Oxford Horgrips killed my battery

I was under the impression the new Oxford Hotgrips were supposed to automatically switch themselves off when your batteries output dropped below a certain level, meaning you'd always be able to start the bike even if you accidentally left the grips on, but I found out last night that's not the case. They drained my battery so much I had to take it out and trickle charge it.

I did some reading and discovered that Oxford do not claim you will always be able to start your bike after leaving your grips on. They claim the grips will shut off before completely draining your battery, which they say can completely kill your battery.

Live and learn…

I have mine wired up to the ignition, impossible to leave them on

On the OZ bandit (naked)there is a spare live wire in the headlight (brown con,).Its for a park light,(which we dont have) have a look there.It goes through the
ignition so you wont get a flat battery.

I have a park light on my bandit, but I will wire the grips into the ignition. Would it be ok to tap into the park light wire or is there a danger of overloading the fuse?

Also, on another note, I sometimes accidentally leave the rear parking light on. It is just a matter of time before I drain my battery. Is it easy to disconnect that?

Your the only person i have ever known to use the park light.Irish thing?

I would think its ok to splice into that wire ,but i'm no expert.Someone here will be. Like Whitey or Pete.

All depends how much power the grips draw. I would say probably too much for the park light fuse as that only has to cope with about 10 w all up normally. And I dont think just replacing the fuse for a bigger one would be a good idea either as the wiring might not be able to cope with more anyway. Do the grips have any info about power draw? You could ask Oxford themselves I spose

gus wrote:You're the only person I have ever known to use the park light...

Well make me the second person you know then!

I've tapped into the rear park light +ve wire to switch a 15 amp relay...

http://www.jaycar.com.au/productView.asp?ID=SY4076&keywords=relay&form=KEYWORD

which also has a spiffy base available to match...

http://www.jaycar.com.au/productView.asp?ID=SY4078&keywords=relay&form=KEYWORD

To wire the relay is quite simple...

http://www.wingman26.com/wiringaccessories.html

Though in this instance the wire from the park light goes to 85. You don't need the fuse, as it's already built into the Jaycar relay.

No need to play with your ignition then. How easy is that!

(P.S I'm a former auto electrician for what it's worth)

(P.P.S The amperage required to switch a relay is negligible, in fact I use my park light +ve to switch three of them!)