Edit 4-15-2008: More pics added to page two of this thread.

After using VFR bars for several months and putting in a 1600mile long weekend a while back, I've decided the bars are about right in height (slightly higher than those would still be OK) but I'd also like them back a tad more. I just sold a Bandit 1200S in which the riding position was about perfect for all around riding (goldilocks syndrome!); what I call dirt bike style.

So I checked into the kits available ($$$) vs what I thought I could do myself and decided to just do it myself. With a little luck on ebay, I was able to piece this all together for under $100! 8) BUT just as with the aftermarket kits, you'll have to trim the upper fairings so it does "cost" more than that.....




I used a K&N superbike bend bar with moose racing 55mm risers bolted to a drilled stock upper. Stock brake lines juuuuust work (barely), I needed to re-route the throttle cables and loosen up the clutch line from one bracket but all the electrical wires had enough slack.

 

Damm Doug! This is a very radical but also very nice mod!

How it feel compare to stock for short and long ride?
I guess it's more easy do to wheelie like this 8)

Your fairing seem to be very well cutted, with what have you done this, a dremel or??

BTW, nice calipers and the red to orange fade on your Super Hawk sticker look great too!

Very nice!!

 

Yeah, they feel great but they really work on long distances which I haven't done with them yet as I just got them on this weekend. But as I said, they are very similiar to the Bandit 1200S I had. I rode halfway across the country in 1 & 1/2 days to get it back home after buying it with absolutely no problems!

Yes, I used a dremel on the fairings, then carefully sanded the edges smooth and applied touch up paint to finish them off. I want to round the ends off some more and remove what's left of the inner lip there but it's fine as is.

The paint "effect" is just a ray of sunshine hitting it juuuussst right. Thanks for noticing. Check the peformance forum for more on the brakes.

 

Is this a watch or a chrono to time your run on your upper triple?

 

Nicely done, Doug! If I hadn't just put new carbon fiber tubes in my Vortex clip-ons, I'd be looking to buy those VFR bars from you.

<Homer Simpson impression> Mmmmm <slurp> carbon fiber...

 

I,m looking to get heli or VFR bars but after seeing your mod I think that's the best bar solution I've seen. Do you want to sell the VFR bars?

 

Looks Great, just one of the mods I've been considering. Since these K&N bars are no longer available can you give us a few bar measurements so we might be able to find a close substitue? (total width - rise etc).

Thanks !

 

My mistake as I've been smoking crack again. These aren't K&N's rather BikeMasters. I got them here:

http://store.azmusa.com/knclubhanbla.html

I used: E) Superbike Black
anything more and you'll need cables/wiring extensions IMO. Althought it offers even more pullback, the European bend "may" work since it's shorter. Again, I used 55mm risers so if you use shorter ones, higher bars could be used. I thought about ordering 2 or 3 vbends and returning the ones that didn't work.

I just saw a used set of heli's go for $150+ on ebay but I'll sell the VFR bars for $75 + $8 shipping. I painted these black and they have scratches from install/uninstall but nothing ugly (IMO).

Another thing: I'm thinking of raising the forks in the triples instead of the usual dropping mod. Even tho' I cut off about an inch on each end, they still offer more leverage than clipons and the front end feels like it reacts too quick to steering inputs. Or maybe I'll just get use to it.....

 

Yes. It's a sigma bc1200 bicycle computer. It displays either kph/mph of your real speed, top speed during the run (cool), another tripmeter, another odometer, and a CLOCK plus more! Very highly recommended. Do NOT get the newer wireless version as they were designed for bikes not motorcycles with high voltage ignition systems and don't work well.

 

Sent you a PM re VFR bars

 

If you haven't noticed I posted the VFR bar mod installation in the Knowledge Base section. Please have a look at it and see if I'm missing anything or could write it better and I'll go edit it.

What it does need is a list of years of the VFR that the bars can be used. I used the '93 bars and am pretty sure they're the same for '94 and '95. Help

 

Yo Superbling, Can you piece it together a little slower for us thick skulls out there?

Did you just buy the raisers (on e-bay); the handle bar (from a shop) and you had the SS brake line already? Did I understand it correctly that you just drilled holes in your stock upper triple clamp for the raisers?

And I am glad you told me to look for this link! BTW, where can I get the trick bicycle thingy? I’ve been scooting along on the highway and been going at speeds that just don’t seem right when I look at the speedo. Will this thingy be more accurate than the stock speedo?

 

Yes, I bought the risers and handlebars and then drilled a stock upper clamp. I already had SS lines but all the cables and wiring had enough slack as I noted in the above write up.


The bicycle "thingy" is a sigma BC800. You can get them just about anywhere: on the net, ebay, or a bicycle store. It is extemely accurate plus it gives you an additional tripmeter.

 

Is the fairing / windscreen still stable after the modification to accept the new bars? I mean, does it it shake / vibrate a lot more after the cut out / trim job?

 

Since the mirror mounts are so close to the trimmed area, there is no shimmy or shake. Look closely at the first picture above to see just how much I trimmed off and where.

 

Yo Bling,

What size risers and so on. There are too many choices, I'm getting confused and drilling holes and triming the fairing are starting to make me nervous. What did you get exactly? Yours look new in the pic's, were they? I went poking around on the net this morning and found a kit, whoa, it was 400 bones! Ouch! Hmmm, but it had every thing included, the lines and all.

http://www.spieglerusa.com/cfm/sbk.cfm

What do you think?

I would rather do least expensive route and spend the money on Pipes or something else....but comfort must come before performance enhancements, at least in my book. :wink:

 

Yes, I looked at the aftermarket kits too. OUCH! That's why I did it myself.

I used moose racing 55mm risers I got off ebay. I think anything shorter would interfer too much with the pre-load adjusters. I got the bars from azmotorsports.com.

Here's some more pics demonstrating the difference over stock. It's pretty substantial.

 

nice... where does it need trimming.. you got a pic that shows the detail? thanks

 

I trimmed the area between the two yellow arrows. The red arrow approximates the area where there is interference but just trimming there would look pretty bad aesthetically. I plan to round off the end some more when I repaint this winter.

 

looks clean... very nice job... thanks for the pic....

I think I can see the 'trimming' arc on the right side upper in that pic... sweet...

 

Hey Bling,

You think this will work:

Ducati Monster Handle Bar and Mount, Motorcycle
ebay Item number: 4569960509

 

I assume you mean only the riser and the bars but not the triple clamp. Yeah, great price. My initial concern is if there is enough clearance for the preload adjusters. That bar has a pretty significant bend so it may clear just fine even if the risers aren't tall enough. Some risers are cast into the upper while others like mine bolt in. I really can't tell for sure from the auction pics.

When I was looking, I found a couple of suzuki SV kits very cheap. Seems many guys with the standard model convert over to clip ons like the S models; maybe converting them to track bikes.

If you can go to a dealer and get measurements from a floor model beforehand you've won half the battle.

I found the moose racing units (ATV model) on the web for about $50 new but got lucky on ebay.

 

Well, I'm not sure what I want to do. I just know I want to do something! I would really like to take the same route you did but finding the moose bar mount is proving a bit difficult for me. Then the handle bars....man, choices choices! When I do find the moose bar mounts the the description doesn't tell me what I am actually going to buy (since they come in different heights and bar diameters). Frustrating!

The Ducati bars, I looked and looked at those stupid pictures. I can't tell for absolutely sure what would happen when mounting to the stock triple upper (of the SH). I guess it should fit. The mounts don't look like they are really any bigger that the moose stuff..... It is a bad picture though.

As complicated and frustrating it is it almost seems the $379 - $399 for the LSL is not such a bad deal! :P

 

OK, here's a place to get new risers in a 7/8's diameter: http://tinyurl.com/bgacp

And as previously stated, I got the superbike bars here: http://store.azmusa.com/knclubhanbla.html

Done! Now wuz that so hard? :P

One thing I've never mentioned is that you can rotate the bars in the riser mounts to fine tune the position. IOW, there's no locked in position like with clip ons.

 

were the VFR bars somewhere in the middle of the stock and the superbike bars?

 

Yup, they are in between in terms of height. Their reach back is little to no different than stock. Like I said in the first post in this thread, I liked their rise just fine but wanted something further back also.

The superbike bars HAVE to be higher than VFR bars if you want them to reach further back since you would have contact issues with the tank on full lock. That additional rise is why you also need to trim the upper fairing with the superbike bars but not VFR.

HTH.

 

hi, just wondering which SS lines you used. i'm planning on doing this mod and since i was planning on upgrading to SS lines anyways i need to know which ones will be long enough.

 

Finished my bike w/ blings mod. Totally changes the bike. It rides much better now. thanks bling, awesome mod!!!!!!

will post some pics later today.

 

What ever happened to the pics of your version of the mod??

 

Is the brake resevoir going to hit if I still have the factory windscreen?