Keeping Hands Warm

Georgey Burgess

What do most people do for the extra cold winter mornings to keep their fingers fixed to their hands? On mornings less than 0 degrees I suffer terrible, in particular the ends of my fingers. I never suffer with cold feet or anything else. I have a ducati monster so my hands are pretty exposed.

While the fingers are painfull it is generally bearable, my main fear is that you don't have full control of levers and the cold is taking your concentration away.

What are the options?

1. Handlebar mitts - I believe they are the dogs but they look terrible and can get in way of the controls.
2. Hot grips / heated grips - They heat the palms of you hands alright but I believe the ends of your fingers still suffer and in particular the left hand from clutching (cold metal levers)
3. Heated vest - If your body core is kept warm it takes longer for the extremeties to lose their heat.
4. Handlbar shields - to block the wind blast. Which is the main problem. Can you get these for a monster?

Lastly is

5. Heated gloves - these look the best option for the bike I have. Ia can't find any reviews or like and can only see them on the net. I'd like to try them on with my gloves to make sure that they are thin enough and don't restrict movement. Anyone know what they are like? see link

http://www.sounddistribution.co.uk/products.asp?recnumber=2007

Are there any other tricks out there?

Cheers
Georgey

Pigeon Reaper

Used to find the Balius worse than the SV for cold hands. I wear thermal gear under my leathers to keep my body warm. Once my core is warm my hands will get cold but never numb. I also have thick winter gloves with a thin palm to help. If you have any distance to go I'd get bar mitts and heated grips.

faceman

I got those oxford hot grips last year and they lasted about 6 months before something went wrong in the switch. They were great while they lasted. HoOwever if thinking about heated grips go with your bike's own brand. It will be more expensive but worth it.

I have never used the heated gloves but from what i read in uk biker forums, they are not rated as high.

madrab

i got heated grips & wind deflectors & they work grand, apart from when you have to grap the clutch

tk123

I had cheapy heated grips on my last bike so I decided to treat myself on the new bike and got the Oxford ones. The switch is huge but they're brilliant!! They have warnings on the box saying not to use them without gloves - i thought that was a pile of crap but they are actually too hot for me without the gloves. I commute in and out of work so I'm stopped at lights alot and squeeze them to get a heat - i don't know if they'd be much use without mits if you were going on longer trips.

Idleater

I think the best anti frostbite solution is a combination.

For this winter, I am going all out and am going to get the heated grips and muffs.

TBH, I dont see how the muffs get in the way of anything because I have kept track of how often I have to remove my hands from the bars and it is very rare. It is more in the rain, but then, if you spray the visor with that rain away stuff then it should minimise that.


L.

Paparazzo

I had the same problem with freezing hands. Mitts on a Monster will look ridiculous. My bike (1200GS)comes with hand guards/wind deflectors, they make a massive difference. I also have heated grips and very good gloves, and i have no problem no matter how cold it gets.
If i were you, i'd have a look around a few Monster sites, if there was wind deflectors that suited the bike i'd get them, in my experience they make the biggest difference. Also, definitely heated gloves, they won't take away from the look of the bike. Don't be afraid to pay decent money for them, my ordinary non heated gloves cost me €140, there's no point getting a ****e pair that don't work.

galwaytt

Georgey, I have heated gloves. They're o.k. for long trips, but for short ones are a pain, involving cables, etc. On really cold trips, e.g. long distances in snow, they do heat the backs of the hands, but I've found the finger tips going numb. Mind you, it involved riding for 6 hours in the snow.......

On every bike I buy, I put heated grips as a minimum. They are really, really good. And hand guards are big, big boon. For winter, and a lot of commuting, I'd recommend the mitts as well. They look odd, but keeping the wind off the back of your hand is the key to keeping your hands warm. They also allow you to use lighter gloves, which means better control.

Remember, your hands get cold as a defence to your core temperature dropping. By keeping your Torso warm, it only takes modest temps to keep your hands and fingers o.k. In which case, a heated jacket/vest would be a better idea than heated gloves, but do the heated grips anyway, and don't buy cheap-cheap ones. Eur 75 is a good average, and get temp adjustable ones, with rotary dial.

Del2005

A cheap way of getting your hands and fingers warm, is when stopped at lights rest then on your engine. Would work well on the Monster not on a faired bike. Of course doesn't work when driving. I had many a freezing hand defrosted this way when stuck on the side of a mountain with only cheap off road gloves on.

Georgey Burgess

Thanks for the responses guys...and gal!!

I definitely think that mitts will ruin the look of the monster.

Monster_Mitts.JPG

Researching monster forums and ducati.com, there doesn't appear to be monster hand guards but apparently the multistrada ones fit the monster and don't look the worst.

Monster_Multistrada Hand Guards.JPG
Monster_Multistrada Guards Closeup.JPG

There are other options like the Buell Lightning Hand guards or dirt bike brush guards that'll look more at home on a monster than the multistrada ones. I have an image but it's too large for this forum!!) They only thing is these need a bit more tinkering to get them fitted, and tinkering deffinitely ain't my thing.

So I reckon I'll go down the route of Multistrada hand guards to keep the wind blast from my fingers and maybe a set of oxford hot grips to toast things up. The 2006 oxford hot grips have a temp adjuster dial. They are about €60/70 incl postage on e-bay.

http://cgi.ebay.ie/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=013&item=230033791493&rd=1&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT&rd=1

Can you get the oxford hand grips in the shops here in Dublin? Bikeworld only do the Daytona heated grips (just under €80) but they only have 3 settings (Off / Start-up for boost/ On).

Thanks again for the responses.
Georgey

tk123

Georgey Burgess wrote:

http://cgi.ebay.ie/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=013&item=230033791493&rd=1&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT&rd=1

Can you get the oxford hand grips in the shops here in Dublin? Bikeworld only do the Daytona heated grips (just under €80) but they only have 3 settings (Off / Start-up for boost/ On).

Georgey

i got mine from ebay - actually from the seller you in your link! I bought locks off them too and the shipping was fast.

Georgey Burgess

tk123 wrote:

i got mine from ebay - actually from the seller you in your link! I bought locks off them too and the shipping was fast.

he has a sale on them at the moment...ends in 1 hour.

He doesn't accept paypal. Did you use credit card with him ok? He has excellent feedback (almost 20K) so not overly concerned using cc with him.

The Doktor

I had the Daytona grips, they are crap!
The left one didnt heat as much as the right, after a while the switch stopped working. Had to strip it, clean it ...and then they stopped working a short while after that...
I got Honda grips now, and they are the business...
I know Hein Girckle in newry have oxford ones, but not sure how good they are.

sutty

From talking to Kim and Claudio in Ducati, they dont want people to install the (oxford anyway) heated grips. As it seems the right one on the throttel can interefer with braking. I was meant to get them installed at my last service. But then Oisin had to go and fall off his bike... the big woman :P

anyway. I Just got a pair of Dainese Leathers and decided I needed a new pair of winter gloves. I got a pair of the all weather ones from Bikeworld (I feel dirty) for €130. So far they seem great. I went out with the g/f on Saturday night and didn't even notice the cold at all. They just need to be broken in now.

Almost forgot, using your front brake and your cluch will sap heat away from your hands. So some people wrap them in ducktape

(the leavers that is)

madrab

sutty wrote:

From talking to Kim and Claudio in Ducati, they dont want people to install the (oxford anyway) heated grips.

Thats probably because they dont have ducatti heated grips

Idleater

sutty wrote:

Almost forgot, using your front brake and your cluch will sap heat away from your hands. So some people wrap them in ducktape

Would the Ducati way not be to replace the Aluminium levers with Carbon ones?



Personally, I don't like the look of the wind "deflectors". I read that the DL ones fit the SV but someone did it and they didn't make much if any difference so they got rid of them.

L.

tk123

Georgey Burgess wrote:

he has a sale on them at the moment...ends in 1 hour.

He doesn't accept paypal. Did you use credit card with him ok? He has excellent feedback (almost 20K) so not overly concerned using cc with him.

If you go thru his checkout you can use paypal.;)

Georgey Burgess

tk123 wrote:

If you go thru his checkout you can use paypal.;)

yeah noticed that after I'd payed with cc. Oh well no big deal.

Georgey Burgess

sutty wrote:

From talking to Kim and Claudio in Ducati, they dont want people to install the (oxford anyway) heated grips. As it seems the right one on the throttel can interefer with braking. I was meant to get them installed at my last service. But then Oisin had to go and fall off his bike... the big woman :P

anyway. I Just got a pair of Dainese Leathers and decided I needed a new pair of winter gloves. I got a pair of the all weather ones from Bikeworld (I feel dirty) for €130. So far they seem great. I went out with the g/f on Saturday night and didn't even notice the cold at all. They just need to be broken in now.

Almost forgot, using your front brake and your cluch will sap heat away from your hands. So some people wrap them in ducktape

(the leavers that is)

I have ordered the oxford ones on e-bay so no going back now. I have a pair of Dainese gloves (Antarctic I think!!) which cost me about €130. They are good but the really cold days still catch me out.

I'll have to keep an eye out when fitting them to see if there is any interference with braking. Hopefully not.

Doktor - I'm glad I went for the Oxford ones now that you've told me that about the Daytonas. I've heard good and bad things about the Oxford ones, the main con being the grips are too hard.

To be honest I might just try out the heat grips on their own and if after our first real cold speel they aren't doing the job, then I'll look into adding the hand guards as a wind deflector.

sutty

Well if your going ahead with the install, I'd have to say go talk to the lads in Ducati Dublin and find out what you should be looking for and trying to avoid.




As for replacing the leavers with carbon ones....

hmmm not a bad idea :cool:

Odysseus

Have to say I have hot grips on my kle, they don't do it for me. I have a 83k commute to work, when they shi**y weather kicks in, yeah, they are most certainly better than nothing. With mine if I leave them on start, after 30mins they are too hot, however, as soon as I turn them to run, they loose their charge. Was I stuck with a shi**y set?

sutty

What make are they?

The Doktor

Odysseus wrote:

Have to say I have hot grips on my kle, they don't do it for me. I have a 83k commute to work, when they shi**y weather kicks in, yeah, they are most certainly better than nothing. With mine if I leave them on start, after 30mins they are too hot, however, as soon as I turn them to run, they loose their charge. Was I stuck with a shi**y set?

Sounds like the Daytona ones to me. Thats what they did when I had em.

galwaytt

sutty wrote:

From talking to Kim and Claudio in Ducati, they dont want people to install the (oxford anyway) heated grips. As it seems the right one on the throttel can interefer with braking.

..what tosh! No matter who's heated grips you use, there is a cable involved. It's all down to how it's done. So, unless the Ducati ones in their own catalogue uses bluetooth/microwave/inducation/magic mushrooms/etc, then that's a daft statement for them to make.......

I believe the technical term is, ahem, RTFM..........:rolleyes:

sutty

emm no its not, All bikes are different with different layouts. Ducati are no longer selling heated grips. They are worried that it may have contributed to a rider coming off his bike. So they aren't taking chances.

Odysseus

The Doktor wrote:

Sounds like the Daytona ones to me. Thats what they did when I had em.

Yeah, they are the daytona ones,just checked. Cheers for that, at least I know the story on them now.

galwaytt

sutty wrote:

emm no its not, All bikes are different with different layouts. Ducati are no longer selling heated grips. They are worried that it may have contributed to a rider coming off his bike. So they aren't taking chances.

er, no. All bikes are the same: Clutch l.h.s, Throttle r.h.s. Brake lever r.h.s. universal.
Also, I got a catalogue from Ducati centre about 8 weeks ago on the ST, and it lists grips...........

....all of which is academic. If they can't fit grips to the bike without a problem, then they shouldn't be working on your bike at all........

Georgey Burgess

Quick Update........

I bought the oxford hot grips on the net. There seemed to be a fault with the controller and they didn't work. Returned them to the seller in the UK and he replaced them without any hassle.

I've now fitted them and they've worked a treat on the few cold days we've had so far this year. I don't have that far to travel to work (approx. 25mins) and on the coldest day (the snow day last week) the warmth on grip side of my fingers was battling the cold windblasted side. So maybe if I had a longer journey to work I would need to invest in some form of guards to protect from windblast.

At the moment I have them connected direct to the battery so the next task will be to get them linked to the ignition to avoid the risk of draining the battery if I forget to turn them off. I believe you can get some form of crimp connector that you fit to the end of the +ve connector which you can then simply clamp/snap onto an ignition fed cable. I just need to source such a clamp now!!!

The Doktor

Georgey Burgess wrote:

At the moment I have them connected direct to the battery so the next task will be to get them linked to the ignition to avoid the risk of draining the battery if I forget to turn them off. I believe you can get some form of crimp connector that you fit to the end of the +ve connector which you can then simply clamp/snap onto an ignition fed cable. I just need to source such a clamp now!!!

First thing is DO NOT use that type of crimp connector, specially on a motorbike. It will cause you nothing but trouble. Solder everything you need to.
Also you cannot connect heated grips into any ol cable. You would need to use a relay. The current draw from the grips is way too high to do somthin like that.
Connect a cable through a fuse then relay. Have the relay switched by somthing like your tail light.