The directions say to hook to the ignition switch because it more than likely isn't hot when the ignition is off - therefore leaving the grips on when you walk away from your bike won't drain your battery . . . Find any switched hot lead to connect it to or be daring and go direct to the battery - Just remember to turn it off when you walk away from the bike . . .

 

That's what I thought but was not sure, I hate they didn't put an eyelet on this damn thing, great advice I appreciate it, I can handle the battery for now and just double check and make sure I have that off, thanks bro

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That's how I have my heated gear wired for now . . . When I go in to wire up my heated grips, I will be putting them all on a switched circuit . . . But I haven't had any problems with the gear wired this way . . .

 

You can run the ground wire directly to the battery, but it's probably easier to just tap into any ground circuit wire nearest the switch. If you install a lot of stuff like I have on my V-Strom (heated grips, aux running lights, driving lights, heated vest controller, air horn, etc.) running everything to the battery means you would have a stack of ring connectors on the battery terminal.

BTW, if you are running a lot of extra electrical stuff the most elegant and neat solution is to install an auxiliary fuse box powered directly from the battery. That way you don't bugger up any important systems if you have a short in one of the add-on circuits.

In any case do not tap into the headlight circuit to power the grips even though that is a handy switched circuit. That might pull too much wattage into those wires.

Where are you going to mount the hi/lo/off switch?

 

That's good advice, and when I start adding more heated stuff that's probably what I'll do, or have someone do, I was going to put the on off switch right on the handle bar not sure exactly where yet probably towards the master brake cylinder

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Just keep in mind total draw when you start running more stuff. On my V-Strom (which we owners usually call the "Wee-Strom") I have installed a headlight cut-out switch which allows me to shut off power to one of the two headlight bulbs freeing up 55 more watts for running heated vest and grips simultaneously. Obviously that's not the solution for a Vulcan. Does anyone know how much electrical power is available for heated stuff or other doodads before starting to draw down the battery?

 

Great question, yes I may need to know this, right now I do have led lights, and that's the only other thing I run, there blue and illegal in North Carolina, so I don't run them often! But that's the only other accessory I have right now, although I do want to add a battery charger for my cell phone, other heated equipment probably coming next year, that is if my battery can handle it. Thanks for your response

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LED lights draw next to nothing, so you can deck yourself out like the National Christmas Tree without problem. I use amber Whelen LED lights on the front of the Wee for conspicuity -- they are the same units used on police and emergency vehicles, though I use them in constant-on mode instead of flashing or pulsing (illegal here), and they are BRIGHT!

Same for powering phone and GPS, both drawing very little. It's really just heated gear and halogen driving lights that need gobs of juice. My driving lights are also LEDs so I don't worry about that -- and don't run them all the time so as to not offend oncoming traffic at night. I hold them in reserve for deer spotting.

 

Good stuff anci, and all, well the heated grips are installed, the bike master 5 settings is not nearly as warm as I thought they would be, took about a 20 minute ride in 36 degree no Sun weather, so that is about at the bottom what I'll be traveling in but with them on high, with gloves on, my left hand was getting very cold, the right hand, is definitely warmer than the left. Yes I left my LED lights on for 9 hours at work one day, came out and started my bike rite up so I figured they were little to no pull, good news on the cigarette lighter not taking much, eather. Here's a picture, I guess I'll be adding windeflecters now too, I only spent 40 bucks on Amazon for the heated grips, I'm just wondering if I got a little bit more expensive ones, if I would need to put on wind deflectors too, oh well, I guess it'll be something I can add to the listing when I go to sell her, if I ever sell her, love this bike!

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Usually grip heaters are designed so that the left side which loses heat to the handlebar is a little stronger than the right, which has the throttle tube to insulate from the bars.

I have used Dual-Star grip heating elements (http://www.dual-star.com/index2/Rider/heated_grip_kit1.htm) for many years on several bikes with good success. Even with "grip puppies" (foam rubber slip-over sleeves) on the grips I can only use the high setting for initial warm-up then have to switch to low because they are getting too hot. However the Dual-Stars come with a toggle switch that poses problems for mounting. Your bar-mounted switch is a neat install.

 

Thanks anci, I am hoping on longer ride, with more heat of time, these things get a little bit warm, it's weird that my left is so much less than my right compared to what you just said with your experiences

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I am hoping on longer ride, with more heat of time, these things get a little bit warm

Yeah, it's not instant gratification. I usually begin to feel some heat after a few minutes of operation, and switch to the low setting after 10 minutes or so.