| Author | Message | ||
     Strokizator |
I needed to replace my stock bars because I bent them in a crash. When someone here mentioned the Raptor bend it looked like what I wanted; just a bit shorter and a little less sweep. I think it was Maximum who bored his bars out but that looked like it would leave the bars real thin, so here’s what I did. The HVMP bar ends come with a large diameter rubber tube and a 5/16” flange nut. I went to Pep Boys and bought some 5/16” fuel injection hose. It fits the ID of the Protaper bars perfectly. I also got some regular 5/16” nuts and rounded them off a little until they fit inside the tubes. I remember thinking “Perfect, this is going to be easy!” Wrong. The internal bore of the bars only goes back about 2” so I could not slide the bar ends in all the way. I could have tried shorter bolts but instead I got out a 17/32” drill bit and ran it down another inch into the bar. This doesn’t open up the bars any more than stock but gives you the room you need. After that, everything goes back as original. You can drill holes in the sides for the stock cable ties or just use regular wire ties. I had to transfer holes for the heated grips (you did keep the instructions and the drill guide, right?) and the locating pins on the switch mounts (or you could just cut the plastic pins off). For a finishing touch, I used a 5/8” bit to counter-bore the bars about ¼” so that the metal donut that holds the stock hand guards in place could be recessed. Total price was under $4 for the nuts and hose. I spent another $14 on a 17/32” drill bit. Here are some observations: I cut about ¾” off the end of each bar to bring it closer to stock width. Any more and you won’t have enough straight length left to mount the grips, switches and mirrors. The Protaper bars are stiff so I am not sure of the value of the weights. I needed something to mount the hand guards to so I installed them anyway. The aluminum bars have a lot of mass and aluminum conducts heat much better than steel. Complaints about grip heaters being too hot are no longer an issue. I wonder now if they are hot enough but my ride into work was only 13 miles and it’s not that cold so it's too early to tell. There is a noticeable difference between the feel of the stock steel bars and the Protapers. I do like the new ones better. I paid a couple of extra $ for the Ram mount option on the Precision Engineering clamps. This will make for a tidy installation of my Zumo instead of the usual u-bolt contraption. Precision Engineering builds some quality stuff. Sorry, no pictures, but there’s not much to see. You can get an idea of the finished look from the picture posted by FB. Raptor bars more closely follow the stock bend. (Message edited by strokizator on February 28, 2008) | ||
| Nipsey |
Well, now, isn't that simple! I too wonder how much diff the bar ends will make (or if they are necessary)with the Pro Tapers. I have Rizoma grips and they have the connection for the guards. Not sure if I like them yet - they look good but..... Thanks for the info |
