| Author | Message | ||
     Jraice |
I know there is a lot of info about these bars already. Trust me, I have read it all. I have searched for hours, read atleast a dozen threads and still need more info to help me decide. I love the riding position of my XB12Ss. Hand position is neutral, feels amazing around town, decent on the freeway (could be a bit lower there) but in the twisties it tends to feel awkward when I start leaning forward over the front of the bike. Also I find myself wishing I had more leverage at the bars. Solution? Dirt style bars. But which ones. American Sport Bike has the Renthals which I hear a lot of great things about. I dont know how the low compares to stock but the ultra low seems like it would be what I would go with, and I am sure I'd be happy with it. But then I started reading about the Pro Taper Carmichaels. Similar setup but less sweep back and a tad bit longer. The way peope describe the leverage makes me grin. But then I also hear a few people say they dont like the feel, and that they prefer clubmans or the cross roads. I dont want to go back to having to hold myself up, I want to be a bit lower and have more leverage and wind protection but still in a somewhat upright position (atleast compared to the XB12R or a japanese RR). How would you compare the Pro Taper and the Renthal? Also if I do go Pro Taper, there is another problem... SE (7/8") or fat bar (1 1/8"). I found a nice adaptor for around $60's thats slim looking to fit the fat bar which would be the ideal setup as the cross bar is not super attractive and I would have no worries about strength, but its almost twice the price and if I didnt like the bar I'd either be out an extra $60's or have to find another fat bar style bar to try. Then there is the concept of removing the cross bar on the SE. Seems like a lot of people do that but the idea of a stress fracture forming over time and eventually the bar breaking terrifies me. On the note of cross bars, is the Renthal a 7/8" mount and does it have a cross bar? What do you guys think? I am off to the garage to sit on the bike and play with hand positions and then go for a 50 mile ride in the mountains to see how much more forward I'd want to be. Look forward to reading all your guy's thoughts! Also, keep in mind, I do have the money but I also am trying to conserve it so I will pay a higher price if needed but my goal is to do this bar swap for the best price possible. | ||
| Chippy |
Okay bro, here's my take on this... A wider bar will give you more leverage, get it? I personally felt like the height was comfortable on the stockers, but I was constantly trying to unbend the backsweep on em. I picked the pt schoolboy highs. Just a little shorter, which will put your body a little more forward, and alot straighter. Similar to a mountain bike bend. I totally dig em. Smiles for miles. | ||
| Pogue_mahone |
ok dont take the bar off. renthal bars have a card that says that and other fitting tips. i saw somewhere a bar that is aluminium with a steel tube inside it. renthal is 7/8ths i think renthals can be had with or without the bar and there is a good variety of bars and dimensions. i really have no input,both bar sets i have are the same one--renthals. i like them! | ||
| Dogdaze |
ProTaper "Universal low" bar Precision Eng Fatbar "slimline" adaptor All stock cables reach just fine  | ||
| Jraice |
Dogdaze... Any idea how those bars compare to the Carmichaels? And thats the same adaptor I plan to get, the slim version! Looks really great on your bike! Just need black bars  . Hows the riding position and feel? Still comfortable around town and minimal work to keep your arms unweighted? Compared to stock? | ||
| Jraice |
Was going to get the Carmicaels from cycle gear for $75's plus shipping. Just ordered them, brand new, on e-bay for $52's shipped. $40's before shipping! Pretty good deal for a brand new bar. Decided a $30+ discount was worth the risk of not being able to return them. Just need to order the bar adaptor from Precision Engineering (I was calling it performance, its actually precision), which is having some sort of online problem (tried my order several times, it keeps getting some sort of error)... and get some new grips if I cant get the stock off the left. Any tips? Its a buell traction grip so its fairly strong, was applied with a decent amount of the buell glue. Only way I have ever removed grips was to cut them off but these are not cheap grips and saving $20's and a trip to the dealer would be nice. | ||
| Chippy |
Pro taper has a chart with all the measurements and sweeps on their site. Hit it up. | ||
| Ft_bstrd |
I'd replace the grips. | ||
| Jraice |
Why replace them? Throttle slides off, no need to replace. If I can get the clutch off what would be the con of reuse? Asked some local guys they said a little WD40 and a screw driver and I can reuse it easily. If that fails, brake cleaner or my air compressor. | ||
| Cmm213 |
The grips on my stock bars didnt come off without ripping. If you use a lube most grips will get soft and break down. Just break down and glue up a new set. I always like trying different styles | ||
| Jraice |
Stock those grips are REALLY glued on there. I had to chisel mine off. I did make the mistake of using glue again rather then hair spray but I anticipate a much easier removal this time. And if I do go and just buy a new set, what would you recommend? For the buell, with the special throttle assembly I wasnt aware we had many choices. Plus I would hate to get a grip that made my wrists hurt and put it on the new Pro Taper bars as it would then make me imagine the bars were the problem. | ||
| Jraice |
Just sat on a bike which I believe has the same bars as I am getting, except it was the 7/8" version. Mine might be a tiny bit taller with the adaptor for 1 1/8". Anyways, I LOVED the feel. Angle of the wrist was actually better then stock. Might've been a little more forward but really not that noticable, nothing like clip ons or low cafe racer bars. Clutch had an odd angle so I believe they cut off atleast 7/8", I plan to try and leave mine full length for the best leverage so that will change things a little but overall it felt REALLY nice. I tried my best (wouldnt let me test ride) to simulate my body position when riding twisties and it felt very comfortable. I think this bar will work out great! My service (1000 mile) is next Sunday. Hopefully I can install (likely will be the day before) the bars before-hand so that the clutch and throttle cables are all adjusted by the pro's at Fremont Harley and they can double check that all my routing etc... is safe and will work fine. (Message edited by jraice on May 02, 2009) | ||
| Pogue_mahone |
they are easy to do....just get new grips.and whatever u do to glue them back on with. | ||
| Ft_bstrd |
I bought a set of grips from the local Honda dealer. I didn't get anything fancy. You can see them in this picture:  Grips are fairly cheap, and diddling around with recycled grips is a pain. Most grip kits have one slightly larger than the other to accommodate the throttle sleeve. | ||
| Jraice |
Oh so I would just cut the grip off the throttle sleeve it came on? Makes sense... If the left grip removal just doesnt work at all then Ill likely just run to the local shop and get some less expensive grips to try out, the buell tractions are pretty nice though! | ||
| Chuckanut |
What about safety wires around them like motocross guys? Did that on my MX bike and no glue, havnt had a prob yet.  | ||
| Jraice |
Ft-bstrd... are those gel pro grips? I was at cycle gear today with my pops, I owed him some funnels (used his for my bike) so I said WTH and tossed in some grips. They were gel pro grips, looked VERY similar to those, black and then the inner part's were red. Should look really nice on the red/black XB! Not all red (to much) but just a subtle amount. Also can you give me any info into how the routing of your cables went and how you felt about keeping the bars full length (most trim, I believe you mentioned you hadn't). Uly has even taller bars then my bike so I anticipate mine will fit even easier. The bars are lower but they are also wider which should balance out hopefully and make everything fit really nicely. BTW, my Precision Engineering part will be shipping tomorrow via UPS 3 day (went with the slim line model in black) and the bars were ordered last week so hopefully will come this week. I REALLY hope to install by Sunday, when I am taking the bike in for its first service, so I can just let them take care of the throttle and clutch adjustments. Oh and to everybody, any experience fitting bar end mirrors? My mirrors on the male part that goes into the bar have two metal sleeves. My cycle gear helper said to just take off the larger one and the smaller one should be the right size for the thicker ID'd Pro Taper bar. Is this true? I sure hope it is! | ||
| Ft_bstrd |
The grips I have are the gel grips. Sounds like you might have the same ones. There isn't much room to be able to trip the length and still get everything on the bar. I probably could have trimmed off about a 1/4" to 1/2" at most. Wasn't worth the effort. I didn't have any problems with cable routing. It was a direct bolt up. I pushed the clutch cable through the opening in the triple tree grommet to get it out of the way of the gauges. You will need to loop the brake line to keep it out of the way. You can see what I'm talking about in the following picture:  If you are planning to keep the hand guards, you will need a smaller ID plug to place in the end or you will need bar end mirrors for the smaller ID of the ProTaper bars. If they are stating that the new mirrors are small enough for the new bars, you should be fine. | ||
| Jraice |
Thanks. So the brake line is just coming out and making like a wave down and then up correct? Ill keep that in mind. And yes sounds like we got the same grips, I just got the ones with a little red to go with my red bike  . Like them? The traction grips from buell I had were a great shape but these gel's are much softer so they should work fine. | ||
| Ft_bstrd |
I liked them. The only problem I had was that the glue I used wasn't heat proof, so when I fired up my heated grips, the grips would slip a little. If I remember correctly, the ones you have are red just in the little grooves in the grips and the rest is black and gray. | ||
| Jraice |
Thats correct that is what I have... Should look great with the bike. And its nice to see that you can still "get off" the bike with those bars! I heard you couldnt from some racers with experience with clip ons and wide MX bars. | ||
| Ft_bstrd |
I don't know how tall you are, but I'm 6'. My arms aren't super long. I have NO problem getting off the bike. | ||
| Jraice |
I am only around 5'10", close to 11". I am VERY excited to put these on. With the killer grips and more aggressive looking bar I really think it will tie in the sporty look of the bike, and hopefully change the handling a bit to. How noticeable was the increased leverage? | ||
| Ft_bstrd |
DRAMATIC!!!!! It took the bike from great handling to being hard wired into your brain. Plus, it allowed for better body position and weight transfer. The downside trade off is that it put me over the front wheel more and guaranteed that I couldn't pull a wheelie accidentally. | ||
| Jraice |
I am always trying to allow myself to go WOT in 1st but am always afraid of the light wheel, good to hear it will help . And I doubt Ill notice AS much of a change as the Ss bars are lower then the Uly but hopefully it will still be dramatic. I am sure it has more to do with my skill but I do often come into a corner and it sharpens up and I just dont feel like I can turn much tighter, like I cant push hard enough on the bars. It could be leverage, or also body positioning (I am pushing down on the bar rather then forward)... All in all I am very excited for the outcome! | ||
| Ft_bstrd |
I'd say it's a little of both. Body position makes the most difference. | ||
| Jraice |
Awesome. Sounds like it will be the best of both worlds between my buell and my last bike (R6). The lower body position of the R6 but still upright enough for the comfort of the buell and wide bar leverage of the buell. | ||
| Ft_bstrd |
Make sure to post pics. | ||
| Jraice |
Ill be sure and post pics! Got an e-mail saying the bars shipped from Florida, regular USPS of course so hopefully I get lucky and they come by the end of the week so I can install Sunday morning before I take the bike in for service. Also just got an e-mail from Precision Engineering saying the adaptor shipped 3 day UPS so that will definetly make it, and I already took care of grips. About how long did it take you? Any tips for drilling the holes for the control nub's? | ||
| Ft_bstrd |
If you take your time, It will probably take an hour. I didn't drill holes for the controls. I melted the nubs down and then used tape on the bars. They don't slip. I was concerned about fatigue in the aluminum from vibrations. The instructions with the bar specifically recommended NOT drilling holes into it. You won't be able to ride the bike with wet grip glue. I would do it Saturday night and allow the glue to dry over night. The glue needs to sit for 8-12 hours to set. |
