2011 R1200R..Heated grips work intermittently???

[ammolab]

Seems to me some cold mornings when I start the motor and hit the HOT grip switch...they don't work.

Twice this month I got no heat.....turn off the motor and grip switch..restart and turn on the grips.. and I get HEAT!

Am I doing something wrong? Is my switch acting up? Bad relay in the system?

This happen to anyone else?

[Faylo]

Funny. My 2010's heated grips didn't work on the ride home tonight after working on the morning ride in. Temp this morning was 27 F and this evening it was 42 F.

I'll have to try the restart. Maybe starting the bike with the grips ON versus OFF causes the CAN Bus to sense an overcurrent condition and it disables the grips? Hmmmmm. Something to look into tomorrow.

Let us know what you find.
- Jim

[ammolab]

I read on other sites that the system will not start the grips if voltage is low (at start or at idle)... But wouldn't the system "start" the grips when you hit highway speeds?

Today I was @ freeway speeds after switching on my grips right at/after start up..still no heat. I stopped, shut off the engine, fired the engine up and tried the grips again...now heat? YES!

Oh well....PLENTY of cold mornings ahead to sort this out.

[mogu83]

I know that the instructions for the Gerbing electric clothing make a point of telling you not to have the electric clothing plugged in when you fire up the bike.

[hjsbmw]

I read on other sites that the system will not start the grips if voltage is low (at start or at idle)... But wouldn't the system "start" the grips when you hit highway speeds?

Today I was @ freeway speeds after switching on my grips right at/after start up..still no heat. I stopped, shut off the engine, fired the engine up and tried the grips again...now heat? YES!

Oh well....PLENTY of cold mornings ahead to sort this out.

Provided what you read is correct, and it sounds at least plausible, I'd suspect a weak battery. Does it start strong as always?

All I can say is that what you describe doesn't happen to me, regardless if I have the grips on or off during startup. I generally switch them off if I can remember, but that may be an attribute to the good old days where everything was analog. I think our electronics take care of switching off unnecessary users during starting, and I suspect they stay off until you recycle the system, i.e. shut it off and restart, if the voltage doesn't go up quickly enough.

[ammolab]

"Does it start strong as always?"

Bike is only 6 months old.... Seems to start fine. It was 31 degrees F that morning and pretty cold the other day when I think my grips failed to heat up. I waited until I was on the freeway today and then I switched on the grips, they worked AOK.

[jkhomes]

That can't be right. The heated grips on my R1200R always work, whether I start the engine with them already on or not. Could be a CANBUS issue, but I am willing to bet there is a short in the switch. 2011, you are still under warranty? Take it to the dealer.

[ammolab]

That can't be right. The heated grips on my R1200R always work, whether I start the engine with them already on or not. Could be a CANBUS issue, but I am willing to bet there is a short in the switch. 2011, you are still under warranty? Take it to the dealer.

Yep, warranty coverage for a long time yet... I will go to the dealer when I am sure that I can describe to them "when" they don't work. My dealer is only about 1/4 mile from my house, BUT the Service Manager could not be More of a JERK if his grandfathers were Stalin and Hitler.

Never a pleasant deal for me warranty or no!

[dbrick]

Your course of action - to present the bike for warranty claim only after you've identified the conditions under which the bike misbehaves - is wise.

I note that the Rider's Manual for my 2007 contains this language on page 53:

The handlebar grips have two- stage heating.
Grip heating can be activated only when the engine is running.

The wording is imprecise, and might mean either a) the grips only heat when the engine is running, or b) the grips only heat when the grip heating switch is switched on while the engine is running.