Hi anyone,

Living in the Pacific NW and being a bit of a pussy when it comes to cold I've always relied on heated grips and have grown to not want to ride with out them.
I know that KTM has a factory set that works directly with the on board computer (which frankly I/m not so sure thats a plus but thats me.)

I can buy them and have, for about $50.00 and the OEM's cost three times. Any of you have experience with them and do you find that they're worth three times as much?

In terms of installing, I know there's wiring just off the headlight which is where they've been installed in the past. Any reason to not be able to use that location if I don't use the OEM?

Any comments would be appreciated.

Steve

I installed the factory OEM heated grips a month ago on my 1290, they work fantastic, and the install was plug and play simple. Good quality and worth the price. I ordered for an Adventure (same part number) and paid 115.00 with free ship from NYCYAM on Ebay I see most online retailers sell them for 134.00. The fact that you have the heat setting right on your display is worth the extra money over an after market unit in my opinion. I'm talking 1290 here, if you have the 990 I don't know anything about that. The high setting is HOT, I usually use the medium setting....just right for toasty warm fingers even at higher speeds.

Yes for a 1290 and thanks - good stuff

I installed the $20.00 especial heated grips a long time ago and the're decent. If you really want to be toast toasty get a Gerbings heated jacket and gloves. Freaking awesome!

I have Hot Grips on mine (came with the bike) I am not sure why I never put them any of my bikes before, but now that I have them I will never go back...just part of my pussification process as I get older

I've put heated grips on all my bikes since having them on my Ducati Multistrada. Yep, once you have them you'll never go back. Yes it is worth it, the fact that they install so easily and you don't have to do a relay so they will cut off when the ignition is turned off so you won't ever make the mistake of being greated by a drained battery. If your in the U.S. use surdyke yamaha and get 20% off retail and free shipping. So $107.99 at surdyke, 60312964044 is the part number.

Yep, I has been a long time devotee of hand heat, even got 'em on my dirtbike.
Just ordered the KTM ones from Suredyke for the 1290: that is a really good price. Thanks for the tip, Mr Rotton.

Comrades: It is my understanding that third party heated grips will not work on the 1290 off the wiring in the headlight shell because of Canbus issues. It is thus necessary to run additional wiring from the Acc1 or Acc2 connectors under the seat. One is switched and the other is not. If doing this it might pay to put in something like a fuse block (eg. Fuzeblock) to allow for other connections. Kevxtx has run wiring.

In terms of heating the argument is that heated grips do work but they allow the outer surface to get cold. Heated gloves on the other hand warm all surfaces. I'm told that the rechargeable lithium battery types work quite well for a couple of hours in which case no wiring necessary although recharging is necessary.