I found my FI risers, used on a stunt riding forum. I got the pair shipped for $25 off a wrecked bike.

 

I bought the risers used by VTRBOB. I am having a real problem with cables. I have stainless break lines and it looks like they may work. My clutch line is too short. Does anyone know if I can get a longer line? (and where?). Also, the electrical lines on both sides are too short unless I clip them from where they are zip tied done in spots. Is that safe.
If VTRBOB or ripvanwinkle are out there, can you help with what you had to do to use these risers.

Many thanks,
George

 

Sorry George I haven't got back before now!
I have the same thing to do as you with my risers, as they have the half round attached to the bottom as in one piece like yours too. I will be using a hacksaw and file to carefully remove the half round bit when I get around to fitting them.

I'm pretty sure VTRBob only extended the horn wire in the wiring department, but your bike may have a different wiring set-up than our UK models. As for re-routing the wiring as long as it doesn't interfere with the steering when it's turned from side to side and is fixed in it's new place using zip tiles that should be fine. You also don't want any sudden sharp turns in the wiring either.

You should be able to get a replacement clutch hose from the slave cylinder to the master cylinder by measuring what length is required. Over here we can buy different length braided stainless steel hoses off the shelf to suit different needs. May be someone else in your area can suggest a supplier for just that.

Good luck with it, I'm sure it will be worth it in the end!

Chris.

PS. I've not seen Bob about for a while online, perhaps you could try sending him a PM if you need to?

 

And why in the hell do you guys call them superbike bars? Superbikes run clipons.

 

IIRC, back in the day of the original superbike series, the Superbike bar was a particular bend of bar common to those race bikes...

 

ripvanwinkle, you said in an earlier post that the bars VTRBob is using are Renthal, could you pls provide any kind of part/model number? I would like to get the same bars.
TIA

 

Here's a torque question. I have finished the bar conversion. I torqued the bolts according to the numbers for bolts for the stock bars. (don't have that number with me). My problem is, with the new position and downward direction of force, I am pushing the bars downward when I hit a bump. How do I know how hard I can torque these bolts? I bought some stainless bolts at a local HW store for the application. There are numbers on the head of the bolts. Does this tell me something about what they can handle? Aslo, is there something I can use on the clamp itself that helps to hold the bar in position?

 

I used a couple of nice sized flat washers underneath with lock nuts and just tightened them down good and forgot about them...

 

A bit late I know, but I've not seen VTRBob on our (UK) VTR forums lately so I've emailed him. If I find out anything about the handlebars he used I'll be back,

Chris.

**EDIT** I've now managed to get hold of VTRBob, this was his reply:-
hi chris, the bars i put on the storms were renthal ultra low superbike bars...there the lowest apart from flat ones so i did'nt have to cut fairing.
bob.

 

Glad too hear you got there in the end. I understand what you mean about the bars moving, that was the reason bars used to have serrations on them so that the clamps had something to grip onto. I presume yours are smooth without the serrations. I'd be inclined to try tightening them up a little more. The numbers on the bolt heads are normally just telling you the quality of the stainless steel used, most common are A2 grade.

As a last resort you could drill the handlebars (underneath) and the bottom part of the bar riser to take a roll pin. The only down side with doing that would mean the bars would then be locked in that position.

FL02SupaHawk996 suggestion of some big washers under the top yoke is a good one,

Chris.

 

I know, you'd think that with all of the posts about switching to superbike bars that I'd be able to find a source for 'em. But noooo. Can anyone direct me to some good risers?

I like what truck used (Driven) but I don't see that part in their catalog. He used risers that have the bottom surface of the piece cut at an angle, placing the bars further back.

Thanks for the help.

 

These are what I used. They have gone up quite a bit in price since I bought mine. They aren't angled but they do have have an offset mounting hole so you can adjust them a little bit fore and aft.



http://www.motorcycle-superstore.com...ar-Mounts.aspx

 

This is what superbikes looked like in the early days. They didn't have fairings and they had tubular handlebars instead of clipons. (Ignore the intro to the video that shows faired racebikes. Number 21 is the real superbike deal.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4A306MeDDU

 

I had to have a second look to see what you meant by offset.

 

From what I can see, some of you have gotten away with just changing brake lines to SS in order to compensate for the change to superbike bars. Has anyone had to have custom lengths made? If so, who makes 'em? The same question for throttle cables.

Thanks

 

[quote=killer5280;224512]These are what I used. ...




I keep looking at these and can't picture them on the bike, could you post a picture (I looked for one in the galleries, but nothing specifically indicates it...)

M

 

Look above and you'll see something similar mounted up.

 

Great thread! I want to get maximum height and pull back on a set of Superbike bars for my 2003 Superhawk. What model would you guys recommend? Also what size risers? Should I get an offset too? Finally, I suppose I would need longer cables. Where do I find these sweet little things that will take my winter weekends? Finally, do you think this is too much for me and should I just go with a set of convertibars or bring the whole set up to a stealer to install? I really don't have any skills with taking the bike apart but have done lots of remodeling work to my house. I don't know if those skills would apply here though and it gets me scared working on my baby with power tools...YIKES.
Let me know your thoughts...I'm a old Rocketgal who is getting older and stiffer in my 50's.
Thanks guys.

 

If you want more bar height than Helibars, you can go with a Superbike bar kit or the Convertibars. In both of those cases you will need at least oversize front brake lines (maybe clutch line and throttle cable depending on how high you want) and you will need to cut the fairing and windscreen.

Convertibars must be drilled for electrics/controls, which realistically means you should have access to a drill press. I'm a bit older than you. I decided to do a bit more yoga, ride with the ***** of my feet on the pegs and thighs gripping the fuel tank. Works fine for me, can do 400+ miles per day no problem, but I don't have arthritis and am in excellent physical condition,.

 

Welcome to the forum, rocket!

I'm in a similar boat, as you can see from my previous posts here (and I haven't broken the big 5-0 milestone ... yet . I think that if you have a center punch to initiate your drilling you can get away without the drill press.

As for the lines, my brake lines are maxed out just from raising the clip-ons (a temporary move that you might want to consider). I'll order aftermarket SS lines and hope that the throttle cables are long enough.

Anyone have source suggestions for custom throttle cables?

 

Hi chickenstrip, what did you mean by this? Aftermarket clipons, or is there anything you can do with stocks to raise them?

 

Dannyz, you can buy risers that fit the stock tubes...

I have a set I'll sell ya for $50.00 + shipping that are used, but in great shape...I took them off when I replaced the front end with RC51 fork tubes...RC

 

On another note, this whole thread was an interesting read.

Have a question for those that did this mod: is there any reason why nobody - or at least it looks so from your pics - lowered their fork tubes in the triple after removing clipons?

We are talking about almost 2" of tubes sticking out. I understand that sliding the fork tubes all the way down in triples may slightly change bike's geometry - not much, though. But, seeing that nobody did this, I assume there must be a reason...

TIA

 

You guessed right in that changing the fork height will alter the handling characteristics. But small adjustments can make large changes. Even moving the forks 5-10mm change make a noticeable difference in the handling. Lowering the stock forks 1-2in would slow the steering WAY down..... But if you like the handling of choppers........

 

Actually, the preferred move is to move the tubes further up in the clamps from the stock position to quicken steering a bit. To lower the tubes all the way down flush with the top triple after doing this mod would slow the steering radically and greatly (and adversely) affect the handling.

 

Lifting the front end two inches would do a lot more than "slightly change bike's geometry"! It would make it difficult to steer and very prone to head shake under acceleration. Very bad idea.

 

Why would the head shake more? Lowering the tubes will increase the trail which I think is more stable not less. I agree it would probably steer like a truck!

SW

 

Because there would be so little weight on it. Handling in general would suck quite a lot.

 

Hey TruckinDuc, the Superbikers was the original form of supermotard racing from 1987... Wide World of Sports on ABC? Anyone, anyone?? Don Canet??? REALLY???? Nobody knew this?

 

I thought handling/steering would be different, possibly a little worse, just didn't know by how much.
So, the question now is by how much would handling/steering suffer? Beyond useable? Would bike just handle a bit worse, or would this be unsafe?