Monday, June 11, 2012 [70,813 miles]

My bike was made in May of ‘05. I got it until the middle of June. Today is close enough to being its 7th birthday that I got it a birthday present. OK, the present is really for me but it goes on the bike and that is close enough.

The stock grips have always been on the narrow side and they are starting to get worn in spots. Grip Puppies are cheap foam covers that add a bit of thickness and (in theory) wont stop heated grips from warming your hands when needed. I got mine from casporttouring.com.

It takes a T55 for the end screw and a T25 for the top screw to get the GS hand guards out of the way. DANGER WILL ROBINSON! BMW used a heavy duty thread locker on the T55 screws. It may take heat to break them loose. Mine had been removed in the past so it was not an issue this time. You can see some of the old thread locker in the last picture. I cleaned the threads this time before re-inserting the screw. I also use medium strength (blue) thread locker on that screw.

I held the Grip Puppy to the throttle and marked with my thumb where I wanted to cut. After cutting I used soapy water as a lubricant on the inside of the Grip Puppy per the instructions. It is easier to start the installation if you use the bar end weight. It has a nice taper to spread the opening enough to get over the flair on the end of the grip. I installed the Puppy with the end I cut toward the bike to leave the cleaner factory cut on the outside. Total time for one side including picture taking is about 10 minutes.

The throttle side is done the same way. I had a Kaoko throttle lock in place of the stock bar end which I removed as part of the Grip Puppy installation. Since I got the Go Cruise throttle control I haven’t used the Kaoko. I didn’t use it very often before getting the Go Cruise, either. The Kaoko went to someone who will use it.

The grips feel fine sitting on the bike. I haven’t taken a ride, yet, so final judgement will have to wait a bit. At less than $15 delivered it won’t hurt if it turns out I don’t like them.

Monday, Oct 22 2012

It’s been about 4 months and 4,500 miles since I put them on the bike. I’ll keep them there. The only down side I’ve noticed is that the grip heaters have to work a bit longer before I start to feel the heat. I can work around that by swithching the heaters to high to warm things up before switching them to low.