Installing heat demon grips on a stock (factory)
Honda Shadow Aero 750T.

The installation instuctions included with the heat demon's are okay, but we decided to photograph our experience, because a visual is always more helpful. We hope these instructions help you, but they are our own personal experience and we claim no responsiblity for your experience. Good luck!

Click here to download as a PDF file.

Tools you'll need:
Heat demons for metric bikes, from Symtec-Inc.
Two people - one person could do the installation, but it will be difficult, so it's better to have a second person, even if just to hold/pass things to person #1.
Drill and drill bits 1/8 to 5/16 inch
Allan wrenches
Black marker or masking tape
Safety glasses
Phillips head screwdriver
Needle nose pliers
Small screwdriver
Wire cutters (optional - we used them to clean up the ends of our wires before connecting)
Compressed air, with 6-7 inch straight thin nozzle (if you don't have access to compressed air, you might be able to release the old adhesive with brake fluid cleaner).
DW-40 (optional) - can help with the drill bit and inserting the gromet.

With these instructions you'll be pre-warned, unlike us! There are a few surprises. First of all, all the websites we checked before beginning said using compressed air would "burp" the grips, loosening the old adhesive, so they'd be easily removed. We were not replacing the grips, we needed to re-use them, so the other option, cutting them off with a razor was not for us. On this model, removing the grips was not that easy.

Left grip removed. Chrome piece stays on. This is where you wedge something in between it the kill switch mechanism (right) or signal light controls (left) pry the grip down and off the handle bar.

The grips have chrome-looking end caps on the outside, and the opposite end also has a chrome-looking piece. The end caps are different on both sides. On the right side, the end cap unscrews, but not easily, because it was put on with adhesive. We were finally able to loosen the end cap and then get the compressed air under the rubber portion of the right grip, but the grip still did not pull off. The second piece of chrome-looking plastic is attached to the other end of the rubber (see photo of right grip above and that piece remains on each grip), so you have to put a screwdriver (or other object) between it and the hardware on the bars, and slowly push/pry the grip down without damaging the chrome/plastic piece. Once you get it moving, you will eventually be able to pull the grip off. On the left side, the end cap does not screw off (surprise again!). Instead, this piece has grooves (like locks) in the end piece of rubber and the end cap twists on/off, so that was tricky to get off and different from the right side. We used the air again to loosen the rubber around the handle bar, then the screwdriver again to slowly push off the grip.

When the right side grip is off, there is a white tube, that is the throttle tube, and it is attached via cables/locks under the kill engine switch mechanism, so this piece has to be unscrewed, but be careful when this is loosened that it doesn't get damaged. There are two cables connected to slots in the throttle tube, to release those cables, turn throttle tube to get a bit of slack, take the bottom cable off first, and then the top one is easier to release.

Throttle tube, note the slots on the right, those are for the throttle cables. Threads on left hold the end cap on after the grip is installed. The throttle tube has to be removed and then cleaned.

You can't get access to the inside of the handlebars because Honda has added bar end-weights. These pieces of metal are to reduce vibration, but they are welded in (and 2 inches long). This was the biggest surprise we encountered. We could see a small indentation on top of the handle bar, as though a set screw was there, but couldn't find a set screw, and we could also see what looked like spot weld, so getting these weights out was dubious. However, drilling a hole in the top of the handle bar at the indentation enabled us to get the bar end-weights out!

Removing bar end weights.

Beginning drilling (with smaller bit) at bar end weight and the indentation area to loosen bar end weight.

Note: We contacted Symtec-Inc directly to find out what these metal inserts were, and they emailed us back and confirmed they were for vibration reduction. They also told us that people who removed them did not notice vibration issues, which we confirmed once the heat demons were installed and we went out riding. Thank-you Symtec-Inc for replying!

When drilling, start with a smaller bit and work your way up. The handlebar steel is a bit tough to drill through, so take your time, and with lots of metal flying around be sure to wear safety glasses! If you need to use some DW-40, it can help with the drilling process.
You will need to drill two holes (besides the two for removing bar end weights) in the handlebars. One hole goes behind the brake reservoir clamp, which will be replaced with the new heat demon controller, and that hole is for the 4 wires that come from the controller through the right handle bar to be connected later.

New controller (replaces brake reservoir clamp)

Before removing the brake reservoir clamp, mark it's top/bottom with tape or a black marker (we used marker and it wiped off afterwards). The template that comes with the instructions, didn't line up on our bike, the hole marks didn't match, so we pre-marked the clamp before removing. Drill both holes before running any wires through the handlebars, just to ensure you don't accidentally drill into your wires. After both holes are drilled, run the snake through the handle bars from the hole in the center of where the marks are for the controller, out through the right side of the handle bars. The controller and the 4 wires, can dangle for now.

The second hole is used to run the red/black power cables under the gas tank to the battery, and the instructions say to drill that hole in the bottom of the handlebars, but that location didn't work for us, the wires would have been very obvious there, so we opted to drill our hole on the right side of the handlebars, down just a bit, where the other wires were already running through the harness under the gas tank. This makes the newly added power cables very inconspicious. The unstripped power cables go out the right handle bars to be connected later. The stripped ends will come out the new hole and eventually be run under the gas tank to the battery area.

Drilling hole for power cables, part-way down right handle bar, start with small bit, work up to 5/16th bit. Deburr (sand down) the hole (so it has no sharp pieces of metal sticking out). Be careful not to drill the existing cables!

Push the snake up through the newly drilled hole and out through the right handle bar with the hole in the plastic snake going up first. This hole will be used to hold the wires as the snake pulls them through back down the handle bars and out the newly drilled hole.

Attach the power wires into the hole on the snake and secure with a bit of electrical tape to hold them in place. Gently tug the snake through the newly drilled hole.

Then slip the gromet on and push it all the way up to the newly drilled hole and work it into the hole. Be careful not to push the gromet all the way through the hole.

Sliding gromet on power cable wires, up to hole in handlebars.

Insert the plastic snake into the right handle bar, with the hole end first, push over to the left handle bar. Insert the white/yellow wire from the left heater into the hole.

Again we used a piece of black electrical tape to hold the wires to the snake, pull the snake through the right handle bar gently. Let the extra wiring dangle out the right handle bar for now, they'll be connected later.

Attached yellow/white wires to hole in snake.

Squeezing heater together gently and
then inserting into handle bar.

All the wires pulled through the right handle bar. There are 4 for the controller, 2 for the power cables, and 2 for the left heater.
All that is left now is to connect the all
of the wires, including the 5 wires on
the right heater.

The heat demons come with connectors. The yellow connectors have 2 slots, insert the 2 green wires in a yellow connector, use pliers to press the yellow cap in tightly. Grease
should ooze out of the end, this is what you want. Remove excess grease and tug on wires to make sure they are tightly connected inside the connector. Use a yellow connector to connect the 2 red wires, follow the same procedure used for the green. Use a red (3 slot connector) to connect the 3 black wires, then the 3 yellow and lastly the 3 white.

Above, the 3 white wires in a red
connector. Use the pliers to press together the connector cap, note the grease coming out the end of the connector (on the right side).

All wires are connected. Time to insert
the right heater. Gently push wires in
as much as you can, tuck remaining wires inside right heater, insert heater into handle bar.

There will be a gap where the metal of the heaters doesn't meet (inside the handle bars), you'll likely want that gap where your palms/wrist rest on your handle bars because you'll probably want more warmth the rest of the way around the handle bars so your finger tips get some of that great heat!

Before you put the grips back on, or reconnect the throttle tube, remove the seat with the allen wrench, and test the heaters by holding the red wire to the postive battery post and the black to the negative. The controller has 4 settings, just gently press in the button on the right side, and make sure all 4 LED's light up. You should very quickly notice heat from the heaters!

Above is the clean throttle tube going back on, you may have to loosen the cables at the back of the kill engine mechanism to get the cables back into their appropriate slots. Once you get both cables on correctly, screw the kill engine switch mechanism back into place. Test the throttle and make sure it snaps back correctly and if you loosened the cable screws, don't forget to re-tighten them.

We wiped the left handle bar and the throttle tube down before applying the epoxy in the package. It's a 2-part epoxy, the white portion is very thick and difficult to extract from the package. Mix both parts on a piece of cardboard, try not to get any on your fingers! Use the straws provided to try to keep some of the epoxy on the left handle bar and right throttle tube when you push the grips back on. Lay the straw lengthwise on the left handle bar, apply the epoxy, try to push the trip up over the straw, when it's almost on, remove the straw. Having a second person hold the straw down, use a small screwdriver to lift the grip rubber up and over the straw. Once the grip is on, remove the straw and push the left grip tightly into place. Apply the remaining epoxy mixture to the throttle tube and end of the tub where the end cap will be screwed back on. Use the straw to make sure the grip doesn't displace all of the epoxy mixture. Let dry for at least 12 hours.

Above is the snake going under the gas tank
to the battery area under the seat from the hole drilled part way down the right handle bar (through the wiring harness).

Use the snake to go under the gas tank, through the cable harness, and run the power cable under the gas tank. Make sure the cabling is through the guides on the handlebars, which minimizes the cabling altogether. We attached the power cables directly to the battery posts using terminal connectors, we unscrewed the battery connections, added the new terminal connections for the heat demons, screwed the battery connections back on and voila, a job well done! (We only had one terminal connector in our packaging, but we had another one in-house. The product instructions say connect the power cables to your accessory wires, but you're on your own with that one).

Last thing to do (after the epoxy has set) is to take your bike out for a test run. We went out on a day where the temps were about 10 Celcius, a bit windy and our new heaters are absolutely fantastic! Worth every minute of effort/aggravation. We have just extended our riding season, no more cold hands riding and you can't beat that!