Tested by: Wayne Tempest RRP: £79.99 Info: www.oxprod.com
I hate riding my bike on cold winter mornings for one reason – your hands literally freeze. So, last winter I was so fed up with the pain, I fitted some Oxford heated grips. The company claim that these grips are really easy to fit, and most importantly are intelligent enough to know when you have left them on, so there’s no need to wire them through the ignition, which sounded good to me.
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I had a quick read through the instructions, and sure enough it sounded simple. I cut my old grips off with a Stanley knife. Then I carried out a trial fitting of the grips first, helping them into place with a slight tap from a rubber mallet, to check that I could position them where they wouldn’t interfere with the brake or clutch.
I then removed them, applied the adhesive to the handlebars and refitted the grips. Next, the wiring, which was quite straightforward, as they wire directly to the battery. The intelligent controller comes with a bracket that fits directly to the left handlebar bracket. I joined up the connections and switched on, hoping for the best.
It all worked first time, which for me is a miracle! I never believed that I’d ever be daft enough to leave the grips on by mistake after a journey, but guess what? The first time I used them, I left them on! I remembered while I was walking back to my bike, expecting to find a flat battery, but no – they’d turned themselves off and the bike started first time.
Did they do their job of keeping my hands warm? You bet they did.
The hottest I’ve ever needed to have them was 70% power (there are five heat settings) and that was on a cold, windy day. The buttons on the rain-proof controller are raised and easy to operate with winter gloves.
I couldn’t recommend these grips highly enough.
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