Wierd handlebars???

[shreksbrother]

Picked up an '01 GS500 yesterday.  15k miles and in pretty darn good shape!  Paid only $900 cash for it, too.  Seems completely stock, I think the only thing it's missing is the front fender.  Are the dirt bike-style handlebars correct?  I mean I know the rubber grips are, but with that bar going straight across and all?  Seems like it should have one of those BMX-style foam pads around the handlebar center!

Anyhow, overall I'm pretty pleased with the bike.  I'm a long time rider (10+ years with 40k+ miles), but just looking for a cheap work cruiser for my 100 mile daily commute.

[The Buddha]

Dirt bars are an improvement over what was there but not right.
If you want, I'll sell you better dirt bars for 50 bucks. I like em, just that yours looks too wide and a little too redneck.
Cool.
Buddha.

[shreksbrother]

No kidding too wide!  When I ride it, I feel like I'm in a kung fu movie holding a staff!  I had to angle the bars to get it to fit through a doorway!  I found some on eBay for just under $100 shipped that are "cafe racer" style with mirrors and grips... Seems reasonable to me.

[tt_four]

As Buddha said, they're not stock, but that doesn't make them wrong, you can put anything on there you want, and you can find just about any kind of handlebar you can imagine. Putting dirtbike bars on street bikes is pretty common, and some people like them wide. If that's all that bothers you, and there's enough room, you can just slide everything in a couple inches and cut the excess off the ends, or just find something new to replace them with.

Not fitting through a doorway isn't anything unusual though. My GS has clipons, and they're rather skinny at that, and i still have to work the bike back and forth to get it to fit through my basement door, which is a pain in the ass, but i accept it because I know motorcycles were never designed to fit through a doorway.

[shreksbrother]

Not a big fan of the style, but you're right, cutting them down would be an inexpensive fix!  My Harley Sportster goes right through a doorway, and the ZX6R I had years ago did, as well.  Guess I just assumed they all did.

Thanks for the info!
Adam.

[The Buddha]

No kidding too wide!  When I ride it, I feel like I'm in a kung fu movie holding a staff!  I had to angle the bars to get it to fit through a doorway!  I found some on eBay for just under $100 shipped that are "cafe racer" style with mirrors and grips... Seems reasonable to me.

Cafe bars ... aaaahhhh ... they dont fit and are still too wide and painful if you dont like being tortured.

I had to make bars that were right width, more sporty and still comfortable. Check out my avatar.
However due to on going crappiness and weird yelling and screaming between me and my welder ... gosh, he burns himself just 12 times and starts screaming like a little girl like some one is trying to kill him ... anyway, I dont have any more and may not get to making it in the next year ...

So, yea, that's the product I am not selling and no one wants to make and whatever ... OK.

On the bright side I have 1/2 inch thick fork braces and fat ass case guards made from billet. $40 shipped in US.

Cool.
Buddha.

[ecpreston]

Looks like you got a great deal    

Though I fear what that makes my '02 worth.....

[shreksbrother]

No kidding too wide!  When I ride it, I feel like I'm in a kung fu movie holding a staff!  I had to angle the bars to get it to fit through a doorway!  I found some on eBay for just under $100 shipped that are "cafe racer" style with mirrors and grips... Seems reasonable to me.

Cafe bars ... aaaahhhh ... they dont fit and are still too wide and painful if you dont like being tortured.

I had to make bars that were right width, more sporty and still comfortable. Check out my avatar.
However due to on going crappiness and weird yelling and screaming between me and my welder ... gosh, he burns himself just 12 times and starts screaming like a little girl like some one is trying to kill him ... anyway, I dont have any more and may not get to making it in the next year ...

So, yea, that's the product I am not selling and no one wants to make and whatever ... OK.

On the bright side I have 1/2 inch thick fork braces and fat ass case guards made from billet. $40 shipped in US.

Cool.
Buddha.

So other than my karate handlebars, and yours which I cannot get, what would be some reasonable handlebars I could use the would bring my hands in closer so my bike doesn't take up the entire lane of traffic!

ecpreston - The seller was asking $1400, but was fairly desperate for money.  I offered $900 Friday, which was promptly turned down.  I got a call yesterday morning saying they changed their mind.  I'm sure if the seller had spent another week selling the bike, they would have gotten far closer to what they were asking!

[ecpreston]

awesome 

I have an extra stock bar that I might consider selling cheap after this weekend (got another track event and it's one of my spares)

[The Buddha]

Dirt bike bars that actually mimic a handle bar ... similar to super bike bars, in fact you may be able to get one of those ... google superbike bars. Close enough to stock.
Cool.
Srinath.

[DoD#i]

Well, if you're willing to do the standard work of moving the controls from old bars to new (not sure that ebay bars with controls are all that great, as the controls are likely not GS controls? Unless from a GS, and even then an extra $80 seems silly...)

$20 or so at the usual online parts places will get you a new set of bars, your choice of black or chrome. Bikemaster superbike bars are often mentioned, IIRC they are a bit lower rise than stock, but you are not even starting from stock. GP Touring or Daytona are closer to stock, I think.

A new set of grips is generally a good idea, simply because they may not survive moving, and are often old and crunchy anyway - plus they are inexpensive. I have one of the gel variants, set me back a whole $6 or so.

If the width is the only thing that bothers, cut them down for nothing (or the price of a hacksaw, if you don't own tools). Beware of lowering too much for a 50/100 mile commute - too much weight on the wrists for that long can get bothersome.

[Roadstergal]

+1 on seeing if there's room to cut them down without the controls butting against the crossbar.  Too wide is always easier to fix than too narrow - just make sure you measure at least twice from a fixed reference point on the bar itself before cutting, mark the cuts, and cut on the conservative side; take off a little less than you think will be comfortable, and try that out first.

I can't remember if the GS controls have little locating dints, but it's no big deal to drill those out at the new locations if they do.

A handlebar pad isn't a bad idea.  Street bars don't have the crossbar, which is not fun to pitch into.

[Dj Hunny]

wow wow, your bike is very clean.

To save you some time, you can always go to the GS wiki and there's plenty of pics of diff bars you can chose from.

That's what I did...

[Gary856]

Damn, $900 is just too rediculously cheap for a '01 GS with 15k in good shape. Even $1400 is still a decent deal.

P.S. #1: I own a '01 GS with about 12k and some crash damage, so it's worth like, what, $600? No, no, no....  

P.S. #2: The only door my bikes go thru is a 2-car garage door, so I don't get the I-can't-get-the-bike-thru-a-doorway thing. You guys put your bikes inside the house?

P.S. #3: The shop that replaced my handlebar after my lowside put on a 28" wide bar (end-to-end, without bar end weights). That feels a little too wide. Been thinking about cutting it down to 26".  

[shreksbrother]

Brought my bike literally into work this morning (through the doorway) so I could change the battery.  Figured weather and lighting were right since I had to move the negative cable to put my Walmart battery on its side.

[Dj Hunny]

P.S. #2: The only door my bikes go thru is a 2-car garage door, so I don't get the I-can't-get-the-bike-thru-a-doorway thing. You guys put your bikes inside the house?

 

+1 to that, I was confused reading everyone's statement also.

[Porkchop]

Some guys are so in love with there bikes they just want to take it to the next level.

Actually, many don't have the benifit of a garage so the only place they can work when it is cold and rainy is in the house/apartment/basement.
http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=48543.0

-Porkchop

[shreksbrother]

No kidding too wide!  When I ride it, I feel like I'm in a kung fu movie holding a staff!  I had to angle the bars to get it to fit through a doorway!  I found some on eBay for just under $100 shipped that are "cafe racer" style with mirrors and grips... Seems reasonable to me.

Cafe bars ... aaaahhhh ... they dont fit and are still too wide and painful if you dont like being tortured.

I had to make bars that were right width, more sporty and still comfortable. Check out my avatar.
However due to on going crappiness and weird yelling and screaming between me and my welder ... gosh, he burns himself just 12 times and starts screaming like a little girl like some one is trying to kill him ... anyway, I dont have any more and may not get to making it in the next year ...

So, yea, that's the product I am not selling and no one wants to make and whatever ... OK.

On the bright side I have 1/2 inch thick fork braces and fat ass case guards made from billet. $40 shipped in US.

Cool.
Buddha.

So these bars won't fit?