How to modify the V11 to take upright bars

[jrt]

I've written up a rough draft of how I mounted handlebars (as opposed to various styles of clip-ons) onto my V11 sport. It's clear to me because I did it and I wrote it, but I thought I would let ya'll read it so I can make improvements. Final draft will be submitted to Al and Jaap, for the Faq section, and to Guzzitech.com.

Comments here or to me personally are fine. If someone sends me a picture of an unmodified upper triple clamp (with the offset M6(?) hole in the boss), then I will add that to the pictures I have. Unfortunately, I didn't do much for 'before and after' photos. My bad.

 

Cheers,

Jason

 

 

 

Adapting a set of bars onto a V11 sport (or how to make a Ballabio from your ?01 sport)

 

Parts:

 

Used (2X) M10X150mm bolts (I think it was M10)

(A 125mm length would have worked just fine, but I didn?t see one in the hardware store)

(2X) nuts for above

(4X) stainless washers, 3/8

(4X) flat rubber washers (for 3/8 plumbing fitting) go on top side

(2X) 3/8 rubber washer from plumbing fitting (toilet fitting, actually- the flat, not cone, compression washer for the water inlet)

 

The bar that I used was spiegler part number Z122LN01SI (Alu-Lenker AN1, silver)

I think its just the "AN1"- its the low or flat superbike bars.

I also bought bar-ends in silver, Z135-004. (later, I attached a CRG mirror to one of the bar ends. Works great.)

Here's a link to the bars-

http://www.spiegler.de/gb/More_Products/ra...ng_the_bar.html

Oddly enough, here's a link to some more bars and the bar-ends. They must have re-done their website, cause it looks different (6/19/2003):

http://www.spieglerusa.com/sbkbars.htm

http://www.spieglerusa.com/barends.htm

Spiegler can be contacted at:

94 A Westpark Road

Dayton, Ohio 45459

Telephone: 937-291-1735

Fax: 937-291-2368

e-mail: mail@spieglerusa.com

I don?t have any association with them, other than buying their products. If you get a bar from another source, just make sure the center width is wide enough.

 

I used a set of barclamps from Moto Guzzi (Jackal/Stone/EV/etc work). There?s pros and cons to this- I actually think the individual clamps (like on the Ballabio or the Cafe Sport) look very nice. On the other had, the M10 bolt-heads fit into hex-shaped recesses on the Guzzi part and the spacing is already correct.

 

So, easy as mac and cheese.

For those of you who like abbreviated instructions- take everything off (not your clothes, dang it), drill the holes in your triple clamp, mount the bar clamps, remount the triple clamps, mount the bars and Bob?s your uncle. You guys only need to print one sheet of paper.

 

For the rest of us.

Step one- remove the upper triple clamp. Completely remove the nuts that hold the handlebars in the clip-ons. Slide out the bars (I took the controls off while the bars were loose in the clip-ons). Remove the bolts that hold the instrument cluster on the tripleclamp. Cut the zip ties that hold the wires onto various places- they?ll need to be pulled out just a bit. Remove the throttle cables from the grip. Remove the bolts that clamp the triple clamp onto the forks, and the remove nut in the center (no not you). Carefully lift up the triple clamp (I helped it with a rubber mallet), then you can access the two screws that hold the ignition switch in. After looking at it, I realized how easy it would be to hotwire these bikes. Time to buy a lock.

Another note- the clutch/brake switches are tiny little delicate things. Don?t bugger them up my yanking on the wires.

 

Mods you need to make:

Mark the centers of the bosses on the upper triple clamp (mark the bottom side). Make sure the centers line up with the Guzzi-supplied bar clamp. Drill the holes. The holes in triple clamp are 13/32 drill bit, but I had to drill a pilot hole on the mill first, because the hole overlaps with an existing one. I actually milled it out just a little larger than the threaded hole (which is off-center in the boss). If you just try to drill it out, the drill bit will wander around and never give you a clean, straight hole. Note here- the aluminum is crap. there?s hard and soft spots going through it, so don?t be surprised when your mill-end gets caked with aluminum. Wanna see the cut I got on my finger trying to pick it off? Another note- you will lose this threaded hole- it?s the ?safety? hole that the bars are bolted to the triple clamp with. Not necessary anyway.

Remove the plastic locating buttons on the inside of the hand controls. They?re there to make sure the controls don?t twist on the handlbars, but the new bars don?t have holes to accommodate them. I used a dremel tool and a knife.

Remove the line from the brake master cylinder (at the banjo fitting) because you will need to reroute the line. Brakes probably needed bleeding anyway, right?

I routed the brake line behind the fork tube, and I carefully bent the brake line banjo fitting to make it ?straighter?. Use a tool with a flat jaw. If you score the banjo fitting with a toothed jaw tool, it will never seal again. I sandwiched the banjo between two pieces of aluminum just to be careful. You can see the result more clearly in the pictures. Anyway this orients the brake line straight down the fork tube, and it needs all the slack it can get. You can loosen the clutch line (again at the banjo fitting), but it doesn?t need to be removed. If you?re careful, you won?t get air in the line. That clutch fluid can wait a while longer ;^). The wires (to the controls) are quite easily long enough. I zip tied them back to the frame and brake/clutch controls as necessary. The brake and clutch levers have very delicate switches on their outsides- don?t bust them up.

That?s it. Re-assemble and drive it around. I didn?t have to replace any lines, but I did loosen a few wires and cables. Don?t forget to put everything together kind of loosely and then tighten it up when it?s assembled.

see

http://plasterbath.chem.uiowa.edu/triplecl...lamp/bars1.html

and

http://plasterbath.chem.uiowa.edu/fairing/.../bars/bars.html

for pictures.

[Guest Jaap]

Excellent!

[al_roethlisberger]

Excellent work, and write-up!

 

....very "OEM looking" and professional. Good job

 

al

[Guest Jeff Kelland]

Well done! I think I might go for this on my Le Mans, I was thinking a straighter drag bar might give me just the little bit of lift I'm looking for.

[Guest Jaap]

Yep, I tried sitting on the Cafe Sport last weekend. Excellent seating position... If the handlebar doesn't fit under the fairing I'll probably change it for the small LMI fairing.

[jrt]

Alright, thanks for the input. I've emailed a copy of the 'bars' and a copy of 'mounting a fairing' to Todd at guzzitech. He'll get it up on their webite in due time.

Jaap, do you want a copy as well? With pictures and all, they come out to about 7-8 megs. That may be a bit too much, based on some of your earlier statements. If you don't want to host the actual files, we could put a link to guzzitech (or my computer for that matter). Whatever works for ya'.

 

Cheers,

Jason

[Guest Marcel]

Hi Jason,

 

I quite like the idea, of having bars instead of clip-ons. But how is your experience rinding with bars?

 

And, can you give a cost indication for the parts? It might be a winter-job for me.

[jrt]

Hi Marcel,

 

I tried to give costs on some materials, but I, uh, filed my reciepts and forgot what the bars cost. Something in the neighborhood of $100 US- maybe a bit more. The clamp I got used for $50 US. The bolts were $1-3 US.

Took a couple of days, since I had to machine the triple clamp, so maybe winter is not a bad time to do it.

 

I'm liking the set up more and more as I get used to it. It allows me to sit up just a bit more, and my butt is just a little further back. That cramps my legs more (more acute angle at the knees), but there's a lot more support on my ass from the seat. Good trade-off in my opinion. I might even ask Rich if he'll modify my seat and add a little 'button' or lump in the front, so I don't slide forward as much. On the other hand, I might just get accustomed to it. The (R.M.) seat is pretty comfy.

 

Performance wise, the bike seems to handle just as well as before. I don't push to the envelope of the bike's handling- I'm one step back from that. I do find that I'm countersteering much, much more now.

 

Hope this helps,

Jason

[Guest Jaap]

Jaap, do you want a copy as well?  With pictures and all, they come out to about 7-8 megs.  

You can send it to me, I'll work over the pics and see what I can do about filesize: info@v11lemans.com

 

TIA Jaap

[Guest Marcel]

Hi Jason,

 

thanks ever so much. Took me a while to respond since I literally got hit by a bus last week and the Guzzi is now in for repairs. I've recovered by now so I just read your response.

 

The pricing is not too bad. Just wondering how much it would cost over here. A brake-pedal is something like 95 euros (> US$100!), as I've just found out.

 

How tall are you? I'm 1.84 (6 to 6'1"), this regarding the riding position.

[Guest Jaap]

Hey Marcel, there is a complete Superbike kit vailable from LSL, with handlebars, mounts, ect. http://www.lsl-motorradtechnik.de

Ive contacted the Dutch importer Tech-Line and the costs are about € 175,- for the whole set. New bar-ends included

[jrt]

The riding position is better and maybe worse for a person of your height, Marcel. I'm about 5'11", so pretty close to you. So for me, the upper part of my body is more comfy. My arms are supporting less weight and that helps my wrists and elbows. I sit more upright, so my ass is happier, but it feels like my legs (knees mainly) are a little more cramped. I think I'm noticing my legs because the rest of my body is more comfy. I'll let you know in a week since I'm leaving tomorrow for a MG rally (then a week for a conference...but I can't take the V11 dammit).

 

Do you need a front brake lever or a rear brake pedal? As Jaap said, LSL has all sorts of expensive (and not so expensive) goodies to help you get set up. I would think the biggest cost would be the bar clamps. Look for some used ones, perhaps.

 

cheers,

Jason

[Guest Marcel]

Hi all,

 

apparently, a ballabio style steering bar is available from Guzzi. I'm waiting for a quote ....

[Guest Timothy Ma]

Hello Author,

 

How much did this cost? It looks fantastic!! Do you happen to have the part numbers from MG for the handle bar clamps.

 

Timothy

[Guest Jaap]

Ballabio/CafeSport items

01600382 grey handlebar: 105.93 euro

AP8118678 gold handlebar: 105.25 euro

01500280/1 left and right lower supports : 16.65 euro/piece

01500680 Upper supports x2 : 11.45 euro/piece

 

part #'s and prices received from Agostini in Mandello