I'm going to change the handle bars on my Superhawk but am stuck on the very first step. The black metal weights on the end of each bar with a large phillips head screw in it. The screw and weight just turn together and don't unscrew from what ever they are attached to, can't turn screw without the weight turning. How do you remove these?

 

First let me commend you on NOT filling you title with unneeded explanation points.

You really dont want to remove those if you want less vibration on your hands. The stockers dampen the most vibes.

BUT if you are still determined, you can put some lateral force on the wieghts inside the bar (like grab the wt and bend it with relation to the bar)to create resistance.

Also carefully get a tiny bit of penetrating oil on the screw you are trying to turn (but dont get it on the in bar wieght)

Also you can use an impact driver. They are cheap and you WILL need one again so spring for the few bucks and it will come loose with a couple taps of a hammer.

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I am not discarding the bar weights but I do need to remove them from the handlebars at this time. I don't think I'm being clear here, let me try again, oh, and they have been soaked with Kroil overnight. The big Phillips screws on each bar end turn easily with the bar end turning with them, they do not unscrew. Short of crushing into the bar end weights with sharp deeply serrated channel lock pliers and then throwing them away and buying new ones I can see no way to grip the smooth rounded surface. Lateral pressure has no effect, they still rotate. I am deeply opposed to destroying parts in order to disassemble them. How do you unscrew those Phillips heads when the whole assembly just rotates with them.

 

Wrap the bar end with tape to protect it. Hold the bar end with pliers. Use the proper size of Phillips screwdriver, it may be a No. 3, to loosen the screw in the middle of the bar end. As smokinjoe73 said, you may need an impact driver.
Once you've removed the screw, remove the bar end. Reinstall the screw. The damper is held in the bar by two small barbs. The barbs fit into holes in the clipon. You have to peel back the grip on the clutch side and remove the throttle tube on the other to get to the holes. Use a small screwdriver or similar tool to push in the barbs while you pull on the screw. The damper will come out. You may break a barb while removing the damper or, like me, when I reinstalled the damper. Looking at the parts fiche on www.ronayersmotorcycles.com will help you. Silicone spray can make the installation of the damper easier.

 

I should have added that a small strap wrench also can be used to hold the bar end. I don't know what effect Kroil will have on the rubber parts of the dampers. Some petroleum products can damage rubber.

 

Thanks guys. I have the proper size bits to fit the screw and wrapped in leather and held in a vise the whole bar end assembly just rotates as the screw turns with the impact driver. I'm done, I'll take both bars to my local bike shop when they open Tuesday. I've been working on bikes since I was 12 (I'm 55) and I have 4 motorcycles, currently I'm doing a bare frame up restoration of a open class KTM 2 stroke and pulling the engine on an older Harley Sportster but the Superhawk has been very slow and very frustrating to work on. This is the perfect example (1 of several) of what I mean, just a simple little Heli bar swap, I've done it many times before on other bikes including the Superhawks relative the VFR, but with the Superhawk it has forced me to stop with a disassembled bike and wait for days and drive back and forth and pay more money. Oh well, I will persevere, I am determined if nothing else.

 

You are missing the point... The bar end weight should be held stationary, as you turn the screw... Best way to make it give in the fight is to hold it stationary, and also pull the weight outwards along the line of the clip-ons, at the same time as you use the impact gun... The pull makes the rubber stopper assembly inside hold firmer and hopefully stop rotating enough to get the bar ends off... Then, when you do get them off, clean the threads, and give them a dap of copper grease or similar, to stop them being a PITA again...

 

Yeah, I understand exactly, the "philips" screw is turning but the inner bar base wieght turns with it. (They are not truly philips but JIS screw heads).

If you bend the wieght, say a bit down towards the ground, it will stress the inner bar wt against the inside of the bar, creating resistance to it spinning.

Thats why if one guy bends it for resistance and the other one wacks the impact driver, poof, its free.

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There are very few, if any, true philips head screws on Japanese motorcycles.

 

Well... My comment was directed at jon, whom I quoted... Bending/putting force on, or pulling on it creates the same effect, as that mushrooms the rubber part more...

But, the weight if held still, also forces the inner part to stay still, at least if it's the stock weights as they have a tang on them, half the circular inner part is longer...

 

Tweety, everything I am trying has been directed at trying unsuccessfully to stop the bar ends from rotating. Of course I understand that I am trying to hold the bar ends so I can get the Phillips screws out of the ends! Short of drilling them and inserting a cross piece or destroying then in an unpadded vise or with a big pair of plumbers channel lock pliers I can't hold them tightly enough. I've padded them with both inner tube rubber and leather and tried to hold them in a vise and with large pliers and tried a Park Tools strap wrench designed to hold similar diameter round bicycle cranks while they are torqued but the bar ends still rotate when force is applied trying to turn the screw. I don't know how I can be any more clear than this. Maybe the previous owner used bearing and stud Loc Tite or epoxied the screws in. At first I thought that I was missing something but now I can see from all you guy's input and comments that this is not a normal situation. Thanks again for your suggestions.

 

Its a normal hurdle to have to jump. You just gotta want it bad enough. Have you tried the impact driver?

No more posting til you try that, not some weasly little bicycle spoke wrench. (you are going in the wrong direction there).

Now get back to that garage, put some pb blaster around the screw head, grab it with vice grips an WIN ONE FOR THE GIPPER.

 

I'd say at this point, I'd say the weights take the hit... They aren't that expensive, and if you are swapping in Heli's you need the rest of the hardware, so clamp them hard and buy new one's...