Harley Davidson Heated Grips

Cold hands end more rides than cold weather does. It is rarely the discomfort that turns people round. It is losing feel on the clutch and brake levers, which is why riders who fit heated grips talk about the miles they got back rather than the temperature they can put up with. On a Harley ridden through a British winter they are most of the difference between a bike you use and one you look at from October onwards.

Heated grips or heated gloves?

Ask that on any owners' forum and the thread splits. Heated grips warm your palms. The backs of your hands and your fingertips are not touching the grip, so on a long, genuinely cold ride they will still get cold, and riders doing serious winter mileage usually end up with heated gloves or bar muffs as well.

What that argument leaves out is every ride except the coldest one of the year. Grips are on the bike, always, with nothing to remember, charge or pull on over the top of everything else. That matters most on the ride that started mild enough that you never thought about it. They are a fitted accessory rather than personal kit, so they stay with the machine. If you ride through every winter, buy both. If you ride all year and get caught out, the grips are the ones that will already be there.

Kits and single grips are different listings

This is the thing to check before you order. A kit contains both sides, the throttle-side grip and the left-hand grip. A single is a replacement for one side only. On this page 56100097A and 56100360 are left-hand grips, while 56100377 and 56249-10 are right-hand throttle grips. Buy a single to replace one damaged or worn side; buy a kit to add heat to a bike that has none. The singles say left or right in the title. Everything else on this page is a pair, whether or not the title says kit, and Harley-Davidson's own listings sell them that way. One more thing about the four singles: Harley-Davidson publishes no fitment for them, so a single is a like-for-like replacement for the grip already on the bike, not a way in.

The style names describe the grip, not the heat

Kahuna, Airflow, Willie G Skull, Streamliner, Empire, Adversary, Switchback, Wild One, Carbide, Tactical and the Chrome and Rubber ranges are Harley-Davidson styles. They describe the profile, the texture and the finish, not a heat rating or a power output. The same names appear on unheated grips, so pick the style for how it suits the bike and how it feels in your hand, then check the listing for what is actually in the box.

Worth knowing: a few unheated grips sit on this page alongside the heated ones, because they share those style names. 56100332, 56100112 and 56100319 are not heated. If heat is the reason you are here, check the title before you add to basket.

Fitment: check it against your own bike, not against the style

The grips here carry fitment for the Touring, Softail and Dyna families, with some listed specifically for Road Glide and Street Glide. Harley-Davidson's own listings split the heated grips by where the power wires run. The Kahuna (56100331) "must be wired internal of the handlebar", the Willie G Skull (56100259) "must be wired external of the handlebar", and both listings exclude '08 to '13 models with internally wired handlebars. Two styles sold side by side, wired opposite ways, so the style you want and the fitment you need are two separate checks. Confirm the part against your exact model and year before ordering. Our Parts Finder searches by model or part number, and if the listing does not answer it, our parts team will.

Most installations also need a connection kit, and which one depends on the bike. Harley-Davidson's listing for the Kahuna names four different Electrical Connection Kits by platform and year, plus a three-part jumper set for '08 and '09 models. None of those is on this page. The wire extension harness that is here, 69201703, is a different part. Ask the parts desk which kit your bike takes before the grips go on the order.

Why does the left grip feel cooler than the throttle side?

Usually because it is, slightly, and usually it is not a fault. The left grip sits on the bare handlebar and the bar conducts heat away from it; the throttle-side grip sits on a throttle sleeve with far less metal in contact. Riders notice it most in the first few minutes. If one side produces no heat at all, that is a different problem and worth speaking to us about.

Can I fit them myself?

Grips themselves are a straightforward job, but heated grips are an electrical fitment as well as a mechanical one and the wiring is where people come unstuck. Follow the instructions supplied with the kit. If you would rather not do the electrical side, any competent motorcycle workshop will, and so will ours.

Are these genuine Harley-Davidson parts?

Yes. Iron City Motorcycles is an authorised Harley-Davidson dealer and every grip on this page is a genuine Harley-Davidson part covered by manufacturer warranty. Everything here is for sale at 10% off RRP with free UK delivery available.

For the unheated versions of the same styles, there is the full Harley-Davidson hand grip range, and everything else sits in our Harley-Davidson parts range.