Bars and Grips

[gasgasman]

A neat trick is to cut a section out of the middle of the handle bars then reweld them.
The bars will have plenty of room for all your controls.

[SpeedyManiac]

Originally Posted by gasgasman

A neat trick is to cut a section out of the middle of the handle bars then reweld them.
The bars will have plenty of room for all your controls.

I hope you're joking. I know welds are strong, but the idea of cutting them welding bars back together scares me.

[GMP]

Girards not kidding. Thats been done successfully. You need to use a piece of round stock, or machine one, so it fits the ID of the bar. The cut ends are preped and aligned with a gap so that the weld penetrates the support stock. This is the least stressed area of the bar, between the clamps.

Most bars can be cut to 29.5 - 30.5" without fit problems. Mount all the controls loosely first, without the handguards. Slide the clutch and brake master cyl. perches in until they just hit the start of the bend and stop. Now space the throttle and other controls, and mark the bar for cut.

I've gotten away from super narrow bars. Around 30" + handguards is fine, and feels natural. Anything more narrow feels strange. Ever see Mike Lafferty's bars? Wider than 30", and he grew up (and still lives) in the tight pines of South Jersey.

[gascanuck]

My buddy got some tall bar mounts made for my old GG 200. He knows a guy with a CNC machine and this dude could make them in minutes. I'll ask my buddy if he still has them kicking around somewhere. They raised my bars about 3 inches. That would help already. I can always cut them down or get new ones for about 50 to 75 dollars. Thank You all for the help.

[PEB]

When mounting controls I always give the bar a couple wraps of teflon plumbers tape. It lets the controls move during an impact, thus far I have not broken any controls in the 15 years I have been doing this(knock on wood!) I also have used gasoline when installing the grips the last couple times. Brushed it on the bar, the grip slid right on and then set in place once the glue dried.

Paul B