I just had a thought a minute ago. I don't like the stock handlebars on my 04 500f. They look more at home on something like my YZ250 than a sportbike. I don't have my bike right here with me to take any measurements either (It's at my other house out of town). This is probably just a shot in the dark, but would it even be possible to turn the d-mn things upside down and reinstall the grips, levers, ect. without putting a dent in the gas tank or losing a lot of my turning ability? I am pretty tall and don't like the feel of the stockers at all. I am much more comfortable when leaning in a more forward position. I have heard a lot of good about srinath's bars too, but I want to find out about this first to find out if this venture is even possible.

it's not far fetched at all...i had a friend who did exactly that on a ducati monster...sort of turns the stock handlebar into a clipon like. he eventually got a clipon.

give it a shot and let us know!

I have also thought about it but never tried.
It might work you could be the first. :dunno:

I think they'd end up too low to avoid hitting the tank...


Also...  You'd have to drill a hole for the control "nub" or it off of the controls...


You might try picking up some cheapo drag bars...

Ive had the idea before too it would be great
But if was possible dont you think tons of people on this board would be doin it.
I just bought a pair of Suburban Machinery bars instead, I love them, I think they work with "F"s too
http://pantablo500.tripod.com/id29.html
see my avatar too.

I was wondering about that too. If this is a new idea, it would be just about the first time I was actually able to pull something cool like that out of my a$$, so to speak. I'll have the beast back tomorrow, and I will take some measurements and try to at least post some of them. I'm gonna look mainly at the angles of the bends starting with the standard deviation from the center of the bars (the part held by the clamps) and crunch a few numbers. I think it will work fairly well with a little fine-tuning, but it's gonna feel like I'm sitting on a Ducati (leaning way, way forward, if you're not familiar with their ergonomics), but I like that anyway. Who knows, maybe all that geometry crap I usually slept thru in high school may actually come in handy for once!  

well, it's sort of ghetto rig so i'm not sure it would be a permanent solution even if it cleares the tank.

i did this when i first got the gs. while you have the bar locking bolts still lose, move the front around and adjust so the bars do not hit you take. and you will have to get rid of the little tabs in your control blocks that slot into the small holes on the handle bars. this works ok but i made up a set of race style clip on handle bars and got rid of the stock bras all together.
:lol: