Grip Buddy

Story by Rob Carmichael

A Grip Buddy, note textured neoprene surface and Velcro strip. A Grip Buddy being wrapped around the OEM Grip.

“GET A PROPER GRIP ON YOURSELF BUDDY!”

I KNOW THE TITLE OF THIS PIECE SOUNDS LIKE A LINE DELIVERED BY JIMMY CAGNEY IN A 1940’S AMERICAN GANGSTER MOVIE, BUT IT CAPTURES WHAT I WANT TO SAY ABOUT AN AMERICAN PRODUCT, “GRIP BUDDIES”.

These are soft-textured motorcycle hand grips that wrap around your OEM grips. The question is whether a friction type throttle lock like OmniCruise (henceforth ‘O-C’, if you are not familiar with how an O-C mounts on the twist-grip see the photo on page 13) will be able to get a proper grip on the softer spongier surface of these types of grips.

Back in 2018 I wrote a letter to the Editor of Old Bike Australasia praising the O-C throttle lock for keeping me riding as Parkinson’s disease had affected my ability to hold the throttle open in a fixed position.

The O-C worked as intended and solved my touring problem because the O-C is mounted on a special silicone band that allows it to both grip when required and to slip when you roll off the throttle. But would the O-C work on the soft-cushy surface of a throttle grip with an extra 3 to 4 mm of foam rubber?

I ride a Honda single cylinder GB500TT (with a balance shaft), There is still some engine vibration between 80 to 100 kph, but above 100kph the engine becomes remarkably smooth, except for a high frequency tingling sensation in my hands which is typical of Parkinson’s. This is why I wanted to test what system works best with the O-C.

Grip Puppies V Grip Buddies

A suggested solution to the tingling problem was to install either an English product, ‘Grip Puppies’, OR import a product from the USA, ‘Grip Buddies’, the defining feature of both products is that they go over the existing OEM grips, not replace them.

Though similar, there are also some distinct differences between them, the most obvious being fixture of the grips onto the handlebars. Puppies are tubes that are pulled over the existing grips and have a layer of foam rubber on the outside of a layer of smooth rubber, giving a total depth about 4 mm; while Buddies are wrapped around the existing grips, and secured by means of glue and Velcro. They have a layer of “SmartskinTM” textured neoprene on the outside of foam rubber making a total depth of about 3 mm.

I decided to buy both products: Puppies prices vary considerably: cheap Puppy clones on eBay for about $10 AUD plus postage; to full price genuine articles at a typical Australian price of about $35 AUD plus postage. Buddies list price is $24 USD which is about $37 AUD, but freight from the US is more expensive and US Postal Service had just stopped making 1st class mail deliveries to Australia except for Priority Mail costing $67 USD (about $100 AUD) (Original Grip Buddies subsequently advised that they had restored reliable postal service to Australia and New Zealand at competitive rates by a change of postal service provider). Luckily a friend was in the US and she was able to bring them home with her.

Coming to grips with a Throttle Lock

The objective here is to determine if my O-C would work effectively with these grips. So this is not so much a review of these two grips against each other, but rather it is an examination of how well the O-C works when this type of grip is fitted. The best way to mount an O-C (or for that matter, any friction type throttle lock) is not covered in the installation instructions or in the online FAQs for either product, but for either brand there are three fitment options:

Option 1: Mount the throttle lock to bear directly onto the softer surface of the new foam rubber grip.

This is what founder of O-C, Brian Carmichael, said about this option: “I used the first iteration of the Omni on. I just clamped right on the foam. It smashes the foam down and burnishes it with use and worked OK, but did seem to slip more than on the rubber.” But the surface material of Grip Buddies is neoprene which is much more durable than foam rubber, more like the consistency as the O-C silicone band.

Option 2: Take the silicone band that was used with the old throttle grip and put it in place over the foam rubber grip in the same location as on the QEM grips.

This means that the O-C will be in contact with the silicone band like before, but the grip plus the band will be of greater diameter than before and optimum screw-down pressure will need to be recalibrated. Brian Carmichael said “Once I got the bands made I threw that on the foam and it worked even better.” I noted that some contributors acknowledged that it worked, but increased pressure was required to stop slippage, which in turn makes rolling the throttle off more difficult.

Option 3: Trim about a centimetre off the width of the new throttle grip to expose the silicone band on the OEM grip underneath. The photo on the next page shows Option 3. Note that approximately one centimetre of the Grip Buddy has been trimmed from the inside edge, exposing the silicon band underneath. Note that the O-C is clamped directly onto the silicone band, not through the Smartskin and foam rubber Grip Buddy. This means that the O-C throttle lock will work exactly as it was designed

to work and will hold a given speed better than the other options and rolling off the throttle will be easier too.

There was no comment from O-C on this option but the founder of Original Grip Buddies said: “As to the O-C, we regularly sell to folks who use these. All that is required is for us to trim off ½“off the grip destined for the throttle side of your handlebars.” But he later said: “My overreaching purpose is to provide you with alternatives. If I trim the RH grip back ½”, it’s no big deal for me. However, what if using the Omni Cruise over my neoprene would work out? You’d never know that, unless you tried.” I tried all three options on the Grip Buddies and the results are reported below. is Option 1 and the best performing is Option 3. But for Grip Buddies, because of the thinner neoprene Smartskin surface there is less variation across the three mounting options. I ended up going for Option 3 as the O-C rides on the silicone band, so O-C performance is identical to that recommended. Mounting the O-C directly on the neoprene came close but I was concerned that the O-C clamp could do damage to the Velcro fixing seam and over time this could possibly cause both performance and safety problems. So, if you are on a tight budget, don’t own an O-C you could save money and give a Grip Puppies clone a try. But if you have an O-C and money is not an issue, use Option 3 on either original Grip Buddies or genuine Grip Puppies. But I preferred the Buddies for the following reasons: • Buddies Smartskin surfaced grips feel more comfortable; • Buddies ‘Lites’ are 1 mm thinner so they suit the size of my hand better; • The neoprene surface on the Buddies is more durable and it is also waterproof; • Fitting Buddies is easier and they can be easily transferred from bike to bike.

So, to get a proper Grip on yourself, go to: www.originalbeemerbuddies.com

And now, for the gripping conclusion

The Omni-Cruise throttle lock can be made to work with both products using all three mounting options, but a general finding is that the softer and thicker the grip surface material is, the more likely it is that the throttle lock will slip and not hold speed, which requires an increase in pressure on the adjusting screw to hold, which then makes it more difficult to roll the throttle off. For Grip Puppies and clones, the worst performing option