I have had numerous S10's over the years and recently picked up another '13 model. Instead of the insanely high priced Yamaha heated grips I wanted to try some aftermarket grips. I have heated grips on all of my bikes and have found they vary wildly in diameter and length. I have the Bikemaster on my KLR and DRZ and some Oxfords on my WR450. While they work well, the controller takes up needed space on the bars for other items. I looked for a set that was similar in diameter and most importantly similar in length.
I found the KOSO Apollo grip and it's length is 5mm shorter than the stock grip, but the feature that I most liked was the controller is built into the left grip. No funky controller mounted on the bars or elsewhere. This makes for a quick and sanitary installation. These grips have a voltage sensor built in to the controller and if the voltage drops to a set level, the grips power off and a led blinks on the grip. I wasn't fond of this setup as I could see the battery dropping and the light coming on and causing yet more parasitic drain on the battery leaving the battery too low to start the bike.
I pulled the original Yamaha power plug that is tucked in the side behind the tool kit and removed the cap that they put over the connector. After a trip to a buddies shop that had an old wire harness from a previous job i took two of the pins out of the old harness and put them in the appropriate space in the cap. This allows the grips to run off of the circuit Yamaha built into the bike and is a switched circuit. The pins can be sourced from Eastern Beaver as well. They are a Sumitomo MT/MH male terminal pin.
When I put the grips on the bike I used a couple of grip donuts from one of my dirt bikes to make up the 5mm distance from the shorter grip. It wasn't necessary, but I didn't care for the gap between throttle housing and grip. I did this on both sides and can be seen in the pictures.
A word of caution... Do NOT use the super glue that comes with the grips!!! The left grip fits very tightly on the bar and will have to be driven on. I used a socket that was about the same diameter as the plastic insert in the grip. I used a very small amount of Moose grip glue, (Scott's would work fine as well) and drove the grip on the bar. If you put a grip donut on, be sure and put it on before you drive the grip on. Once it's in place, you can grab the grip and twist it a little to line it up if needed. Once the glue sets it's there, but you should be able to overpower it and brake it loose if you ever need to remove it. Be sure and take note of how far your old grip extends off the end of the bar so you can allow about the same with the new grip. I used the bar weight to check the distance and drove the grip on till I got it where it should be.
The throttle side is not nearly as tight a fit, so the grip glue is a must, but DO NOT use the super glue! I took the grip off the throttle pipe and then put the pipe back on the bike so I could get a mark of where I wanted the grip oriented in relation to the wire coming out the bottom. I then removed the pipe and stood the grip on end and pushed the pipe into the grip. The plastic inner piece of the grip lined up flush with the end of the throttle pipe. I re-installed the grip and ran the wires to the battery side of the bike.
The grips are a touch larger than the diameter of the stock grip and have almost the same feel as far as the rubber compound is concerned. Even the grip pattern is very similar to stock. The operation is what I like the most. The button below the light is what controls the setting. There are 5 settings and the light that illuminates shows the level of heating. Blue being the coolest, green, yellow, orange and red being the hottest. You can hold the button down and the grip will turn off and when you touch it again, it will come back to the last setting. I like this feature as you don't have to cycle through all of the settings to get back to where you were. The heat feels even between the sides and the temperatures seem to be good on each setting! This comes from the grip being attached to the plastic sleeve.
If the grip had been 5mm longer they would have been perfect! As it is, I really like the OEM look of the grip and controller, actually better than the big rotary dial of the Yamaha grip controller. For a little over $110, I think this is a good alternative to the factory option.
~Tony
I found the KOSO Apollo grip and it's length is 5mm shorter than the stock grip, but the feature that I most liked was the controller is built into the left grip. No funky controller mounted on the bars or elsewhere. This makes for a quick and sanitary installation. These grips have a voltage sensor built in to the controller and if the voltage drops to a set level, the grips power off and a led blinks on the grip. I wasn't fond of this setup as I could see the battery dropping and the light coming on and causing yet more parasitic drain on the battery leaving the battery too low to start the bike.
I pulled the original Yamaha power plug that is tucked in the side behind the tool kit and removed the cap that they put over the connector. After a trip to a buddies shop that had an old wire harness from a previous job i took two of the pins out of the old harness and put them in the appropriate space in the cap. This allows the grips to run off of the circuit Yamaha built into the bike and is a switched circuit. The pins can be sourced from Eastern Beaver as well. They are a Sumitomo MT/MH male terminal pin.
When I put the grips on the bike I used a couple of grip donuts from one of my dirt bikes to make up the 5mm distance from the shorter grip. It wasn't necessary, but I didn't care for the gap between throttle housing and grip. I did this on both sides and can be seen in the pictures.
A word of caution... Do NOT use the super glue that comes with the grips!!! The left grip fits very tightly on the bar and will have to be driven on. I used a socket that was about the same diameter as the plastic insert in the grip. I used a very small amount of Moose grip glue, (Scott's would work fine as well) and drove the grip on the bar. If you put a grip donut on, be sure and put it on before you drive the grip on. Once it's in place, you can grab the grip and twist it a little to line it up if needed. Once the glue sets it's there, but you should be able to overpower it and brake it loose if you ever need to remove it. Be sure and take note of how far your old grip extends off the end of the bar so you can allow about the same with the new grip. I used the bar weight to check the distance and drove the grip on till I got it where it should be.
The throttle side is not nearly as tight a fit, so the grip glue is a must, but DO NOT use the super glue! I took the grip off the throttle pipe and then put the pipe back on the bike so I could get a mark of where I wanted the grip oriented in relation to the wire coming out the bottom. I then removed the pipe and stood the grip on end and pushed the pipe into the grip. The plastic inner piece of the grip lined up flush with the end of the throttle pipe. I re-installed the grip and ran the wires to the battery side of the bike.
The grips are a touch larger than the diameter of the stock grip and have almost the same feel as far as the rubber compound is concerned. Even the grip pattern is very similar to stock. The operation is what I like the most. The button below the light is what controls the setting. There are 5 settings and the light that illuminates shows the level of heating. Blue being the coolest, green, yellow, orange and red being the hottest. You can hold the button down and the grip will turn off and when you touch it again, it will come back to the last setting. I like this feature as you don't have to cycle through all of the settings to get back to where you were. The heat feels even between the sides and the temperatures seem to be good on each setting! This comes from the grip being attached to the plastic sleeve.
If the grip had been 5mm longer they would have been perfect! As it is, I really like the OEM look of the grip and controller, actually better than the big rotary dial of the Yamaha grip controller. For a little over $110, I think this is a good alternative to the factory option.
~Tony
