Keeping your hands warm...

[darthandy]

As the temperatures plummet in this part of the Great White North (tomorrow's forecast calls for a chance of snow...Arrrrggggghhhh!!), I've had to start thinking about keeping my hands warmer...they were quite cool after yesterday morning's ride to the club breakfast meeting. I had been looking into heated grips but, while digging around in the basement for something, I ran across some equipment I had purchased about 23 years ago...some handlebar muffs. At the time, they were sold as "Hippo Hands" although, as it turned out, they were actually knock-offs. They stop the wind blast against your hands which allows you to go much longer before feeling any cold. In fact, if temps are above freezing, well insulated gloves will allow your hands to stay warm for hours, even at highway speeds. I used mine today in sub 40 F temps and, with insulated gloves, an hour at highway speed left my hands feeling quite comfortable.I've included pictures of them here and a link to the actual company's web site.

I also found a test on WebBikeWorld for some warmers that fit over the existing grips and can easily be removed. It occurred to me that combining these 2 tools could provide a less costly way to keep one's hands dry and warm in the kind of weather we get in some areas at this time of year. Plus, the installation is easier and can be moved to another bike easily. So...here are the links and the pictures.

www.hippohands.com/

www.webbikeworld.com/r3/heated-motorcycle-grips

[faffi]

I have heated grips myself. For ultimate warmth, a combination of hippon hands and electrical elements reign supreme, but I find the hippos restrict me a bit if I have to grab the front brake in an instant. So I run electric elements on mine and set them to fry if needed. Helps heat the blood so that even my feet takes longer to get numb

[nudiefish]

God save me from living in a place where handwarmers are necessary for bike riding!

[Roden]

Originally Posted by nudiefish

God save me from living in a place where handwarmers are necessary for bike riding!

I second that!

Right through winter I rode with only a tee shirt on under my jacket, gotta love Queensland!

Cheers,

Roden

[nudiefish]

Too right... tho I bet it was a warm t-shirt. Our Queensland winters can be brutal....!

[Roden]

I know what you mean but seriously, riding around Sydney and surrounds in winter required a certain amount of rugging up - not so here!

[GeoffE]

Hi,

In the UK we feel the cold too (but perhaps not as much as Canada & Norway). One thing I did on my Thunderbird, that worked well through our winters, was to fit a set of hand- guards from a T300 Tiger. The clutch & brake fittings are all the same, although you may need to fit non-adjusting levers (or trim around the adjusters).

I found that deflecting the wind away, was enough with good gloves to ride daily all through the winters. You need the two handguards, the long pivot screws and the top washers to stop the screw being pulled through the plastic of the handguard (the nut needed, etc. are already there). Takes about 15 minutes to do, or 15 minutes to reverse when warmer.

If you are intrested, here are the Tiger part numbers (from an old post):
LH Guard 2300814-T0301
RH Guard 2300813-T0301
Pivot Bolts 2043550-T0301 x2
Flanged Sleeve Washers T3010085 x2

I can dig out the part#s for the non-adjustable levers, if anybody wishes?

Ciao,
Geoff

[MarkShelley]

I have the ultimate combination on my XTZ660.
Heated grips and Acerbis hand protectors with handlebar muffs fitted over them. The hand protectors prevent the annoying problem of pressure on the levers from the muffs at high speed.

[darthandy]

For those lucky blokes who get to live in areas where their bone chilling cold temperatures are around the +15 C. mark, try this. Turn your freezer's thermostat to maximum cold then stick your bare hands in there with a fan blowing over them. After about 1/2 hour you'll understand our need for extra equipment.

In the meantime, I'm afraid that our temps are such that, while hand guards may help, they just aren't enough. At about $75 for the "strap-on" hand grip warmers and another $70 for the Hippo Hands, I can keep my hands quite toasty for less than the heated grips (Are some of them really $300 CDN?) and I can easily switch them over to another bike - something, I'm told, is very difficult to do with most heated grips.

And Faffi, if you go to the Hippo Hands site, they show some brackets that are available to keep the muffs from pressing on the levers and which should therefore allow you easier access to those same levers. They look quite easy to fabricate.

Now then...for those heated socks!

[MarkShelley]

Originally Posted by darthandy

For those lucky blokes who get to live in areas where their bone chilling cold temperatures are around the +15 C. mark, try this. Turn your freezer's thermostat to maximum cold then stick your bare hands in there with a fan blowing over them. After about 1/2 hour you'll understand our need for extra equipment.

In the meantime, I'm afraid that our temps are such that, while hand guards may help, they just aren't enough. At about $75 for the "strap-on" hand grip warmers and another $70 for the Hippo Hands, I can keep my hands quite toasty for less than the heated grips (Are some of them really $300 CDN?) and I can easily switch them over to another bike - something, I'm told, is very difficult to do with most heated grips.

And Faffi, if you go to the Hippo Hands site, they show some brackets that are available to keep the muffs from pressing on the levers and which should therefore allow you easier access to those same levers. They look quite easy to fabricate.

Now then...for those heated socks!

In teh UK Oxford Hot Grips cost about £65 for the latest model. Th eprevious type can be had for £45 on ebay or M&P are doing a special including some muffs for £45 via their website. I think they will post abroad.