Grips and Gripes

[welterracer]

Trust me this has been beaten to death.. Ive had my sled since 2005 and have 7700 miles on it.. and i have done everything there is to do to make them better.. Nothing short of installing the 2006 bars is going to make you happy.. You wont believe the difference till you try it.. and complaining on the site or to yamaha directly wont make any difference..

THese sleds have varable voltage to the grips and get hotter when running at speed and cool down when you let off the gas.. they also have low windshields that allow the wind to blow on the grips and cool them quickly.. YOu can use guantlets and then you will have warm hands but suffer with trying to keep your hands in the guantlets or you can get the 06 bars and never have to go over half on the swith..

Brian

 

[mr. shide]

so do you need just the bars? I assume the grips come installed on the bars as 1 piece? I am thinking of getting an 06 or an 07 next fall and am wondering exactly what I will need to do provided it has not already been done. I'm riding a viper now, those grips get HOT, however if you dont manage it correctly you end up having sweaty hands/gloves. I also have installed those new gauntlet guards. not really a guantlet but not really a traditional guard. they work great to block the wind and there is no restriciton to accesing the bars either. i was able to ride in midweight moto x gloves on milder days. The only time I need handwarmers that are piping hot is when my entire gloves and hands are soaked, but I've found KLIM gore-tex gloves completely eliminate that problem. fully waterproof.

 

[welterracer]

You need the 06" bars and the 07 or newer wiring harnes that connects the bars to the sled wiring..

If you buy a 2007 or newer sled all you will need is the bars.. If you buy the 06 you will need the bars and the newer wiring harness..

 

[mbro223]

You need the 06" bars and the 07 or newer wiring harnes that connects the bars to the sled wiring..

If you buy a 2007 or newer sled all you will need is the bars.. If you buy the 06 you will need the bars and the newer wiring harness..

I can verify this. I bought 2- 07 Apex GT's and the grip heaters sucked. Froze my fingers the first time out and after dumpin' 20 Grand into these things I was not happy. Dealer couldn't help me. I found this site, bought 2 06 bars @ 15 bucks per, and I have never had to run the heaters over 1 bar. MB

 

[Wisconsin]

I used expanding foam and it didn't help much. The low RTX windshield doesn't help. I have the updated bars and harness on my '06 rtx and it was that way when I got it. I'm looking for a set of '06 bars. I am trying to order the updated wiring harness for my dad's sled from yamaha and my dealer can't even get it from yamaha.....ouch.....he has the updated bars and no piggyback harness b/c the guy that owned it prior to us took it out and kept it. He is fine, though with the extra tall windshield. His bars were already foamed when we got the sled.

 

[mbro223]

I used expanding foam and it didn't help much. The low RTX windshield doesn't help. I have the updated bars and harness on my '06 rtx and it was that way when I got it. I'm looking for a set of '06 bars. I am trying to order the updated wiring harness for my dad's sled from yamaha and my dealer can't even get it from yamaha.....ouch.....he has the updated bars and no piggyback harness b/c the guy that owned it prior to us took it out and kept it. He is fine, though with the extra tall windshield. His bars were already foamed when we got the sled.

I don't know if its what you are looking for or not but I have something like it on Ebay? MB

 

[mr. shide]

thats b.s. that yamaha isnt making the part for the freakin handwarmers to work hot, i guess thats why they are handWARMers and nothing more, lol

 

[GIMME SNOW]

With 400 miles now on my 09' Apex, I don't have too many gripes, the power is unreal, handling and ride quality good......but still trying to dial it in more to make it excellent. Now for the gripes....rear heat exchanger which I didn't hit with the studs on my first weekend, but got it this past weekend, but no big deal will add to the protectors and that problem will be solved. Last but not least (which everyone knows about) handwarmers, what in the are these all about. I added handguards that seemed to help some, but I think I found a silver lining to all this.....with the electronic rear shock I don't have to worry about pressing the mode button while riding adjusting the shock, just leave the hand/thumb warmers on high and leave the shock mode on, and adjust away.