Kuyakin handgrips

[SilverBuffalo]

I've been less than satisfied with the stock BMW grips on my LT and have been monitoring the solutions that some of y'all have come up with.

There was a post a while back where somebody bought a pair and just put them on his bike,
that just didn't sound right to me as the sets that are sold in the stores are all two different diameters
(left handlebar and right throttle sleeve)

BMW's with heated grips are probably the only bikes on the market whose left and right grips are the same diameter.

I've got a spare set of heated grips from my 02 and decided to do some experimenting.

At my local multibrand accessory shop I purchased a set of kuryaking grips,
the new two piece designed for Goldwings,
these are made to go over the existing handgrips,
what I learned was they won't work on the LT's tapered grips.

Next I traded them for a standard set of kuryaking grips,

Anyway I learned is that the left grip approximately 1" diameter
(part number 606236L) fits the heated grip sleave snugly,

I called Kuryakin and they shipped me a pair of them for $75.

next I measured the length of the Kuryakin grips and the heated grip sleeve and made a spacer (5/8") to take up the gap at the end.

Attached are a couple of pictures of the installation process,
I filled the gap at the end of the grips with a couple of o-rings,
sprayed some hairspray inside the grips and on the (heated) sleeve
and whacked the grip with the butt of my hand and slid it home.

[sparky_k1200lt]

Those look pretty nice! Just wondering how well the "heat" works with those on?

[dshealey]

I put Kuryakyn ISO grips on my LT back in 2002, posted about it on the old bmwlt.net board, pictures in this post:
http://www.bmwlt.net/ubbthreads/showthreaded.php?Cat=&Board=K1200LT&Number=35074

A written description of the install a few posts down, here:
http://www.bmwlt.net/ubbthreads/showthreaded.php?Cat=&Board=K1200LT&Number=35118

They heat very well, take a little longer to heat up, but heat your hands better due to the higher mass of the metal in the grips and the larger diameter.

[SilverBuffalo]

Nice write up Dave it doesn't surprise me that somebody like yourself did it first.
and thanks for clarifying that the heaters still work,
I just sorta assumed they would, couldn't think of any reason why they wouldn't.

I can't agree with the statement "you have to have two right side grips"
and also it seems you had to do a lot more work than I did with the heat shrink, glue, dremel tool etc. just to be able to remove your grips in the future.

All I did is spray some hair spray and slide the two 1 inch left side grips on,
they fit snug but went on pretty easy,
then I just put a couple of o-rings over the collar that holds the screws that remove the heated sleeve,
easy on/easy off and if I didn't point the o-rings out nobody would even see them.

[dshealey]

Nice write up Dave it doesn't surprise me that somebody like yourself did it first.
and thanks for clarifying that the heaters still work,
I just sorta assumed they would, couldn't think of any reason why they wouldn't.

I can't agree with the statement "you have to have two right side grips"
and also it seems you had to do a lot more work than I did with the heat shrink, glue, dremel tool etc. just to be able to remove your grips in the future.

All I did is spray some hair spray and slide the two 1 inch left side grips on,
they fit snug but went on pretty easy,
then I just put a couple of o-rings over the collar that holds the screws that remove the heated sleeve,
easy on/easy off and if I didn't point the o-rings out nobody would even see them.

I did not think the left side 1" grips would slide on that easily, so opted for the build up of the grips and used the right side ones. Glad to know the rubber is soft enough to slide on the BMW heater sleeves.

I do not understand the "O-rings over the collars" though. I pushed my grips up all the way to make them look good, and without cutting small clearance half moons in the metal of the grips the screws would have been covered up. Since the grips were glued on, the heater sleeves would not have been removable. Do you feel that you can slide the grips off the sleeves again if needed? Probably not much of an issue, since these grips will probably last as long as the bike. :)

[SilverBuffalo]

I figure that if I ever have to remove the heated sleeve
(maybe for bent handlebar replacement)
from the bike I'll just use a "hook" to remove the O-rings
then I'll be able to access the screws that hold the sleeve.

As far as removing the grips from the sleeve,
I actually did that on my spare set of sleeves, (before the install)
both pieces were sprayed with WD-40 before they were slid on
and then I used a bearing puller as an aid to get a good hold on them to pull them apart.

But like you said, unless they were damaged or something there shouldn't be a need to remove them and they might be damaged doing just that now that they're stuck together with hairspray.

Coming back from my parents house this evening the temperature dropped to around 74 degrees
(the coldest it's been since last March)
and I had a chance to test the heated grips,
it takes a while for them to warm up but they do so nicely,
I also noticed that they stay warm for quite a while after you turn them off,
probably because there's "more" warmer rubber there.

Overall I'm quite happy with them.

[bowlesj]

Coming back from my parents house this evening the temperature dropped to around 74 degrees
(the coldest it's been since last March)
and I had a chance to test the heated grips,


74 F :eek: Now that gives me a chuckle Hans. It's 31 F here right now as I get ready to head out for an ERC.

Glad you got to warm up your hands and the install looks great.

[Steve_R]

Hey John, Remember he lives in Florida and is refar....., retar........, I mean retired. ;) :p

[dshealey]

-------------------------------------
it takes a while for them to warm up but they do so nicely,
I also noticed that they stay warm for quite a while after you turn them off,
probably because there's "more" warmer rubber there.

Overall I'm quite happy with them.

There is a lot more thermal mass in the metal, that is why they take longer to cool off.

I loved mine too! If I ever get another LT, that will be one of the first changes to it.

[pickerbiker]

That's a very well done mod. Thanks for sharing. I would add for those who don't have the inclination for that much work, Grip Puppies do a great job of increasing the diameter of the grips. My hands would cramp after about an hour of trying to hang on to those teeny grips (what is it with those Germans and their small hands?). Read about Grip Puppies on this site, ordered a pair for 'bout $8, slipped 'em on (ok, it was more like a 3 round fight to get them on, but I did get them on), no more cramps in the hands. Heat still works. Awesome.

[big_ed]

Installed mine last spring. The throttle boss is one of the best featues. And yes, they heat up very nice(tested down to 48F so far)

http://inlinethumb04.webshots.com/11907/2243847140083708743S600x600Q85.jpg

[Ekim]

Hans, Thanks for the write up, I just installed my Kurykan grips with throttle boss per your instructions and it worked great. I really like the oversized grips which do take a little getting used to.

I was able to test the heating the other morning and at 32F they definitly do not heat as well as the full rubber grips, but still kept my hands warm enough to be comfortable.

[RVB1019]

So it took me two years to get my lazy but to do this mod. It took me all of 20 minutes and most of the that time was spent finding a bottle opener for my celebratory Blue Point Toasted Lager.

Easy Mod! Should have done it years ago! The rubber grips pulled right off with minimal effort. A little hairspray and a few wacks with the palm of my hand, DONE! :dance:

I wish all of my work on the LT was this simple.

My next project- install a set of P3 lights (http://www.p3lights.com/).