My experience with clip-ons

[ameen]

I thought i would share my recent experience.

Last night i finally installed clip-on on my 2001 GS500.  I raised the forks about and inch and a half and mounted them. After finally getting everything hooked up the way I wanted (couldnt get my bar end mirrors for some reason) I went out for a test ride.

First impression....This is sweet! The position is very aggressive with me almost hugging the tank.  The forward body position along with lowering the front was great.  I felt connected with every move of the bike and found myself leaning the farther that i usually did with lots more confidence.  It was great. 

The down side? Defiantly not comfortable. I may just need to get used to it but i do a lot of long rides.  I have a superbike bar coming in the mail and used to have a drag bar  installed.  The drag bar was great but it go slightly bent. Maybe it is human nature to never be content, or maybe i need two bikes, one comfy and one sporty.

[The Buddha]

89 clip on's may give you the best of all options.
Cool.
Buddha.

I thought i would share my recent experience.

Last night i finally installed clip-on on my 2001 GS500.  I raised the forks about and inch and a half and mounted them. After finally getting everything hooked up the way I wanted (couldnt get my bar end mirrors for some reason) I went out for a test ride.

First impression....This is sweet! The position is very aggressive with me almost hugging the tank.  The forward body position along with lowering the front was great.  I felt connected with every move of the bike and found myself leaning the farther that i usually did with lots more confidence.  It was great. 

The down side? Defiantly not comfortable. I may just need to get used to it but i do a lot of long rides.  I have a superbike bar coming in the mail and used to have a drag bar  installed.  The drag bar was great but it go slightly bent. Maybe it is human nature to never be content, or maybe i need two bikes, one comfy and one sporty.

[centuryghost]

I have the '89 clipons on my '93 and they are a really good compromise between sport and commute. You have to use your core muscles more so as to not lean on your hands to much, but they allow much more control in corners when you want to have a bit of fun. 

Before the clipons I had the generic superbike bars you can get for $25. They are great for commuting, but I found them to be too twitchy in the corners when trying to get a good lean. My 2 cents.

[ameen]

I use my core, that why i think i was getting sore lol.  With the superbike bars, what do you mean by twitchy?

I guess I see what I like now that I will have three options to play with.

The problem with the '89 clip-ons is that they are next to impossible to find. 

[GI_JO_NATHAN]

(couldnt get my bar end mirrors for some reason)

Are you talking about not being able to get the bar end mirrors to slide into the clip-ons? If so I had the same problem. It's because the aftermarket aluminum bars are thicker with the excess being on the inside making for a smaller inside diameter. I tried to open mine up with a dremel but that was a pain in the ass, and didn't work. I finally went and bought a huge drill bit and drilled the center. Worked perfect. Also now i can use standard bar end wieghts if I wanted to.

[The Buddha]

89 bars are hard to find yes, but I am not to blame any more ...  ... back in 2007 I literally bought every 89 bar that came up cos there were a dozen GS guys in my area that wanted them. I would buy one and get it powdercoated all like I like it only to have one of em buy it from me. The standard was to powdercoat the headlight ears, the headlight shell, the guage plate and the triple all black and we'd swap em one day on someone's bike.
OK a dozen may be high, but 5-6 easy. That was just after I sold out the bars. Which actually did a decent job of thinking they were 89 clip on's.

Then I started doing kat FE's and I stopped buying 89 GS triples. Instead I bought 90-07 triples and hacked them. I got a dozen or so mutilated triples from that ...

BTW Euro clip on's are higher rise and they made em through 00 if I recall.
The top plate is the same, but the risers are not, bars need to be modded to use the higher rise. They are a steeper downward angle but higher overall.

Cool.
Buddha.

[mass-hole]

Sorry to butt in here but has anyone with back problems used clipons(89's or fork tube)? Any issues? I am seriously considering them but I have had constant back issues for the last 3 years after rowing on crew in college.

[The Buddha]

They are bad for upper back problems. I dont have those ... except in rare ocassion.
Lower back, they help ... to know if they would work for you ... sit in a chair with your elbows on your knees. Or like put a pillow on your knees and set your elbows on em. Feel free to flex your back etc ... just keep the elbows on the knees.

If after 20 mins you're not in pain you would like the clip on's.
Cool.
Buddha.

[centuryghost]

They are bad for upper back problems. I dont have those ... except in rare ocassion.
Lower back, they help ... to know if they would work for you ... sit in a chair with your elbows on your knees. Or like put a pillow on your knees and set your elbows on em. Feel free to flex your back etc ... just keep the elbows on the knees.

If after 20 mins you're not in pain you would like the clip on's.
Cool.
Buddha.

I agree. I have lower back problems and I have no issues. When I had neck/shoulder issues, they killed me.

[adidasguy]

The European factory clip-ons are a nice compromise between standard bars and the really aggressive after market clip ons.
While the 89's are hard to find, the European ones are readily available. I have extra sets for the older tanks (1989-2000) but right now won't have any more for the new larger tank for another week or two. While the bar angle is slightly different, they're pretty much like the 89's. Ghost came over one day and with 3 bikes in the carport, we had the 89's on one, and the other two had the two different European ones. All felt about the same, just slightly different in bar position.

Plus, the factory ones look like they belong there and are just a 5 minute swap with no change to the fork. Switch back to standard anytime in a few minutes.

[mass-hole]

Awesome thanks a lot. I will try that but I am not to worried, what really kills my back is sitting at work all day staring at a computer  

[The Buddha]

The worst thing for your lower back is a bloody cruiser. I dunno who said its more comfortable ... probably some fool sitting in a barcalounger in front of his TV scarfing down a pizza and a beer ... oh wait ... hey ... I resemble that remark.
Anyway, cruisers kill your lower back. In fact I dont like standards either, but I can see how a standard can give someone wiht no back problems ... no new problems. The sporty bikes are much better for the low back ... they are murder on the upper back and wrists ... I couldn't run a GS with clip on's day after day wihtout hurting the wrists. 3 days a week is about par, then I do standard and cruiser 1 each ... when I used to run 100+ miles a day in traffic, splitting and speeds.
Cool.
Buddha.

[GI_JO_NATHAN]

Yeah my lower back used to kill me from hunching over forward if I sat at my desk on the computer all day. Riding with the clip-ons made it feel better because i could flex my back the other way and stretch it out.

[burning1]

I seriously do not understand the obsession with clip-ons.

I say this as a guy with a GS500 race bike that has them mounted about a centimetre below the upper triple, and the forks raised. Guess what? On the street, I ride a BMW with the bars at the highest adjustment position.

[centuryghost]

I seriously do not understand the obsession with clip-ons.

Less obsession, more personal preference. Just like it's your personal preference to ride BMWs with apehangers! 

[The Buddha]

You ride a 89-00 GS with 89 clip on's ... and you'd never go to anything else. BTW I am not including 01+ here just cos the 89 bars are a shade too tight to the tank.
No obsession required.
Cool.
Buddha.

[adidasguy]

One type of European fits the larger tank. The other type and the 89's don't unless you stick a washer under the outer screw holding the clips on to angle them out further (or put a slight bend in the bars).

No obsession. Its what you like. Its what you want. Its what you find more comfortable.

[Nuss]

newb question...what are clip-ons??

and on the note of wrist pain...after a summer of riding, a 650 mile trip to school, and a fist fight, i developed a bump on the back of my hand.  I guess it's called a ganglion cyst..has anyone had one of these before?

[JPFL8]

So does anyone have any 89 or European clipons that would fit an 05f that they are looking to sell?
Im not a huge fan of how the stock bars look and I would like to try a more aggressive lean.

[tt_four]

I had the clipons on my GS for a while. Loved the position for serious riding. The handling feels so much more stable. I ended up going back to normal bars because the vibrations were too bad, but I can do either. Both of my bikes currently have renthals on them, but I think eventually I'll end up with one bike having renthals and the other with clipons. Upright bars are definitely fun though.