I have renthal u/l's and wondering if i should cut them. Im only 5'6" and my wing span isn't great. Im wondering if a narrower bar would give me a better ability to move around since my hands would be closer together, effectively giving me more reach.
Clear your controls if you can or if you have to in order to get the true feeling of a narrower set up. I think that's the only way you can "Measure twice and cut once" bro.
__________________
Quote of the Year
"One would think that the Secret Service was smart enough to get serviced secretly."
I have the High bars and went for 2 years at a quite a bit wider than stock. I recently moved my controls in as far as possible and I like it better. Because it's aluminum, the bends aren't as tight as steel so they are still a bit wider than stock.
FYI, I left the extra inch or so past the end of the grip and mounted my CRG's at the very end and get phenomenal rear visibility.
__________________
No plan survives first contact...but there's always a plan.
I have 5 bikes. 4 of them have the handlebar cut down. Sometimes when I first get on the SD, I feel like I'm nailed to a cross, I cannot bring myself to molest the Super Duke in any way.
The result is always well worth it, but, I hate fitting handlebars. Streetbikes are a little easier because there are no barkbusters to deal with. I cut the bar on the 599 3 times before I got it where I wanted it.
The WR-R was the worst because it has streetbike controls as well as barkbusters. But in the end, when you need to squeeze between 2 trees, it's worth it.
Location: Santa Maria, CA Otherwise known as heaven on earth.
Posts: 1,797
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bigdaa
Clear your controls if you can or if you have to in order to get the true feeling of a narrower set up. I think that's the only way you can "Measure twice and cut once" bro.
Excellent advice. Move the controls in as far as they can go before making any width / cut decisions. If you have not ground down the locating peg on the throttle housing it gets a bit more complicated, and that is why I always include a "throttle shim" with all my bars -- it allows mounting the controls anywhere on the bar without having to drill a multitude of holes in order to test the positioning.
To all TharBar owners: if you still have the throttle shim would you consider sending it to F.B.?
FYI my controls are mounted only 21 1/2" to the ends of the grips, and have been narrower. Obviously that narrow is not an option in your case, but there is really no downside to it -- it's no more sensitive than a wider setup, and it takes so little effort to steer a motorcycle under normal circumstances anyway the feel changes with width are so small it's hard to tell the difference.
Infinitely adjustable, made of the finest materials available, and completely sourced from local suppliers -- gotta support the local economy! Order today and know handlebar Nirvana.
Location: Santa Maria, CA Otherwise known as heaven on earth.
Posts: 1,797
It's head slappingly simple to make: the first on I did was fabbed from a piece of 7/8", 0.049" wall tubing sliced open and filed until it sat on another piece of tube with a height of 0.1.", cleaned up inside and coarsely sanded to give it some "tooth", filled with JB Weld epoxy, and pushed onto a heavily waxed chromed handlebar tube, giving it a 7/16ths inch radius inside and, obvoiusly on the outside as well, just offset 0.10" from the centerline of the inside. See illustration. Drill a 5mm hole in the appropriate place for the locating pin, and trim the end next to the hole to clear the throttle pulley. It's really that simple.
Of course I now have good silicone molds for the piece and could make one from dental grade clear acrylic, pack it up, and ship it to you, but where's the adventure in that?
Infinitely adjustable, made of the finest materials available, and completely sourced from local suppliers -- gotta support the local economy! Order today and know handlebar Nirvana.
Infinitely adjustable, made of the finest materials available, and completely sourced from local suppliers -- gotta support the local economy! Order today and know handlebar Nirvana.
My first set of UL I left at the width they arrived. I liked them.
Then I got a second set and I was fitting bar end mirrors that clamp around the bar so I allowed room for them when drilling. Well I measured twice, drilled and stuffed it up! Somehow I had drilled 12 mm to far in. Not wanting to drill another hole I trimmed 12mm off each end.
So between the trimming and mirrors I came inboard 24mm from the UL shipped width.
First ride felt weird for a bit - despite only coming in a small amount it was surprisingly noticeable!
I got over that pretty quick and I am very happy with the slightly narrower width.
I'd say it would be a good idea for you to reduce the bars a similar amount.
I went ahead and cut the bars. Simply moved the controls in as far as they would go and made sure that the amount of bar sticking out the ends was the same then marked, cut, and drilled the holes for the controls. Ended up being 1.25 inches shorter on each side. Kinda weird feeling at first but after about 15 minutes got used to it. Oh btw i love it!
Glad you like the narrower bars! I've always cut at least 3/4" (20mm) off each end, on both dirt and street bikes. It does feel a little wierd for the first minute or two, but after that it's a noticable improvement.
Some more to consider before shortening your bars.
Personally, I am running bar end mirrors that clamp on the OD of the ends of the bars, so that forces my grips in some on both sides.
I'm also really picky about locating the lever posts in an effort to locate my CRG levers exactly where I want them in relation to the grip area.
So, my clutch post has a 8 mm gap between it and the left hand pod.
The brake post has a 20 mm gap to the right hand pod.
One can easily see that the my brake post position dictates the bar length potential for shortening.
It's zero in my case, the bars being Renthal ULs.
The wider bars also give more leverage if one is doing track time.
Differently shaped bars might allow the kind of overall lever ergo fit I want, in an overall narrower width.
Anyway, measure once and cut once.
And before one cuts, it might be worth ones time to try some clutch and brake relocations just in case a magical improvement is near by that you never even thought about.
And, if you have future plans for bar end OD mount mirrors, well, be sure to account for the needed bar length.
I wacked 3/8" off of each side of my UL's. Wouldn't go back.
I'm about a half inch off effectively, because of the bar end mirrors.
I think another half inch would be nice, but I don't have remaining inboard bar to work with.
Linear Mode
Chevy Camaro Forum
Ford Mustang Forum
Jeep Wrangler Forum
Volkswagen Touareg Forum
Land Rover Defender Forum
