DR650 - Heated Grips
 

Wanted to get an idea of what everyone thinks of heated grips on a DR. I use them constantly on my bike and was thinking of putting on a set of hot grips on the wife's DR650. I've read that some riders have had challengers in removing the stock grips, so wanted to find out who has done this and if you can give me any pointers.
Daryll

Air power!
 

I don't know the DR650 specifically, but I have never had problems getting off grips, since I learnt the trick with an air compressor. You need a duster end (the trigger air gun thingy), preferably the one with the longer tip. Move the handlebar controls away from the grip if you can, by loosening and sliding. If you can't easily loosen, then try without. I have had all the ones I tried work without shifting anything, but it does make it easier to get at the grip opening.

Force the tip as far under the edge of the grip (the open end toward the centre of the bike) as you can and let rip with a blast of air. The layer of air between the grip and bar lets the grip just "hover" off without any effort at all.

I use saliva when fitting a new grip; i.e. I just spit on the bar and use that as lubricant.

Cheers.

Nigel in NZ

P.S. Heated grips are the dogs bollux. I sold my old F650 to a friend who has been riding for 20 years and it's the first bike he has used heated grips on. He is amazed how much better winter riding is now.

Argh
 

The throttle grip is stuck on. The only way to remove the grip is hard work. I scrapped as much as I could off with a sharp knife, then used a dremel to remove the rest. There is also spare 12 volt connection behind the headlight making wiring them up easier than removing the grip. Well worth the effort. MMM warm hands.

Chris

A rasp or a grinder of some sort help a lot. Yes, it's hard work to get off. Once you have the rubber mostly off you will see some ribs on the plastic. Since hot grips often have plastic sleeves as a base you will have to grind these ribs off. There is also a ridge on the left where the rubber grip fits over and this stopped me from sliding my grips all the way on. Perhaps the plastic sleeve from another bike could be used instead of all this, try the bike wreckers.

Or you can spare yourself the aggravation and get yourself a new throttle sleeve for like $10 or $15. I took that route when I installed Dual Star heated grips, which work great. Enjoy.

A quick search reveals that the alternator puts out 200W @ 5000 rpm. The ignition does not run off that, having its own power source coils (meaning the bike can be push started even with a completely dead battery).

Deducting 60W for lights that leaves you with a little under 140W for other uses.

Wow, with all the output numbers, you guys have me thinking now. As I still want to add on a trailtech HID fog/driving light with a 35w draw.
So now I have to make the decision in terms of riding safety vs. riding comfort. For what it's worth, I am prepping this bike + one more for a S.America and Africa trip - so I'm leaning towards giving the grips a miss. We do have gerbings jackets though.
What do you guys think?

Lead-acid battery life.
 

Also be aware that the quickest way to reduce lead-acid battery life is to "deep-cycle" it, especially in cold weather, which is when you use the electric system the heaviest. Running it dead flat on a regular basis will kill it faster than you would think. I bought an almost new Yuasa 4WD diesel Toyota battery from a wrecked vehicle and used it for lighting at a small hut we have in the mountains and it was dead after about 25 full cycles. It systems where they use batteries for power storage, though inverters for example, they never use more than 50% of the batteries capacity, and ideally for maximum battery life, no more than 25%. This, of course, is VERY different c/w some other types of rechargeable battery systems.

So I think, follow Patrick's advice about learning the capacity of your system and try to keep in the plus side as often as possible. Even a 30W running light switched in instead of the 50W headlight could make the difference between a steady charge or a slow discharge.

Regards

Nigel in NZ

I've never seen a tail light rated at 24W nor a 32W bulb, but in the US things are apparently a little different.

Mine has a combo 21/5W bulb. Non-US models also have a light switch and I wouldn't want to be without one on any bike.

The DR is supposedly a dirt bike. Last weekend I foolishly tried to ride a dirt track that was very muddy and steep (monsoon season here). I discovered several shortcomings of this bike:

- It can't run slowly in first gear, even with a larger rear sprocket, the engine just stalls. I significantly wore the clutch.

- When it goes down for some time it point blank refuses to start afterwards. When it finally did start it refused to accept throttle. Good thing I do have a light switch and a new battery.

No idea where another 20W might go missing. I would guess that the bike usually runs below 5000 rpm...

I wouldn't be without hot grips, but I never had any other heated gear.

Incidentally, while searching the net for the alternator output (not in the original manual) I spotted higher output alternators offered. Might be worth investigating.

Varta, Yuasa and others make a higher capacity battery: YT12A-BS (11Ah).

The following batteries should all fit:

Original: YTX9-BS
YT12A-BS
CT9-BS
FTX9-BS
GT9-BS
GTX9-BS
KTX9-BS

Dim: 152 x 88 x 106 mm

1. Rule 1 - don't ride at night. This means you should not need the extra lights.
Here I frequenty run with the headlight off. Legal in daylight hours. I've even been known to run without the headlaigh at dusk .. - the light atracts the insects - resulting in a dirty visor very soon [no traffic - apart from roos and they don't care about lights].

I have heated grips .. I'd keep them - saftey wise you are better off having all your resorces avalible (like fingers that feel and work) rather than try to make someone see you (they don't see fire engines with flashing lights nor hear sirens .. why do you think your lights will make a difference? You are best off avoiding them ... )

Some might. Australian ones have no light switch standard. I added mine to just above the starter button .. just fits. Think that is where suki supplied one goes too. Oh it switches off the taillight and speedo lights too (that is between 1.2 and 3 watts you have missed there mollydog :) ).
Umm mine runs ok .. with the air screw adjusted ... 15/42 gearing. Not as low as I'd like .. but then few bikes are! What gearing woiuld you like? Me... I'd like to have the clutch fully engaged - a little choke on the engine to a fast idel speed and be able to walk beside the bike .. say 4 km/h... [think it is now some 7km/h .. so 40% reduction?!] The top gear crusing .. say 100 to 120 km/h comfortably and economically [fine now.].

-------------------------
200 watts is the maximum output ... the alternator output does drop a little .. say 160 watts at say 2,000 rpm (being conservative) .. then drops off signifacantly towards idle speed .. The best thing that can be done is to monitor the battery voltage .. you want it over 13 volts while running .. perferably over 13.5 volts for at least 10 minutes before you shut down for the night (shoould then have enought stored energy in the battery to start the engne in the morning).

---------------------- On riding
Mud = finess. Very carefull and small inputs on any controlls - throttle, brake steering.
Sand = agression.

If it's one or the other, I would skip the lights. Even if you do get stuck and have to ride at night, you'll want to keep it slow. Save the wattage, not to mention the weight.

Heated grips, IMHO, are a must-have for South America. It's freaking cold in the Andes! I rode thru snow in Peru and Bolivia. And it can be cold in Ecuador, Patagonia, many places. I had my heated grips on LOT ... I'm shivering just thinking about riding South America without them! :)

I didn't have an electric jacket and never really missed it. Heavy layering was plenty effective. Good luck ~~

Thanks guys for all the info.
Another item that came up in this thread - changing the stock to a gel/maintenance free battery. I have one on my F650GS, but never thought of putting one on these.
What do you guys think?

Thanks mollydog. I did try what you suggested, except I kept it cranking for about 20s at a time. No go. It seems the trick it to wait. Same thing happens when the fuel runs low. If I don't switch to reserve the moment there is the slightest hesitation from the engine, a few hundred m down the road it just expires. The symptoms then are very similar to what I get when it goes down. It simply will not start and when after about 10 mins. of waiting it finally does, at first it won't accept any throttle and even later it will continue to miss and splutter for about 1/2h. I did check that petrol is flowing from the tank and it has always been like this. I cannot begin to explain this.

My gearing is 15/45. Minimum speed uphill on tar is about 17 km/h. Below that the engine starts to complain bitterly. In mud I would have to go even slower than that (lack of rider skills). Must drag the clutch for that. The bike seriously lacks flywheel mass. When I know I'm heading for dirt I fit a spare 14 sprocket, but highways are getting marginal in 5th then.

For dirt smaller engines are the ticket, because they are always lower geared.

How is it possible to move the fuel intake pipe? I have the impression that it's fixed somehow.

No vent hose, I have the lockable Acerbis cap.

The thing is there is fuel in the carb. When I switch to reserve I can pull off the hose and there is fuel coming. I can open the drain screw and fuel comes out.

I think there is something funny going on in the carb.