Wicked Webby's Handle Bar Adjustment Guide

[r1byker]

This is an older thread, but I thought I would share my handlebar repositioning experience for the new guys. I wanted to move my bars back into the furthest rear postion.
I tried and failed twice earlier today...1st try full unbolt as described in the beginning of this thread, then a variation on that -only to have the sliding bolts "slide" back forward before I could get it tightened down. Frustrated! :angry: Removing the bolts completely made the whole apparatus too wiggly. Trying to get the 6mm back in was not working easily. So I gave up.

Then read tonight a suggestion to take a small mirror and flashllight and look at the bottom of the triple tree to see how it all fit together. When I did that, it all came clear! The sliding black plate that guides the bolts from the bottom, is connected to the black wire harness guides that are in front of the steering column.

I removed both of the small covers to expose the 17mm nut and 6mm hex bolt. Loosened them up on both handlebars...but did not remove them.

Then, on the left bar 1st, with the socket and allen wrench in place for minor adjusting, and kneeling on the left side of the bike, I lifted the bars just enough for a gap to appear & the pins to come into view. I set a flashlight on the tank to improve my view of the pins and could clearly see the pins and target holes. As I lifted the pins clear, I applied pressure TO THE WIRE HARNESS GUIDE - NOT THE HANDLEBARS OR BOLTS- on the side I was working on ....and the whole thing just slid back. I wiggled a little and loosend one of the bolts a little until the pins fell into the furthest rear holes. Then I tightened the 17mm & hex bolts just enough to hold it in place.

Repeat on other side...no problem. Then tightened both sides one final time and replace covers. Whole thing took 10 minutes. :yahoo:

The key that I found was the relationship of the wire harness guides to the sliding mechanism on the botom of the triple tree. The mirror & flashlight idea was invaluable. One important note. Be very careful with the wires that are on the starboard side handlebar. They come really close to the connection point and if you are careless, you could pinch it in that connection point and mess something up.

Good Luck!

You are right on on the procedure.

After reading this whole post a couple times, I went out and gave it a try. First, I put a pencil mark on the triple plate to show the original position of the bars and as a reference to make sure they were in matching positions. I loosened up both the nuts and hex bolts on both sides, slid the left side back until I felt it catch, then did the same with the right side. The right side didn't catch as quickly as the left so it took me all of 15 seconds longer to get it into position. Then I put the hex bolts to hold the bars in position and snugged them both down.

The process took me all of 10 minutes, maximum, with no use of mirrors, but it was that quick only because of all the info and pics you all provided. So thank you all very much. Of course, if it doesn't bring the bars back far enough, then I'm going for the Helibars.

r1byker

 

[Bull]

The process took me all of 10 minutes, maximum, with no use of mirrors, but it was that quick only because of all the info and pics you all provided. So thank you all very much. Of course, if it doesn't bring the bars back far enough, then I'm going for the Helibars.

Hi R1 - for what it's worth, I'd say the heli clamp swap-out is probably the best farkle I've added to the bike. When you get tired, try sitting up into a resting position and feel what it might be like (holding the bars with extended fingers for a moment or two (find a safe place to do this etc.....) I felt that I needed the bars back an inch or so - added the heli clamp - and now my seating position is darned near perfect.

 

[Fubar]

Did the handlebar adjustment today. Everything went well except for the 2.5mm allen wrench I didn't have and had to run to AdvanceAuto to buy. Good information here. I didn't completely remove the bolts, only loosened enough to move the bars back into the last hole. I like the results.

 

[ShinyPartsUp]

Did this mod as one of many last winter, and it made a large improvement in comfort for me. My neck and shoulders don't hurt anymore with a better reach to the bars, and the angle of the bars is less of an issue for my right hand, though I'm not sure why.

 

[terrysig]

just finished the adjustment on my 08. big thanks to this thread but wanted to provide a tip to any new owners trying

to do this. it is absolutely a simple

task and you do not need remove the 17mm nut. just loosen enough to raise the bars enough to lift the pins out of the holes to move to the desired new position. the problem that I did find was that the holes in the forward or back position were mis-shaped. more "D" shaped than "O" shaped. trying to move to these holes was impossible. I had to totally remove the bars, same as WW. luckily the metal is malible and I could

use a nail to reshape the holes. once reshaped I put the 17mm back on and it was easy to reposition the bars.

 

[Wicked Webby]

Terrysig,

Glad it was help to you.

The point you brought up is a good one.

Though, it has been brought up on this thread before. You can adjusted the bars without removing them completely. I chose to do mine (and this guide) this way because I did not want to risk stripping out the adjusting holes.

Like you just said (and I have), the metal is soft and mailable. Therefore, I (still) prefer the above method to adjusting them over the blind method.

WW

 

[terrysig]

yeah again big thanks but I should have noted that I had a big honking worklight directed on the adjustment which made it easy to see the pins and hole but I definitely had to completely remove the bars to figure out why I couldn't get the pins into the holes. the pics you provided were invaluable to make sure I didn't force something that wasn't going to work.

I figure if someone tries to adjust without completely removing and it doesn't work, they may have the same issue as me and can use your guidance to removemthe bars and fix the holes.

 

[Wicked Webby]

yeah again big thanks but I should have noted that I had a big honking worklight directed on the adjustment which made it easy to see the pins and hole but I definitely had to completely remove the bars to figure out why I couldn't get the pins into the holes. the pics you provided were invaluable to make sure I didn't force something that wasn't going to work.
I figure if someone tries to adjust without completely removing and it doesn't work, they may have the same issue as me and can use your guidance to removemthe bars and fix the holes.

Terrysig,

No worries. We all find our own way of doing things and making them work for us. Glad to be some guidance.

Take care,

WW

 

[d6diesel]

standing on the shoulders of giants.... I moved the bars this AM on a new bike. One important point for me was that boths bars need to be loosened at the start of the procedure. I removed only 1 bar to find that rear plate was immobile. The rear plate seems to be a solid plate that traverses across both sides. It was only when I loosened the other side, that I was able to easily slide the back plate and thus the entire assembly into 1 of 3 positions. I did not have to remove the bar on the opposite side to easily move the bar... regards !

 

[Ian Farlow]

For those that have done this, I am looking for some advice. I just moved my bars to the third position (closest to me) so that the bars are a bit closer. The move went without a hitch, and everything is tightened back as should be. My concern, though, is the extra tension put on the hoses and wires. When I turn the bars full left (like turning them to lock them), the wiring harness coming from the left bar seems to pull more than it did when the bars were in the stock center position. I can see where there is more tension on the "zip tie" that is holding the wiring harness to something under the dash, and the wiring harness casing is creaking a bit more than it did. Did everyone do anything to remedy this, or is it not a big deal? Additionally, does this put any additional tension on the throttle cable? Did I miss a step with regards to relieving tension on the wiring and hoses?

Thanks. Still getting used to how everything on this bike fits together, but loving every minute of it!

 

[Bogus]

Wiring, cables, etc., should not be a problem since moving the bars from full forward to full back would only be about 1" or so. I am waiting on a Heli Bar triple clamp bought from a forum member here. Many have been installed, and they give you a 1/2" rise and a 1 1/2 " pullback and from what I understand from the install instructions, you do need to do a bit of re-routing of the hoses. But when I did a move from the center position to the back position, I had no cable or wiring tighness issues.

 

[Ian Farlow]

Wiring, cables, etc., should not be a problem since moving the bars from full forward to full back would only be about 1" or so. I am waiting on a Heli Bar triple clamp bought from a forum member here. Many have been installed, and they give you a 1/2" rise and a 1 1/2 " pullback and from what I understand from the install instructions, you do need to do a bit of re-routing of the hoses. But when I did a move from the center position to the back position, I had no cable or wiring tighness issues.

I put a little more slack in the wiring harness on the left side (may have been too tight from the dealer and wasn't really as a result of the handlebar move), and the throttle cable seems to be fine. Rode yesterday afternoon without trouble, but definitely with more comfort. Thanks for the reply.

 

[GLK]

Adjusted the handlebars to the closest position today on by 2009. Thanks to the pictures, the procedure was very easy.

1. Removed cover plate

2. Loosened both allen head screws

3. Removed nut on both sides

4. Raised handlebar, one side at a time, just enough to clear the pins, and pull foreward until pins lined up to new holes. Once pins inserted, inserted alllen head and snugged down loosley to hold in place. Repeat for other bar.

5. Torque allen head screws and nuts.

6.Reinstall cover plates.

very easy, takes 5 minutes.

 

[Dave Sweeney]

Thanks for the well-documented instructions; the whole operation took me maybe 20 minutes.

According to my shiny new service manual, the bolt & nut should be torqued as follows:

6mm bolt: 17 ft-lb

17mm nut: 47 ft-lb

The nut in particular is supposed to be tightened a lot more than I would have thought.

 

[gmyooper]

Man that was easy!! :yahoo: Nothing ever goes that easy for me. Thanks guys for the info. Now I need it to warm up so i can try it.

 

[Burnspot]

For those that already have risers installed (I have something along the lines of the GenMar blocks...dealer installed for previous owner), there will probably not be a plate on the bottom side...there wasn't on mine. Moved mine back to the rear position tonight. Would've taken 5 minutes; however, there's a washer on one of the allen bolts that...cough...took a trip inside the engine compartment (took bolts out to see how the blocks were installed). Twas a ***** to dig out....by my wife and her tiny hands, lol.

 

[bucky]

as the commercial says...so easy, even a caveman can do it.

thanks guys, after reading all the posts on this topic, moving the bars back (closer to the rider) was a breeze. took longer to get out the tools and put them away then it took to actually do the job. key is to loosen big nuts and remove the bolts on both sides enough to raise the bars so the pins are out and then just gently wiggle the bars forward and they fall into whatever of the 3 positions you want. absolutely no reason to fully remove either bar which avoids needing an extra set of hands or having the other issues discussed here.

remember, when you are doing this that all 3 positions keep the same angle relative to each other, as all you are doing is moving the bars closer or further away. to actually change the angle of the bars to each other, you would have to remove one of the pins on each bar (permanently) and rotate the bars forward or back. probably would be ok, as those nuts/bolts are really torqued hard, which i would think would keep them from changing position except under extreem conditions like, a crash?? and then who cares? but i hesitate to do permanent changes unless i find it absolutely necessary.

rainy out today, so i can't test out the new, now closer to me positon, but it seems to help a little so that my arms now can have a slight bend in them. before to sit upright, i had to have my arms fully straight, which was a bit unnatural, so I would catch myself leaning forward which put pressure on the wrists, hands and would be uncomfortable after a while.

 

[Slade]

Thanks for the write up. Took maybe 10 minutes to pull this off. Moved the bars closer and made a definite improvement.

 

[whitel]

You guys are awesome. I tried adjusting my bars a few weeks ago and gave up not wanting to "buger up" the soft metal and pins. I read the "rest of the story" regarding loosening BOTH bars at the same time, then moving them forward or back. This is most definitely the way to go with NO prying necessary. Doing it this way I was done in less than 15 minutes! Thanks a ton for all the useful information. Knowledge really is power.

 

[Jon_PDX]

Being a new owner and wanting to relocate the bars closer I figured why not revive this thread for any new owners who want to do the same thing.

Thanks WW for the writeup and pictures. I pretty much figured out what I would need to do but like the saying goes.....a picture is worth a thousand words

Like others suggested I loosened both sides, relocated the bars to their new location, and bolted it all back together.

Took longer to dig out the tools and put them away than to do the job. When I came back into the house my wife asked if I decided to not work on the bike :lol:

Now to go test the :bike: to see how I like the change.

Jon...