clip-on's listed on ebay

[brandiwine]

here they are:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=10066&item=2422601717

does anyone know what it would take to change my '94, currently with drag bars, over to clip-on's?  pretty simple or is there quite a bit to it?

brandi

[pantablo]

smirgen is a regular member here. Those will fit but you'll have to somewhat monkey around with the headllight ears to get clearance...and the clip ons will be loooow on the forks in order to clear the headlight stuff.

To install them you have to remove (or just slide teh tubes down) the fork legs from the top triple to slide them on, and get them below the headlight ears mounting bracket that is on the fork legs too.  Doable, but not easy.

[brandiwine]

is this the way the '89's were stock?

[Black Snowman]

No, the 89s had a special triple tree on top that the individual bars went onto and didn't have the tube clips. I think there are one or two good pics of it in the hall of fame but I couldn't tell ya where

[pantablo]

This is what the stock '89 gs clip ons look like. they sit just above the top triple. Take a look at your setup and you'll see how the bracket that holds the headlight ears sits on the fork legs. You need to install the ebay clip ons below the top of that. These '89 clip ons are actually higher than where my suburban-machinery type 2 handlebars sit, the type 1's being even lower.

[brandiwine]

cool... i was just on the wall of fame looking for an example, thanks  

a friend of mine here in dallas with my same year bike has clip-on's that don't look like this, and i had assumed whoever had the bike before him yanked the clip-on's off an 89.  looks like i was wrong.  i'll go check out his set up and see what's going on and how it feels and go from there.  thanks!

brandi

[werase643]

brandi,
if you are vertically challenged....
you can slide the forks down a bit in the trees and mount them on the top.
the turn in will be a little more sharp(twitchy) but you will lower the front of the bike a hair.

[mrslush50]

or so could forget the clip ons altogeter and just find yourself a stock '89 top triple tree.

[werase643]

yeah, thats easy .....they are on the 89 GS top tripple tree.....tree   and are ripe for pluckin'.   the last few that I have seen have gone for $100-120

[pantablo]

$120 for the triple +cost of the clip ons themselves (or even if included!)...or just buy Suburban-Machinery bars for $120 like mine and Pipers:



note on the fork leg under the top triple, the black part is the bracket for headlight-the ebay clip ons would sit below that. The S-M bars are lower than stock '89 clip-ons, just compare this picture to the one above.  If you want the lower riding position this is the way to go.



Or you could do Drag bars for $20 like this:

[Toenis]

All European models have so called clip-ons integrated with top triple...
And on Pantablos example pic there is an Eeuropean model and not `89 one.

As for installing real clip-ons like listed on e-bay those would be too racy for commuter bike in my opinion and for back`s sake too ... but sure they look cool.

One thing that`s not clear to me is if the `89 US model was equipped with lower clip-ons than all the European ones... Once there was an US black `89 GS in hall of fame with small speedo/tacho and so on and it had lower original clip-ons than EU models have today.

Once again if you need some quality clip-ons then http://www.streetfighters-usa.com/vortex_clip_ons.htm can help you out nicely... and those are my favorites >>> http://www.pro-flo.com/proflo_clipons.htm

One thing to remember when installing or even wonderin` about clip-ons on GS is that top triple cosists of two plates and the upper one can be removed and clip-ons can be installed on top of the triple and not under it. Downside of doin`it in that way is that you need to fabricate new fittings for tacho/speedo assy. (again not 100% sure about US model)

[werase643]

toenis...you are 100% correct!

[The Buddha]

The added issues with the 89 clipon's...and the euro clip ons is that those are fragile as hell...The top plate is not really billet...It looks like it but it actually is a cast aluminum piece. You crash and the bolt holes holding the risers to which the bars attach have their threaded holes get buggered...Steel bolt in a cast aluminium plate...asking for trouble. The SM bars or drab bars are a good idea. If I ever get my bars project off the ground I hope to make SM type bars but from aluminum. Dont ask what stage the project is in.... My suggestion is to get one of those. The unique and fragile 89 crap is not worth it. BTW it also has brake and grip fitment issues...Going to a remote reservoir will make that part better though...its a shorter master cylinder so it actually works quite well.
Cool.
Srinath.

[pantablo]

If I ever get my bars project off the ground I hope to make SM type bars but from aluminum. Dont ask what stage the project is in

Seems lots of people have the same idea:
http://www.socalsvriders.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=247

check for a computer rendering of their design on the last page of posts.

[V8Pinto]

I have an 89' and crashed a few months ago.  I high sided in a left hand turn and the bike went down on the right side.  I can feel that the right clip on might be bent by the slightest amount but nothing else related to the clip ons broke.

[mrslush50]

One thing to remember when installing or even wonderin` about clip-ons on GS is that top triple cosists of two plates and the upper one can be removed and clip-ons can be installed on top of the triple and not under it. Downside of doin`it in that way is that you need to fabricate new fittings for tacho/speedo assy. (again not 100% sure about US model)

I have an '89 top triple sitting in my garage.  while I haven't tried to mount it on my bike (and I'm not going to) I can tell you that I'm almost certain, you would not need to fabricate new fittings for the tach and speedo.  (both the '89 the triple was removed from and my bike are US models)  The '89 triple apears to be absolutly identical to the '02 triple, except for the the way the bars mount.