Necessity = Modifications by the Husband

In case I haven't mentioned it here on this blog, Blaise is quite the mechanic. He has a nice set up in the garage and has accumulated a variety of tools. But the one thing he has is a true knack for modifications and fabrications of all kinds.

I recently decided that I needed grip heaters to extend my riding season. So Blaise went online and researched a bit then ended up purchasing two grip heater kits from a gent on his Concours board. The issue with regard to installation on the s50 is that I have no fairing so there isn't a good spot to mount the hi-off-low switch. I went in search on the internet and found a handlebar mounted switch housing complete with a round hole in the center for a switch. The grip heater kits Blaise ordered included round switches so I was hopeful that the switch would fit in the switch housing.

Unfortunately we don't usually have good luck like that. The switch housing opening was too small for the switch that came with the kit. We probably could have found a smaller switch to fit the housing but the kit came in the day before we were to take a long ride and Blaise was ready to do the install.

The heater pad portion of the install went well. Blaise added a small piece of rubber inner tube to the clutch side of my bars. This is used to keep the metal bars from sucking away the heat. Then he installed the pad, made a notch in my grip ring for the wire, made a notch in my light switch housing to pass the wire through and then went to work on the throttle side. This side needed to have the ridges on the plastic twist ring ground down so the heater pad would install flat against it. He made quick work of those ridges by using a Dremel tool and a sanding tip. On the throttle side a loop needed to be added to the wire so when the throttle is twisted there is enough slack in the wire. He pulled all the wires through existing wire pathways and hooked the power wire to my headlight.

Next all the wires were run to the switch. At this point Blaise had to open the round hole in the switch housing to accommodate the switch that came with the kit. He used some files to enlarge the hole and then he had to open the bottom of the switch housing to make room for the connections. He did all of this without cracking the switch housing. As you can see (or not) the switch is fairly inconspicuous. It looks great up close but I can't get a good picture of it.

Start to finish I think he worked about 2-2.5 hours on the project. I was tickled pink the next day when we started out in 30 degree temps and my hands were toasty warm!