Pictures to accompany EXPDSGT's handlebar mod writeup

[Randy]

That's the Griffen Air Click - Remote control for my iPod

Sorry for the threadjack. Is the remote water resistant? If not, and you're looking for a cheap alternative with a water resistant remote, check out the iJet Wireless Remote at Radio Shack for $10.

 

[chornbe]

That's the Griffen Air Click - Remote control for my iPod

Sorry for the threadjack. Is the remote water resistant? If not, and you're looking for a cheap alternative with a water resistant remote, check out the iJet Wireless Remote at Radio Shack for $10.

Sweet! no, the Air Click isn't, so I don't normally have it on the bike in weather. :\

 

[Bounce]

Nicely done!

And you're a *******! Now I know I need to get the mid-chest tool box to go with my new roller and top chest (red Craftsman too)!

 

[NSFJR]

Well, I got the seat cut down today, about one inch at the rear, less towards the front, and narrowed up the sides some. These cuts now keep me from being pushed forward into the tank, and make getting a foot on the ground much easier. As a test of the new bar location, I did a 260km continuous run today, no breaks. I am most happy to report that, with the inboard bar pin in the "C" hole, and the bars rotated as much forward as is reasonably possible, I experienced NO pain whatsoever in the outboard portions of my palms, nor any of the pain between the shoulder blades, near my neck. My hands felt like they were evenly weighted over the entire palm width.

As for the pin removal causing the bars to be less stable, it's a mechanical fact, they would be. However, with the bolts and nuts torqued to spec and locktited, I am not concerned with a "sudden bar failure" in a high stress manouver. I am certain that I would be aware of a loosening bolt or nut long, long before a bar swung free.

 

[Bounce]

As a reference, the (swiveling) Lenken Adapters from Germany have been in service since 2002/2003 and don't use any indexing pins.

 

[chornbe]

Nicely done!
And you're a *******! Now I know I need to get the mid-chest tool box to go with my new roller and top chest (red Craftsman too)!

Don't hate me because I have a new toolbox. Hate me because I'm beautiful

As a reference, the (swiveling) Lenken Adapters from Germany have been in service since 2002/2003 and don't use any indexing pins.

And I looked at my '06 closer.

One bolt on the top of the tree, one bolt on the bottom, holding the fork tubes. Just for completeness' sake.

 

[BugR]

Did you try applying some heat to the bar before pulling the pin?

With the bar being aluminium and the pin steel the hole in the bar will expand faster than the pin.

I wouldn't be suprised that with the use of a heat gun (Paint Stripper not Hairdryer) that the pin would just drop out without you wreaking your tools. It's a very common manufacturing trick for putting steel pins and bearings into aluminium parts, for inserting you normally just cool down the insert. When the insert warms up to room temperature they are well and truly stuck.

Chris

 

[jimbemotumbo]

Great mod. Love the new-tral wrist position.

Pins were a bugger. I finally used one of my bicycle tube CO2 cartridges and froze the pin quickly. It literally fell out. One cartridge did both sides.

 

[chornbe]

Did you try applying some heat to the bar before pulling the pin?With the bar being aluminium and the pin steel the hole in the bar will expand faster than the pin.

I wouldn't be suprised that with the use of a heat gun (Paint Stripper not Hairdryer) that the pin would just drop out without you wreaking your tools. It's a very common manufacturing trick for putting steel pins and bearings into aluminium parts, for inserting you normally just cool down the insert. When the insert warms up to room temperature they are well and truly stuck.

Chris

Great mod. Love the new-tral wrist position.Pins were a bugger. I finally used one of my bicycle tube CO2 cartridges and froze the pin quickly. It literally fell out. One cartridge did both sides.

And there you have it, folks. Two guys who thought a bit more about it than some of us. *insert thumbs up icon here*

 

[Calabash]

I'm not worried about safety issues. I'm more interested in how the bars feel to the hands.

Has the numbness stopped? How does having the weight more evenly distributed on the hand help?

Only one person has said no pain experienced. How does it feel to others who have made this mod?

 

[Knifemaker]

Did you try applying some heat to the bar before pulling the pin?With the bar being aluminium and the pin steel the hole in the bar will expand faster than the pin.

I wouldn't be suprised that with the use of a heat gun (Paint Stripper not Hairdryer) that the pin would just drop out without you wreaking your tools. It's a very common manufacturing trick for putting steel pins and bearings into aluminium parts, for inserting you normally just cool down the insert. When the insert warms up to room temperature they are well and truly stuck.

Chris

This trick can work, but looking at the mass around that little hole, I think if you were to heat it up, the aluminum would expand towards the hole..making it smaller not larger. (Chilling the pin would work however)

I find the talk here of this mod being "mechinicaly unsound" intresting. These are not offroad bikes being ridden by large apes. The forces one excerts on the bars under normal riding on the street (or track for that matter) are simply not enough to move the bars.

I can see if you use tiedowns on a trailer or fall, the bars might move. It also seems that if you have done this mod and have swung the bar ends as far forward as they can go, the chances of them moving approach zero...as this would be the most likely direction they would move, given the forces at play.

I hope to try this out this weekend.Will try and take some actual measurements of how many degrees the bars will swing.

KM

 

[chornbe]

I'm not worried about safety issues. I'm more interested in how the bars feel to the hands.
Has the numbness stopped? How does having the weight more evenly distributed on the hand help?

Only one person has said no pain experienced. How does it feel to others who have made this mod?

Feels good. No wrist pain (I didn't really have much, just a mile cramping at the outside of my palm), no nothing. Just a more even feel across the whole hand.

Did you try applying some heat to the bar before pulling the pin?

With the bar being aluminium and the pin steel the hole in the bar will expand faster than the pin.

I wouldn't be suprised that with the use of a heat gun (Paint Stripper not Hairdryer) that the pin would just drop out without you wreaking your tools. It's a very common manufacturing trick for putting steel pins and bearings into aluminium parts, for inserting you normally just cool down the insert. When the insert warms up to room temperature they are well and truly stuck.

Chris

This trick can work, but looking at the mass around that little hole, I think if you were to heat it up, the aluminum would expand towards the hole..making it smaller not larger. (Chilling the pin would work however)

I find the talk here of this mod being "mechinicaly unsound" intresting. These are not offroad bikes being ridden by large apes. The forces one excerts on the bars under normal riding on the street (or track for that matter) are simply not enough to move the bars.

I can see if you use tiedowns on a trailer or fall, the bars might move. It also seems that if you have done this mod and have swung the bar ends as far forward as they can go, the chances of them moving approach zero...as this would be the most likely direction they would move, given the forces at play.

I hope to try this out this weekend.Will try and take some actual measurements of how many degrees the bars will swing.

KM

If it helps, I'm not an ape of a guy, but I've got some decent shoulders, arms and pecs (for an old guy who hasn't worked out in a long time) and I simply could *not* move the bars after they were (and this is really the key, here) properly torqued to spec. Like i mentioned before, many assemblies, including many aftermarket wheels and several engine parts, are held together by simply bolting two flat surfaces together.

The worry over those ridiculously small and short pins actually having any real impact on the bars over-time stability is just worry over nothing. Really.

 

[jimbemotumbo]

If one is worried about losing one of two pins, and relying upon two different fasteners on each bar, all I can say is don't go m/c shopping anytime soon. These Feej bars are attached MUCH better than most.

If ya really want to stay awake at night, start comparing how m/c forks are attached, hubs fastened, or investigate the Quality Control process for wire cable.

 

[EXPDSGT]

Well I am back from my week long trip (3038 miles) and my bars only fell off three times (just kidding).

First I want to thank "chornbe" for taking me off the hook for the pics. He did such a great job -- much better than I ever could. Such detail. I'm not that good with pics. anyway.

Boy I never planed on starting a controversy. I had taken a two hour ride and the outside of both palms; away from my thumbs; were pained. Another time I rode for three hours and it felt like I had played catch with Randy Johnson and Nolan Ryan all afternoon. My palms just ached. As I was riding, I tried moving my elbows inward about two inches each and this relieved the pain for a bit but was very unconfortable. It was clear that the "sweep back" of the bars was wrong for me. Now if you just ride your FJR around town, I doubt you will experience any problem. Yamaha addressed to problem of moving the bars up or back but did nothing about the "angle". On my trip I rode as much as 12 hours a day with no palm pain.

I knew the bars on the 06 could be moved up and back (I later discovered that they could be moved a measly one quarter inch each way from the center hole that they are in when shipped). This is not an adjustment in my thinking. Also the angle of the bars did not change. I know Motocross guys each have their own special bend and "sweep" for their bars so it IS important.

I looked at the owners manual to get the instructions -- it said "go to your dealer". Well, it must be real technical. I had to know. Pulled it apart and found the pins. My first thought was to bore new holes, but then you still would be limited to THAT hole and you sure couldn't bore a bunch of holes. I wasn't crazy about drilling the holes because it is a tight fit and how would I get the new holes to match. I knew I wanted to take one pin out but didn't think they would budge. I drove over to my dealer where my good friend is the service manager and he looked at the pins and grabbed his side cutters and within two minutes had one of them out. It took two of us, me holding and him twisting and out they come (the right was tighter but not that much). Don't get me wrong they were tight. If I ever do it again I will use the "freezing" method. We took both bars off at the same time because we didn't know what we were going to do till we got the whole thing apart. With both bars off it is clear that the two bolts that stick up are connected by something that also holds the nuts for the allen bolts. It is spring loaded and you have to pull it back to get in the correct holes. (Note the pins fit in the top clamp very snug but slide right in and there is no movement --very tight). I don't think a dealer will do this for you because of their liability - just my thought.

Now for the safety angle. I rode for seven days as much as 12 hours a day, tight twisty mountain roads (no interstates) hit many pot-holes and the bars did not move. Believe me this connection is the last thing that is going to fail. PTP has probably never had his bars off. When you remove the bolt and nut and find how tight they are torqued,you will have no worry that they will move or slip anywhere. Yamaha put the pins in so you CAN'T put the bars in different holes -- they must line up. These pins are "line-up" pins and are for indexing the bars. With the one pin removed you could get the bars at different angles. That is why I said you have to check the angle of each bar against the top clamp to get them the same. I put the bike on the center stand and got them to feel "right" and THEN checked to see if they BOTH were matched -- bar to top clamp. I only tightened the nut and bolt as tight as I could with my fingers and the socket and allen; I was amazed at how hard it was to move the bars with just this much tightening. One pin is still in there so the bars just pivot on that pin. Now I have truely "adjustable" bars that can be moved up or back 2-3 inches to change the "sweep"-- not the 1/2 inch Yamaha gives you. Please note that the top clamp is level with the ground so any movement will be parallel with the pavement. I didn't check but I am sure you can not swing the bars far enough to hit "anything". They are limited as to how far they will go due to the two bolts that are connected together under the top clamp. Knifemaker is going to check and see how much adjustment can be made and will report later. Everyone is different and I imagine most will want the bars not near their maximum movement (mine were not). By the way the bike is shipped in the crate with the handlebar pins in the center hole and both grips are clamped with metal clamps to the crate. These bars are strong and are not going to move with the bolt and nut torqued.

I dont' care if anyone does this. I just shared my problem and solution with you. It just irritates me that some Chicken Lilly will run around shouting the sky is falling, and cause some with little mechanical knowlege to not even consider this simple solution. Jestal said it best; read his comments. If you think about it all persons who have put "risers" on their pre '06 bikes have put in longer bolts. So this makes more leverage on the bars. I remeber putting a three foot "cheater bar" on my breaker bar to get my VW rear axle nuts lose, because longer gave me more leverage. Also I believe these older bars bolted into aluminum, where the 06 bolts have special metal nuts. "IF" they did losen up (which they won't) you would know it long before it became a problem.

According to my insurance agent any modification done has to contribute to the accident to be a factor.

I believe chornbe and JimBemotumbo hit it right on in their 31st and 32nd posts.

So, those of you with "Mechanic Principles and Personal Experiece (sic) Coupled with Education" who think this won't work --- don't do it!!!!! For those of you who are brave enough to take them babies apart and take a look -- go ahead and do it cause those babies ain't going anywhere.

 

[EXPDSGT]

[

I hope to try this out this weekend.Will try and take some actual measurements of how many degrees the bars will swing.

KM

knifemaker - did you get the measurements -- I am interested in just how far they will move and if they could possibly hit something. I only moved mine a small amount (about two inches) so I never tested the limits. I did notice that they would only move so far due to the configeration of the set-up.

 

[PTP]

Well I am back from my week long trip (3038 miles) and my bars only fell off three times (just kidding).
First I want to thank "chornbe" for taking me off the hook for the pics. He did such a great job -- much better than I ever could. Such detail. I'm not that good with pics. anyway.

Boy I never planed on starting a controversy. I had taken a two hour ride and the outside of both palms; away from my thumbs; were pained. Another time I rode for three hours and it felt like I had played catch with Randy Johnson and Nolan Ryan all afternoon. My palms just ached. As I was riding, I tried moving my elbows inward about two inches each and this relieved the pain for a bit but was very unconfortable. It was clear that the "sweep back" of the bars was wrong for me. Now if you just ride your FJR around town, I doubt you will experience any problem. Yamaha addressed to problem of moving the bars up or back but did nothing about the "angle". On my trip I rode as much as 12 hours a day with no palm pain.

I knew the bars on the 06 could be moved up and back (I later discovered that they could be moved a measly one quarter inch each way from the center hole that they are in when shipped). This is not an adjustment in my thinking. Also the angle of the bars did not change. I know Motocross guys each have their own special bend and "sweep" for their bars so it IS important.

I looked at the owners manual to get the instructions -- it said "go to your dealer". Well, it must be real technical. I had to know. Pulled it apart and found the pins. My first thought was to bore new holes, but then you still would be limited to THAT hole and you sure couldn't bore a bunch of holes. I wasn't crazy about drilling the holes because it is a tight fit and how would I get the new holes to match. I knew I wanted to take one pin out but didn't think they would budge. I drove over to my dealer where my good friend is the service manager and he looked at the pins and grabbed his side cutters and within two minutes had one of them out. It took two of us, me holding and him twisting and out they come (the right was tighter but not that much). Don't get me wrong they were tight. If I ever do it again I will use the "freezing" method. We took both bars off at the same time because we didn't know what we were going to do till we got the whole thing apart. With both bars off it is clear that the two bolts that stick up are connected by something that also holds the nuts for the allen bolts. It is spring loaded and you have to pull it back to get in the correct holes. (Note the pins fit in the top clamp very snug but slide right in and there is no movement --very tight). I don't think a dealer will do this for you because of their liability - just my thought.

Now for the safety angle. I rode for seven days as much as 12 hours a day, tight twisty mountain roads (no interstates) hit many pot-holes and the bars did not move. Believe me this connection is the last thing that is going to fail. PTP has probably never had his bars off. When you remove the bolt and nut and find how tight they are torqued,you will have no worry that they will move or slip anywhere. Yamaha put the pins in so you CAN'T put the bars in different holes -- they must line up. These pins are "line-up" pins and are for indexing the bars. With the one pin removed you could get the bars at different angles. That is why I said you have to check the angle of each bar against the top clamp to get them the same. I put the bike on the center stand and got them to feel "right" and THEN checked to see if they BOTH were matched -- bar to top clamp. I only tightened the nut and bolt as tight as I could with my fingers and the socket and allen; I was amazed at how hard it was to move the bars with just this much tightening. One pin is still in there so the bars just pivot on that pin. Now I have truely "adjustable" bars that can be moved up or back 2-3 inches to change the "sweep"-- not the 1/2 inch Yamaha gives you. Please note that the top clamp is level with the ground so any movement will be parallel with the pavement. I didn't check but I am sure you can not swing the bars far enough to hit "anything". They are limited as to how far they will go due to the two bolts that are connected together under the top clamp. Knifemaker is going to check and see how much adjustment can be made and will report later. Everyone is different and I imagine most will want the bars not near their maximum movement (mine were not). By the way the bike is shipped in the crate with the handlebar pins in the center hole and both grips are clamped with metal clamps to the crate. These bars are strong and are not going to move with the bolt and nut torqued.

I dont' care if anyone does this. I just shared my problem and solution with you. It just irritates me that some Chicken Lilly will run around shouting the sky is falling, and cause some with little mechanical knowlege to not even consider this simple solution. Jestal said it best; read his comments. If you think about it all persons who have put "risers" on their pre '06 bikes have put in longer bolts. So this makes more leverage on the bars. I remeber putting a three foot "cheater bar" on my breaker bar to get my VW rear axle nuts lose, because longer gave me more leverage. Also I believe these older bars bolted into aluminum, where the 06 bolts have special metal nuts. "IF" they did losen up (which they won't) you would know it long before it became a problem.

According to my insurance agent any modification done has to contribute to the accident to be a factor.

I believe chornbe and JimBemotumbo hit it right on in their 31st and 32nd posts.

So, those of you with "Mechanic Principles and Personal Experiece (sic) Coupled with Education" who think this won't work --- don't do it!!!!! For those of you who are brave enough to take them babies apart and take a look -- go ahead and do it cause those babies ain't going anywhere.

Unbelievable. I made a couple basic statements and you come back with this? Go back and read what I said about one being comfortable with the modifications they make. In fact, without going back and rereading all of this, I believe I even said I think it is a good idea...I questioned the mechanical principle...and still do.

If you think it's ok, go for it, but don't personally attack or mock me because I raised a question. Not once in this discussion did I personally attack you EXPDSGT.

...and yes I had the bars off before this discussion ever started and since then to have another look at the situation.

PTP

 

[Silverbullet]

I got a chance to run a quick 2500 miles over 4 days on my bike late last week. My wrists say thank you for the mod EXPDSGT.

P.S. My bars stayed in place just fine.

 

[EXPDSGT]

Three negative posts -- most others seem to believe it's mechanically acceptable. I guess everyone should make up their own mind. I'll just ride.

 

[slick001]

Thanks EXPDSGT for the mod, and Chornbe for the pics.

I was about to try to adjust my bars and found this thread. I am all about doing this now.

Can't wait to check out the results! :clapping:

 

[Luke]

I just did this mod and only needed to move the bar angle slightly to make a huge difference in comfort. Thanks for this mod.

I heated the bar with a lightbulb and then cooled the pin with an ice cube. Then pulled the pin with pliers/*****.

Thanks for the hot/cold tip!