Ballabio bar swap?

[WellWellWell]

Has anyone tried replacing the Ballabio's handlebar with clipons or other bend that puts the hands lower? Got any recommendations?

 

I've always liked the Ballabio's bars but lately have been riding some sportbikes with clipons and have grown to like that lower hand position (but not too low). 

 

Mine's an '04; had it since '08. It has about 23k on it. Thanks.

[Steve S]

Just ordered a set of Woodcraft clipons from the USA, half the price of UK supplier, you will need 54mm clamps and they come with a choice of rise from 0" to 3".You will want to fit them under the top triple and the clamps are in two pieces so no need to dismantle the forks.                My plan is to fit them, with 1.5" rise, above the top triple and turn them around so that the bars are nearer, not sure if this is going to work yet so I will report back.

Also you may find someone who wants to go the other way and swap the top triple, clamps and bars.

[WellWellWell]

That's good info, Steve. Thanks. That sounds about right for height. I'd love to see pics and read your report once you swap.

 

I think I'll hang on to my bar so I can put the bike back to stock later, should I do this swap. 

[GuzziMoto]

Other options would be either a set of flat bars or clubman bars. One of the great aspects of bars vs clip-ons is you CAN easily change to a different bend with a different riding position to go along with it.

For the "Fat Bar" style bars the BillyBob and other modern bikes use there are a few good sources for bars. LSL/Spiegler, Renthal, and some others I can't think of at the moment. You can get adapters that allow you to fit a 7/8" bar in the 1 1/8" clamps, as well. That opens the door for more options but I prefer the fat bars.

 

And I would not use Chinese built clip-ons or handle bars with a brand name watching them for quality control. Failure of a clip-on or handle bar while in use would be bad

[WellWellWell]

I'm in the middle of this conversion from stock bars to clip ons now. One of the things I've confronted is the stock Ballabio fairing, which obviously was made for the pro-taper type bar, really doesn't fit with the clip ons. That little plastic wing impedes on the hand position. So I've decided to bin the fairing, unbolt that metal bracket and go with a naked front, at least for now. I may look around for a different fairing.  Anybody else done that to the Ballabio or have a recommendation for an after-market small fairing that would work? 

[docc]

Remove the fairing form the frame mount and go with the "traditional" fork mounts?

[FalcoLion]

You can use ConvertiBars. I had them on my previous Ballabio that I converted to a full fledged LeMans. If you want to see how they look please look up my previous posts

 

You can adjust these bars as high as stock Ballabio handlebar or as low as most radical clip-ons

[Cabernet]

I run Maxon clip on clamps under the top yoke with the OE tubes. Very aggressively prone.

As a cheap intermediate step, have you considered a Renthal 658 bend?

 

http://road.renthal.com/shop/road-products/road-handlebars/road-se-bars?product_id=1988