KTM heated grips - how to control..?

[Pepperjack]

Hi All..

I have a new set of KTM grips(2012) on my 990 ADV as per attached pic... I can't drive them - they have only one button..? you press and hold for a long time which seems to turn them on, then you get all 4 LED's flashing.. I've tried a gazillion combinations but can't seem to make sense of it all - anyone know how to drive them..?

I found a manual.. says you hold down for three seconds, to turn on/off and a press of done second to go between heat settings.. but I'm damned if I can get that working.

hoping someone else has been down this road..



Thanks!

[Hondo]

That is how I work mine.

I hold the button down for 3+ seconds until the lights come on.

When I release the button the red light is on (hottest). Pushing the button will change the tep setting to the next temp setting.

Holding the switch down for 3-5 seconds shuts them off again.

Are your even coming on?

[Pepperjack]

Yeah...they come on after three seconds...but all lights just flash, together..as per pic. From that point nothing I do can make any setting come in...they just keep flashing 4 solids LEDs and the only thing you can do is turn them off...they're brand new...!

[Hondo]

Sounds like a bad unit to me.

Luckily the control unit is independent of the the grips so you should be able to return it for an exchange.

[Pepperjack]

Hard to believe... It is practically brand new..just fitted, surely it couldn't be broke..sadly intend to agree. Does just the little button assembly pop off etc..?

[BOB RAMSAY]

Originally Posted by Pepperjack

Hard to believe... It is practically brand new..just fitted, surely it couldn't be broke..sadly intend to agree. Does just the little button assembly pop off etc..?

Don't feel bad - the old style KTM heated grip didn't work worth a tinker's damn either. Either on HOT or, pretty much, NOT. So, when it's cold, you just turn it on - and then - off. WFT?

I don't think I'll run out for a new one.

[p-luc]

THe pain of my life. When they just flash, it mean there is a bad connection. I pass 2 set of grip. First set, the right side rip at the install, second set, broken wire in the right grip. Got mad had it and I put some Oxford grip on the KTM control, didn't have time to test for a long period, but it was working.

[sideup]

Sorry to hear about your controller not working.
Sure you double checked the wire diagram. Another thing did you do a resistance (ohms) check on each grip. Maybe you have a bad grip with a broken wire and that gives a fault to the controller. Just a thought.

I just installed a pair of KTM grips last week and the controller worked as explained in directions.

One big word of warning for anyone installing new style KTM throttle side heated grip on a KTM Throttle tube cam system.
No matter how much grip glue and how much force the heated grip would not go on. It got half way and just stopped.
I tried with the grip on the bike and then took it off and tried with all my weight on my work bench. I have installed dozens of grips in my life time and just could not get the grip to slide on. I even tried with WD 40 just to see if it was the grip glue I was using. No way would that grip go on with all the grease in the world. BTW the left grip slid on with just the normal amount of force.
Well after trying and trying I finally pushed so hard I damaged the wire connection in the grip and had no ohm resistance and I knew the grip was toast.
Nothing to lose now so I sliced the bad grip open take a look see. I will post a picture on an edit. The grip is wound with the metal banding heating element as one would expect to see. Also after seeing it, it is easy to see there is no way the metal banding will expand as a normal non-heated grip would. It's a fiction fit.

I have another bike in the garage with the old style ktm heated grip on the aluminum throttle tube so I didn't foresee a problem.

Long story sorry, but I took the throttle tube and the grip back to the dealer to show them. The orange certified mechanic looked it over and said it appears the knurling on the new throttle tube was a larger diameter than the old ones. We couldn't compare inside diameter of the old grips to the new or an older aluminum tube as they did not have any old ones in stock. The mechanic said he had not fit up and new grips on the aluminum throttle tubes yet.

The fix he suggested was to sand down the knurling on a belt sander and apply with the grip glue. They gave me the new set at dealer cost, some what fair I guess cause I should have known to stop the 3rd or 4th attempt the first time.

Sanded down the krurling and a little glue and slid right on. Maybe sanded too much. But anyway it works fine now. Live and learn. Beware of the aluminum throttle tubes with the new KTM heated grips. New style grips have KTM logos at the end and the wire comes out forward at the grip stop and not perpendicular.

[p-luc]

I got the samething on my bike, Trottle tube in aluminum. The think I found is the element in the grip is a spring, if you twist the grip, the sping open and you got a little bit more room. You still have to sand it down, I even pollish it with a buffer, like a mirror!!!
There is a ''bumper ring'' near the cam, even sand that one, just be careful to not be too close to have the trottle tube free of movement.

Did the same, had to cut the first one and bought a new one

[sideup]

Originally Posted by p-luc

I got the samething on my bike, Trottle tube in aluminum. The think I found is the element in the grip is a spring, if you twist the grip, the sping open and you got a little bit more room. You still have to sand it down, I even pollish it with a buffer, like a mirror!!!
There is a ''bumper ring'' near the cam, even sand that one, just be careful to not be too close to have the trottle tube free of movement.

Did the same, had to cut the first one and bought a new one

p-luc
Nice to know I did not suffer alone. Good Idea about twisting the grip as long as you know which way to twist.
Still I don't know if it would be enough and then it would drive me crazy having the pattern twisted on the outside of the grip.
Here is a photo of the cut grip. Another problem about a spring the more one tries to expand sliding farther on the tube the smaller the remain coil gets. I don't know about you but the first time it was like I came to a hard stop and it would go no further. I sanded my knurling and then finished it down to 320 grit finish cause I didn't want to not want to go through another broken wire. Well I have spare left grip now and so do you probably.

[Pepperjack]

interestinglky.. they have JUST started working.. I wonder if battery voltage is a key factor... i.e. if the voltage is a little low will they refuse to engage and start heating etc.?

it would make sense to engineer in their a circuit that says - if battery too low then don't work because you will draw too much current and flatten it further etc..

does anyone know if this is true..?

[Pepperjack]

Ahhhhk, went for a long ride yesterday, in the cold and wet...and they didn't work at all.. Driving me nuts. They're dealer fitted so they can worry about it all this week.

Are there any grips in the market which don't suffer these problems..ie controller issues etc..seems the Oxford ones are no better..?

Very frustrating.. If we can put a man on the moon....

[Hipster]

My Syntec (Heat Demons) heated grips have worked great over the years http://www.heatdemons.com/External-H...MTRR_p_36.html

[howl]

Originally Posted by Hipster

My Syntec (Heat Demons) heated grips have worked great over the years http://www.heatdemons.com/External-H...MTRR_p_36.html

We have these on all our bikes ,only two heat settings but that is all you need realy. The flat element sheet wraps around your bar so you can use any grip you want.There is room on the dash for the switch too.

[neilevans]

Just fitted a brand new set of KTM grips and I have the same problem - when I press the button in for a few seconds all the lights start to flash but it wouldn't allow me to select the temperature I want and I'm not getting any heat, if I press the button again it just switches the heated grips off!! Very frustrating