nklr, mc rides near seattle

[MWeaver@niku.com]

i'm kind of an electrical neophyte, so i thought i'd better get some advice before i started hooking stuff up. i just got some grip heaters from Enduro Engineering. they come with a 3 position switch (high/off/low), some heating elements and some wires. looks like a positive wire that splits into two, 1 gets a resistor, 1 doesn't, and they go to opposite sides of the switch. the heating elements have a wire (each) to go to the middle of the switch, and a wire (each) to go to ground. i assume that the switch controls which wire the juice comes from, no resistor for high, resistor for low. here are my questions: 1. should i just wire the hot lead to the battery terminal? do i need some kind of fuse? if so, why isn't that included? 2. what do i need to do to ground the wires coming from the elements? is that the same as the (-) terminal on the battery? if that's so, it looks like i could just hook it up to the black/yellow wire near the headlight that is supposed to be the negative for euro running lights. or can i just put it under any bolt or screw that goes to the frame? i did a quick test, just for curiosity, and hooked up the lead to the battery, and attached one element and hooked it's ground wire to a bolt holding the airbox to the frame. it seemed to heat up rather nicely, but i wasn't overwhelmed with enough confidence to go ahead and actually install everything. at any rate, not all the wires have nice little connectors, so i think i'll go to the store tomorrow and get a little more wire and some kind of convenient connectors to make it look a little less like a hack job when i'm done. sorry for the beginner electrical questions, but thanks in advance for the help. -mark weaver

[Backroad Bandit]

Mark, run the hot wire to a switched circuit, like the euro light connector, so the grips don't stay on when you're in Safeway buying some Bear Republic or other fine brew. Then go to Smothers or another good auto parts store and buy a little box of crimp connectors, for making the connections. If you don't have a stripper/crimper, get one of those, I never go anywhere without mine. The Kragen-type stores charge too much for those connectors, they are cheaper at a good auto parts store. They are very handy when working on your bike, or anything with wire.

[jirvine@nmsu.edu]

At 03:52 AM 10/17/00 +0000, MWeaver@... wrote:

>1. should i just wire the hot lead to the battery terminal? do i need >some kind of fuse? if so, why isn't that included?

Should do a fuse, no biggy.

>2. what do i need to do to ground the wires coming from the elements? >is that the same as the (-) terminal on the battery? if that's so, it >looks like i could just hook it up to the black/yellow wire near the >headlight that is supposed to be the negative for euro running >lights. or can i just put it under any bolt or screw that goes to the >frame?

Do you have a relay? You really should install a relay and I'm too much of a neophyte myself to know why but it allows you to set it up so they won't stay on like someone else mentioned. Get a $4 relay (horn/lights) from the auto parts store. It'll have a little wiring diagram on it, Mount it under the seat behind the battery, There is a red/white wire running to the tail light that only operates when the key is on, use this or a similar to hook to the relay (cut into it carefully) so you avoid the dead battery from leaving grips on. Might be time to learn minimal soldering. Again I'm no electrical genius but using shrink wrap, and some solder it better than connectors that can come apart easier and corrode. Looks better ads well. I use connectors but hit them with a bit of solder to make em better.

[Ric Merry]

> I have a new KLR 650 and recently moved to the Northwest (Bainbridge > Island, WA). What is the best way for me to find out about off-road > riding opportunities in the area? I am close to the Olympics, but > have no idea what roads/areas are open to motorcycles. Can anyone > point me in the right direction? > TIA, > Todd Larson

Hi Todd- Welcome to the NorthWet. Here's some info I have on my site about open trails in WA State http://www.concours.org/ric/opentrails.htm You'll have to contact each of the 4 individual Districts in the Olympic National Forest to see who has open trails at the moment. (the bastards are shutting down forests quickly...but I have no opinion on this) Hope this helps. Please let me know what you find out and I'll update my site. Ric Merry Western gateway to the North Cascades 97ZG1K2LR650A7 www.concours.org/ric/>

[k650dsn@aol.com]

I thought that the circuit for the euro headlight was not of high enough amperage for heated grips. Gino --- In DSN_klr650@egroups.com, "Backroad Bandit" wrote:

> Mark, run the hot wire to a switched circuit, like the euro light > connector, so the grips don't stay on when you're in Safeway buying > some Bear Republic or other fine brew. Then go to Smothers or > another good auto parts store and buy a little box of crimp > connectors, for making the connections. If you don't have a > stripper/crimper, get one of those, I never go anywhere without > mine. The Kragen-type stores charge too much for those connectors, > they are cheaper at a good auto parts store. They are very handy > when working on your bike, or anything with wire.

[John Irvine]

At 03:45 PM 10/17/2000 +0000, k650dsn@... wrote:

>I thought that the circuit for the euro headlight was not of high >enough amperage for heated grips. > >Gino > >--- In DSN_klr650@egroups.com, "Backroad Bandit" >wrote: > > Mark, run the hot wire to a switched circuit, like the euro light > > connector, so the grips don't stay on when you're in Safeway buying > > some Bear Republic or other fine brew.

If you are using a relay then the power is coming from the battery but it is only allowed to when the relay is triggered by this other circuit. That is , I believe, why the relay is used.