The heaters worked well, although they take a few
minutes to warm up and seem to do better with the engine running than not.
Went for a ride at 49 degrees with just my mechanics gloves and the low
setting was plenty warm and the high setting was annoyingly warm. I will
have to see how well they work in the 20s with my insulated gloves on.
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Here is a photo of the harness connected up the way it
installs. The directions that came with the GL1800 grip kit weren't very
clear. Of special note here is the grip heater cards plug into the main
harness on the end with two connections, both having blue and black wires. It does not matter which grip heater plugs into
which connector.
The switch wires connect blue to the switch position labeled I (low), the
white to II (high) and red to the center.
The white connectors are both for providing power to the harness, doesn't
matter which you use, whatever is easiest.
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The only special tool you will need is this step bit.
I about choked at the price, $35.00 at Home Depot, but it is the tool for the job. I wrapped a piece of tape
around the bit so I could easily see where to stop for the 3/4"
hole. Drilling at a medium speed with light pressure it cut a perfect
hole that did not require de-burring.
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I removed the seat and the top shelter. It is not
necessary to remove the top shelter completely. Simply take it loose,
including the two studs near the front of the seat so can slide it back
out of the way a little bit This saves taking apart all of the connectors
which are a pain. Of course if you have not changed the air filter in a
while now is a good time to dig deeper and do that chore as well.
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Next remove the inner skirt from the right fairing
tunnel to allow routing the harness along existing harness along the
frame. If you have never done this there is a plastic fastener which is
accessed from underneath beside the right fork. To disconnect it, use a
small screwdriver to pry the center out and then pull the entire
connector. On the top it is held in place by a phillips
head screw below and to the side of the ignition.
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After the skirt is out of the way the right side
intake air inlet can be removed by taking out one phillips
head screw. (see photo) I ran the main harness underneath the inlet and
tie wrapped it to existing harness.
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Remove the gauge cluster to allow access to the triple
tree cover. There is no need to disconnect the hard to get to connectors.
I use a bungy cord up and over the windshield
hooked into the vent to hold it up and out of the way.
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 Note the rubber
post and anodized bracket in these two photos. There are two flats on the
rubber grommet and a squared entry into the bracket. The flats and the
slot in the grommet must line up in the bracket slot when you reinstall
the cluster. This can be a pain but there is just enough room to run your
hand and arm underneath the cluster to help with getting this in.
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This is a shot of the heater card installed on the
clutch side bar after cleaning with alcohol.
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 These shots show
grip heater card harness routing and tie down under the bars.
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This is where it gets interesting. Electrical
Connection says on their website that Honda removed the right side
power harness on 2006 and later Goldwings. I
found this switched power connector on the right side under the fairing
on my 2007. I used it for power and have an unused auxillary
harness in the garage. I did call and tell EC about my find.
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The instructions say to plug in the grip heater cards
to the main harness underneath the triple tree cover. This is where my
installation will look a little different because I have Reg Risers installed on my bars. This photo shows how
I routed the harness for both sides, as well as the main harness to the
area beneath the gauge cluster and under the triple tree cover. I wrapped
the connectors in tape because this looks to be a wet area when riding in
the rain. I tie wrapped everything to existing brake and clutch lines,
being carful not to let the connectors drop between the lines which must
move when turning the bars. I used an empty clamp space to hold the main harness.
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This photo shows the routing of the main harness where
it exits from under the skirt after everything is put back together.
Remember to leave enough slack so the bars can turn to full left lock. If
you look closely you can see where the card harness is routed to the top
of the triple tree.
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This shows the nice clean hole cut by the step bit. I
have a gripe with Electrical Connection on this part. The switch has a tab
on the side which requires a notch in the panel. I whittled this out with
a utility knife.
The weather cover was not as clean on the edges as I
would have liked so it doesn’t lay perfectly tucked in as I would
like.
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Simply a shot of everything plugged in before final
assembly. I chose to install the switch beside the key lock instead of
underneath it as shown in EC’s photos because there was a harness
directly behind that area that would prevent getting the wiring plugged
in and I didn’t want to mess with relocating the harness.
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Finally a pic of the switch
installed and everything put back together. No extra parts is always a
good thing!
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