I simply took it upon myself to do the exact same thing as others with their GPSs, but for the grips instead. Nowhere that I have found has someone tried this, and I wanted to make it known that it is just as simple as wiring a GPS as others have done. If you're happy with the Ducati grips, then I'm happy for you. No harm, no foul.
rant over.
