Modern Vespa

2020 GTS Super 300 hpe:

Any recomendations for... (or manafcturers / products best avoided)?

I've ridden bikes for years (since i was 14) and never had heated grips, someone suggested them to me last weekend and says they are amazing... so here i am... clocking up the years and feeling every bit of my 55 years old and now wanting heated grips...

Your insight / pointers would be greatfully received.

Thanks
Adam

I think the Koso Apollos are the most common. I have a set on my Sprint and they make a huge difference on a cold day.

Thanks

I threw a $25 set of cheap Chinese heated grips on my scooter a year ago, figuring if I liked them and they broke I'd upgrade to something better.

I like them. A lot. And they haven't failed yet, with about 5000 miles ridden since. I completely see why so many are so enthusiastic about them. With handlebar muffs I find I don't need more than regular riding gloves, even down to 25°F. I'm not sure a more expensive set would be better if/when these quit on me. The major difference seems to be more heat settings, but honestly a simple low/high/off is quite adequate.

I also have a heated seat pad which works nicely but is not as amazing as the heated grips. I am not sure where the electrical generation threshold is on this gear. My 460cc seems to have enough reserve stator capacity to run this stuff, but does a 150cc Vespa? How about a 50cc (doubtful)?

Link:
12V 22mm Motorcycle Heating Grips Handlebar Electric Hot Heated Grips
https://a.aliexpress.com/_mKCdcYK

thanks... thats good infornmation too re cheap v expensive...

I guess what could help is a replacement battery with more Ah to tide over any shortfall... my rides are all short (i live on an island) so dont imagine i'll suffer too too much regarding power issues... i guess we'll see when i get some

thanks for your reply

following , I do prefer education from those that have personal experience with the subject.

absolutely... hence asking

I have these Koso AM111030. I prefer the controller built into the grip instead of mounted elsewhere. That way I don't have to take my hands out of the muffs and can stick to thinner gloves. I've used them down in the low 20s f comfortably usually on medium or low once inside of the muffs have warmed up. https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00T6IX42S/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

My Koso Apollos are pretty much the same, and I too love the controller being within thumb's reach to switch on/off or adjust on-the-fly. I had them put on Thelonica by the dealer before rolling her off the showroom floor, and haven't regretted it.

Dealer installed mine, I don't touch the electrics unless it is plug n play like the Scooterwest knee pad power point. Dealer also installed the Admore pigtail for my top case lights and switched power for my Zumo GTS on my cannonball scooter.

I had Oxford heated grips on my old first Gen. Yamaha Zuma 125. Note if buying Oxford heated grips. They have a Confirmed Fit in the product description, meaning the grips have been confirmed to work. But when installed on Zuma they barely got warm. Turns out Oxford does 2 versions of heated grips. Normal and a low voltage version for smaller scooters/motorcycles. My stock stator didn't put out enough power. It was so bad that it would stall the Zuma at intersections. Overall review? Waste of money. I pulled them off and tossed them in the trash. So make triple sure you scoot has the required power to run them. And DO NOT trust the Oxford site if using their brand.

FTFY - units are important. Don't want to overshoot Mars on your Vespa...

I'm using Oxford Adventure OF690, not the "scooter" version mention above. Plenty of heat and the 'intelligent' controller monitors the battery voltage so it can auto turn off allowing direct wiring to the battery for more power/heat.

I've never had heated grips. They came with my 2022 Kymco AK550.
Absolutely amazing. They actually have three heat settings.

Proves; you don't know what you don't know.

Heat up those hands and butts.

Bob Copeland
Snow here 7 inches just yesterday.

Put the muffs on today. Toasty warm hands.

My dealer told me today he has heard Vespa is coming out with a heated seat.

Aren't they supposed to be doing a heated seat and grips, and somehow tying these in with either their new "standard" control panel and/or SuperTech panel?

Seat sounds cool - ahem - but not nearly as important IMO as keeping the digits warm.

I'm not a fan of heated seats in cars (but I haven't been in Real Cold), but on the scooter it sounds great.

yup. apparently they are for the 2023 and need the bluetooth module installed. which makes me wonder if the only way to control them will be via your phone? or maybe some joystick sequence?

https://modernvespa.com/forum/post2582924#2582924

Yes it is a combo deal.

OEM heated grips and seat, I've got both ordered for my 2023. My understanding is you can use either joystick or Bluetooth but not having seen them yet I don't know if that is accurate.

There's also a TPM symbol on the dash, so that's a further possible upgrade.

interesting.

I guess since Hella made the new pmp3 bluetooth system for the 2023 gts (and other recent scoots like the Beverly E5) and Hella also makes tire pressure monitoring systems, I guess it aint too surprising although I expect Piaggio will stick them on the Beverly or the MP3 before the GTS.


note: the older pmp1&2 bluetooth systems were made by a different company

Dash from printed manual. Doesn't even say the TPM is optional with the bluetooth module. No asterisk.

Note, that the printed manual is out of date. Accessing the settings menue is incorrectly described in there (in eight languages).

I've installed Oxford (with V.8 controller) on all my bikes for the last decade or so.
They are 50 watts at full power. The controller has 5 settings, down to about 10-15 watts.
They switch off automatically when the engine has been turned off.
Grips are available in different thicknesses and lengths.
Power use when off is barely measurable. They won't drain the battery, not even in a whole winter of not starting the bike.
Wires are long enough to reach the battery under the seat.
They're the only heated grip manufacturer I know of that make the left grip more powerful. The left grip is mounted directly to the handlebars, which act as a heatsink. The right one is put over (usually) a plastic pipe.
They're not perfect, rubber is a bit hard, but I won't use anything else.
Add hand guards for wind protection (or muffs) and you can rider with summer gloves through a snowstorm. - Which I've done. The left hand got a bit cold since I was constantly having to use it to wipe snow off the visor, but that is not fault of the grips.

I've recently discovered that Oxford has V.9 of the controller and I'm itching to try that.

My only beef with the 'digital' Oxford controllers is that they don't turn on again to their previous setting once the ignition is turned back on. At least they didn't when I last looked at them, which admittedly was a few years ago. I have always used the original 'analogue' controllers, which I keep from bike to bike.

However, I agree the actual grips are the best out there, though after 50,000 miles or so they need replacing as they wear almost down to the wire element.

I loved the Oxfords on my previous Kawasaki, but on the Vespa: where do you put the controller? On the mirror stem?

I'll admit I love this feature of the Koso Apollo grips, especially in the last few weeks when running around in freezing temps (and haven't put the handlebar muffs on just yet). Hop back on the bike, fire it up, punch the button on the left-hand grip, and it goes back to the previous setting. I'm sure there are fans for either Oxford or Koso, for legit reasons, but I loves my Apollos.

So they only turn on again if you press a button? Not with the ignition? Yes, I'm a lazy sod.

Actually, I'm not too fussed about that, especially since the button is so easily within reach; if the button was on a separate pod, yep, that would bug me.

Ah yes, I'd forgotten. OK, they'd do nicely!

They do turn off with the ignition. When you start the scooter again the heat is off, but when you switch the grips on they are at the same setting you last set them to.

Yes, I know. That's what I don't like (for those grips with separate controls) That's fine. It's the extra switching that's a nuisance to me. But these grips seem to be OK as the switch is on the grips themselves.

The button on the grip is why I went with Kosos over other options. Especially if I have the muffs on my handlebars.

I installed KOSO heated grips on my GTS in 2014. The controller is a small black box mounted to the front of the left knee pad. Just press the button and they turn on full power. There are five settings. Just keep pressing the button to see the red LEDs change to indicate where you are.

I went for a ride today. It was 6F and windy. Grips alone with heavy gloves would do nothing. Nor would grips and electric gloves at that temperature. The only solution I found was grip muffs. I have Tucano Urbano muffs. They're not pretty but they work.

Today I was toasty running the grips, KemiMoto electric gloves, and all inside the muffs.

I like that. Usually when I get back to the bike the weather has changed, so the requirements for heated grips have also changed. I will not park the bike in freezing conditions and then boil my hands on the next trip when the sun is shining. If the design of the handlebars prevents me from using the included mounting hardware I use double-tape and put it where it's easy to reach. I have roll of extra strong double tape from my RC racing days so I can easily build it up to fit all sorts of curved surfaces. It's worth noting that Koso grips are 30 watts. Oxford grips are 50 watts.* So while both are at full power, Oxford will get 66% warmer.

*Wattage measured by myself on installed grips. Your exact model may differ.

The wife bought me Oxfords for the GTS several years ago but they ended up on the motorcycle and work great. I made a handlebar bracket for the controller. This Year it was KOSOs under the tree, so we'll see how they work. I went to Scooterwest's web site for the installation instruction video and couldn't find a link anywhere so I'll have to hit YouTube directly, keeping the fingers crossed. It's 5 deg f here in Western NY so no testing for awhile 😩

Thanks all for the replies - was very good reading and some excellent points of view - first hand experience (as someone else pointed out) is invaluable!!

Hope you all had a good Christmas and plenty of beer planned for the New Year celebrations!!

Hopefully that's 5 posts for me now and i can start hitting the thumbs up button

All the best
Adam

I'm going to try that set of cheap grips.

I suspect that most bikes have the 20w necessary for grips or gloves. On my previous GY6, I put on a stator with 100w higher capacity just to run heated gear. You really need to test unknown systems to see what they support. For that you need to be able to test idle and running voltage with gear at max/half power to see if the stator can supply that power. All bikes should have an "excess stator capacity" spec to tell us max power available to accessories. Remember to plug into the bikes 12V system only while the bike is running. Consider 7.4V stuff, it's actually pretty good. Today, I'll be running a 12V jacket and 7.4V gloves at about 32F on the BV350.