Well, winter is almost over but after riding at 34F once, I knew I needed one to be installed right away. I didn't want to spend few hundred for the grip kits which are prone to failure after a season or so I opted for Dual-Star kit after reviewing few similar ones (they all look the same but with different names). There is a Kimpex kit and also Cycle Gear kit which they say made by Simptex(?). I've ordered the Heat-Throller too but it didn't come with the order (Back ordered and still waiting for it. I have to say when I placed the order, they didn't tell me it was not available. It took few calls before they shipped the grip kit w/o the controller. I intend to use it with a heated vest anyway so I didn't care.)

Dual-Star kit comes with a huge on-off-on switch to select high/off/low settings. They also have an optional rocker switch ($3.95). I've got the rocker switch too but proved to be not small enough for the location I intended to install it. Instead, I used an on-off-on switch from Radio Shack (6A @125V).

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Grips came off with ease. I blew a burst of air under the grips but didn't help much. Then, squirted a shot of WD-40 which made them slip out. Throttle side has a thick insulating piece of plastic so it didn't seem in need of any additional insulation to prevent the heat loss to the handlebar.

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I've installed the switch on the RHS handlebar switch housing after soldering red, blue and white cables to match the heating units common, low and high setting colors. Two screws hold the two pieces together underneath so it was easy to open it up. I drilled a hole to insert the switch and routed the cables to prevent pinching the cables or interfering with other switches.

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For the throttle side, there is little ridge on the plastic piece which would interfere with routing the heater unit cable so I nicked it with a sharp knife at the location where the cables are going to come out (3:00 o'clock position).

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Then peeled off the backing to expose self adhesive layer of the heater and placed it centered in the front of the grip. Then rolled it up the rest and firmly pressed to stick it to the throttle. It is not asked for but I zip tied the cables to prevent pulling them as the throttle twisted. Apparently this is the weakest point to cause failure for this design.

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I placed the grip back on after wetting inside with Windex. It just slides in with no problem. I've also ordered a pair of right hand side BMW grips but I received only one. The part number for the right hand side is 32721458396. To accommodate the thick insulation for the left side, I ordered both right hand sides which have larger inner diameter.

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I left the cable loose enough not to snag it when the throttle is twisted.

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Left hand side was even easier except with one extra step; insulating the metal bar to prevent heat loss from the heating element. Optional heat shrink tube ($3.95) from Dual Star just slides on to the bare metal and requires a heat gun to shrink it. I didn't' try it but I don't think a lighter or an open flame torch would do it. It took quite a bit heat to activate it to shrink. Once I was satisfied, I cut the excess with a sharp knife. the rest was the same as the other side.

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Wiring... Now it gets confusing because the instruction sheet came with the unit is not very helpful and also they mistakenly marked the high and low sides in reverse. White cable is for low and blue is high setting as opposed to what it says. When I measured the resistance, I've got 8.5 and 13.8 ohms for the clutch side, 10.5 and 19.8 ohms for the throttle side. I tied them together white to white and blue to blue and red to red. Likewise, I tied the same color cables to the corresponding cables on the on-off-on switch. Two red ends (one from the switch and one from the heating elements) remained open to be wired to the source power directly from the battery via a relay. Placed the relay under the tail and routed a suitable cable to the front to meet the switch and heating elements at the front under the right hand side panel in front of the tank. Tapped into the rear running light wires to trigger the relay when the ignition is ON. This is a good idea in case you forget to turn them off with the rocker switch.

Riding... Well, it was much better than I anticipated. The OEM grip for the throttle side got really, really hot in HIGH mode but not the left side with the BMW grip which has ridges with channels. It seems like once I get the BMW grip for the RHS, it will be nice and toasty for both sides.

While I was working on it, I also installed a power block purchased from 2Wheel Innovations to tidy up under the seat.

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What purpose would these serve???

My grips are too hot do you have an install guide for "grip coolers"????

Good stuff Ruhi.

I'll add also that, because of the constant movement on the right hand side, my wire did eventually break solder from the heating element. Therefore, I punched a small hole in the inner ring of the grip and route the wire through the hole. Then it's pulling on the grip, not the point where the wire meets the element. You did the zip tie method... works too!