Handlebar Installation

[Guest rotorhead]

I finally got around to installing a set of bars onto my '00 V11. I was geting a litle weary of the riding postion the clipons lend themselves to so I decided to give the bars a try. I intially bought the bars and risers from Speigler but something about them did'nt really appeal to me so I sent them back and opted to go with my own idea. the risers were purchased from Tag Metal

 

http://www.cyclegear.com/spgm.cfm?L1=7&L2=...m=TUC_02-0121_G

 

They are the Trojan Mounts and are fairly stout. The bars are Easton Pro Taper

 

http://www.cyclegear.com/spgm.cfm?L1=7&L2=...m=TUC_02-0121_G

 

and have exactly the same rise, width and pullback as the speigler bars. The risers are similiar as well. The only really dificult (read scary) was drilling through the upper triple clamp on the drill press. The opportunity to really screw things up is yours for the taking. No additional/new brake lines were required and there was plenty of slack in the wiring as well. The elbows on the brake line/clutch line at the bars need alittle tweaking for proper alignment and I most likely will opt for a replacement setup after I tweak these things into postion.

 

Excuse the background mess....to many projects and not enough space.

[guzziownr]

Very nice job. I had all kinds of plans for changing the ergos on my '04 Naked. I am 6'4" with a simian build.

 

After almost a year of riding I am quite comfortable with 300 mile days and hours on the bike. The stock seat is painful but less noticable when you are hanging off one side

 

I liked the admonition to "Stop Lollygagging" on the clocks. My buddy's read "Slow Down!"

 

DW

 

[Steve G.]

I finally got around to installing a set of bars onto my '00 V11. I was geting a litle weary of the riding postion the clipons lend themselves to so I decided to give the bars a try. I intially bought the bars and risers from Speigler but something about them did'nt really appeal to me so I sent them back and opted to go with my own idea. the risers were purchased from Tag Metal 

 

http://www.cyclegear.com/spgm.cfm?L1=7&L2=...m=TUC_02-0121_G

 

They are the Trojan Mounts and are fairly stout. The bars are Easton Pro Taper

 

http://www.cyclegear.com/spgm.cfm?L1=7&L2=...m=TUC_02-0121_G

 

and have exactly the same rise, width and pullback as the speigler bars. The risers are similiar as well.  The only really dificult (read scary) was drilling through the upper triple clamp on the drill press.  The opportunity to really screw things up is yours for the taking. No additional/new brake lines were required and there was plenty of slack in the wiring as well. The elbows on the brake line/clutch line at the bars need alittle tweaking for proper alignment and I most likely will opt for a replacement setup after I tweak these things into postion.

 

Excuse the background mess....to many projects and not enough space.

79684[/snapback]

Looks good, who is TAG Metal, where you got your bar mounts?

When you took your clip-ons off, did they leave a mark on the fork tubes?

Ciao, Steve G.

[jrt]

looks great!

[mdude]

Great looking mod, but I always wondered: when you replace the clipons with bars, you will alter the weight distribution. Your body moves backwards, and less weight on the front tyre will not help the handling.

 

Myself at 6 foot 2 with long arms havealready some problems getting the front to bite into corners without moving around on the bike. I wouldnt dare changing the clipons for that reason alone. (not only because I'm less mechanically adept than anyone)

 

Anyone with feedback on this? What happens with handling, and what is the fix.

[wambiker]

Hi I changed my bars early last summer and did about 7000 miles with the new set-up, including a couple of 500 mile days with no real problems, 200 with the clip-ons crippled me (two broken wrists on duty) so in my case a definate improvement. I loved the V11 when I first rode it, but knew I could never live with the riding position, then a test on a ballabio convinced me a) the bike was what I wanted and I could easily modify the riding position to suit. I have noticed know apprecable difference in the handling, but I am only 5'9" so maybe that helped, although had the problem arisen that mdude is curious about I had decided I would drop the forks through the yokes a few mill to see if that helped. On my bike, a 2000 there was no mark left on the forks by the clip-ons.

As you can see my risers are fairly similar and bars are not far off. I did change the front brake lines, I did not like the routing of the original, it had to be cable tied up the back of the fork leg as you can see in this picture. So I made up two braided lines and used a double banjo bolt, I did not like the t-piece guzzi line, although later found a similar idea on my brother-in-laws monster, but the t piece is behind the headlamp. Also I made up a longer throttle cable to also allow a smoother routing, everything else fitted fine.

Hope this may be some help mdude.

Cheers Gary

 

[Guest rotorhead]

Seems I bunged up one of the links and added the same one twice. This should work for the link to a possible source for the Tag Metal risers although they can be purchase at many respectable dealers and I have even found them on EBay from time to time.

 

http://www.tagmetals.cc/atv/productdetails.php?id=atvkits

 

I had no marks remaining on my fork tubes upon removal of the clipons and I can't real belief that the weight distribution is affect appreciably.....at least for the way that I and most people ride. I can always go back to the clipons if the mood moves me to and plug the holes in the upper triple clamp with some of those spiffy chrome plugs. Easy to get those at Home Depot or the like.

 

I figure I'll try it for awhile and see how it feels with handling and such. the only thing that concerns me some is the wider stance of the bars compared to the clipons. I'm not sure how that is going to affect handling other than to give me more leverage and maybe allowing less effort on the turn-ins. I am reluctant to raise the fork tubes more than a couple of millimeters in the clamps....I feel it upsets the geometry to much although I have seen those that will drop the clamps enough to put the clipons on top of the upper triple clamp. I feel that to be a genuine mistake but to each is own I suppose.

[OldButNotDead]

Great looking mod, but I always wondered: when you replace the clipons with bars, you will alter the weight distribution. Your body moves backwards, and less weight on the front tyre will not help the handling.

 

Myself at 6 foot 2 with long arms havealready some problems getting the front to bite into corners without moving around on the bike. I wouldnt dare changing the clipons for that reason alone. (not only because I'm less mechanically adept than anyone)

 

Anyone with feedback on this? What happens with handling, and what is the fix.

79752[/snapback]

 

I moved to bars a few months after buying my 2002 Naked; this was my first "sportbike" and I wasn't comfortable leaned forward.

 

Adding bars quickened the steering. I felt like I needed lots of pressing on the clipons to push the bike over -- lots less effort required with the bars. I've had no handling problems due to this switch, but I ride conservatively on the street.

 

Unfortunately, my riding ability has improved and I'm less happy with the upright seating for track days. I'm considering moving to "convertibars", so I don't have to swap everything over everytime I do one. YMMV.

[mdude]

Hi I changed my bars early last summer and did about 7000 miles with the new set-up, including a couple of 500 mile days with no real problems, 200 with the clip-ons crippled me (two broken wrists on duty) so in my case a definate improvement. I loved the V11 when I first rode it, but knew I could never live with the riding position, then a test on a ballabio convinced me a) the bike was what I wanted and I could easily modify the riding position to suit. I have noticed know apprecable difference in the handling, but I am only 5'9" so maybe that helped, although had the problem arisen that mdude is curious about I had decided I would drop the forks through the yokes a few mill to see if that helped. On my bike, a 2000 there was no mark left on the forks by the clip-ons.

As you can see my risers are fairly similar and bars are not far off. I did change the front brake lines, I did not like the routing of the original, it had to be cable tied up the back of the fork leg as you can see in this picture. So I made up two braided lines and used a double banjo bolt, I did not like the t-piece guzzi line, although later found a similar idea on my brother-in-laws monster, but the t piece is behind the headlamp. Also I made up a longer throttle cable to also allow a smoother routing, everything else fitted fine.

Hope this may be some help mdude.

Cheers Gary

 

79779[/snapback]

 

My former bike was a BMW R1150R, with a similar bar to your pictures. With my long arms I couldnt live with it. At anything above 60mph I became a spinnaker, and could only hold on for dear life. To much of a situpandbeg position took its toll on my arse as well, too much weight on arse alone. Clip-ons suits me perfectly, actually I would love to have them even more forward, but I've no problem in seeing that shorter people may suffer from the outstretched position.

 

other than that, thanks for enlightening me

[Guest Nogbad]

 

I liked the admonition to "Stop Lollygagging" on the clocks. 

 

79688[/snapback]

 

Would someone care to enlighten my poor limey brain as to the definition of "to lollygag"?

[mike wilson]

Would someone care to enlighten my poor limey brain as to the definition of "to lollygag"?

79892[/snapback]

 

 

Gurgle is your friend

 

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/lollygag

[Guest Nogbad]

Much obliged.

[jrt]

In my case, there was a change in the handling- the front end definitely got a bit lighter and the wide bars makes pushing around corners a bit easier. I guess the lighter front is the downside. The upside is that it is a lot more comfortable. It's worth it to me.

[dlaing]

Great looking mod, but I always wondered: when you replace the clipons with bars, you will alter the weight distribution. Your body moves backwards, and less weight on the front tyre will not help the handling.

79752[/snapback]

I think you are correct, but you can always bend your elbows.

And an advantage is that going down hill, if you are seated back and more upright, I believe the weight distribution is better and you have better control.

[O2 V11]

I moved to bars a few months after buying my 2002 Naked; this was my first "sportbike" and I wasn't comfortable leaned forward.

 

Adding bars quickened the steering.  I felt like I needed lots of pressing on the clipons to push the bike over -- lots less effort required with the bars.  I've had no handling problems due to this switch, but I ride conservatively on the street.

 

Unfortunately, my riding ability has improved and I'm less happy with the upright seating for track days.  I'm considering moving to "convertibars", so I don't have to swap everything over everytime I do one.  YMMV.

79820[/snapback]

 

After a long hiatus from riding, I have taken a while to become comfortable with my V11 Naked's handling. My initial impressions were similar to OldButNotDead's, that these bikes needed a lot of input from the bars. I also felt that the bike was quite "top heavy". I would have to admit to some rather quite scary moments in the early period of ownership. After asking for advice from the forum at the time of rear tyre replacement, I decided to downsize from the standard 180/55 to a 170/60 rear. This, coupled with ditching the stock BT020's made a huge change for me. The bike turns in a lot quicker and my confidence has grown with the new rubber. I'll never, ever, ride on another Bridgestone motorcycle tyre. Now I have found a much more aggressive riding style for when I want to go a little faster than normal. Depending on how I feel, I hang off the bike a little or a lot. This gives me a higher cornering speed without so much lean angle. This works well for me and I feel confident doing it. I would also never change the stock clipons. They work just fine for me, my biggest day on the bike so far is 560 miles. No problems at all with upper body, just the bum.

Rob