Making progress towards my gs cafe conversion and I've hit sort of a block.
I love the look of the cafe and everything else about it....but I also plan on riding this thing frequently....and on occasion, longer trips.

Style vs. comfort....classic right.

Clubman's/clip ons are out due to the riding posish on long trips (had clip-ons with my svs)....so I thought of at least going with drag bars.
After running a search and reading a bunch of threads here on the drag bar mod, it seems that my hands/wrists would hate me for it on longish trips (forward/front pressure and vibes).

What if I were to go with 1" risers and then the drag bars?
Or better yet - the gen mar 1" rise 1" back risers and a drag bar?

This would decrease the reach and forward lean and keep the "look" of the drag.
Or would it?

Would the risers just cancel out the low profile of the drag?

It's tough for me to picture it and I'm having no luck finding a good pic for reference.

Help if you can.....or don't reply if it's stupid.
Input appreciated.

I rode 3 straight hours this plast weekend with drag bars. No problem really. Vibes are a bit more pronounced than stock, but you get used to it. I stopping noticing them after maybe 2-3 days.

From the threads I read the vibes were brutal.

Cheap enough mod though. Worth a try.

What about using heavier bar end weights? Should take out some of the vibrations.

James

Anti vibration bar ends my friend. They kill vibes like I kill Guiness.

How about the bar snake....or filling the bar with lead shot?  Those are other solutions....

I'm going to try them.

Another thing. Test fitted my rearsets tonight (modded gsxr 600's). Not sure about my legs being scrunched up on longer trips.....

I'm 6' even....lanky at 170 lbs.  With the cafe seat I have planned it should lower my riding position another inch...so the rearsets really, when added to the seat mod, raise the foot position 2 inches.

Also, is it difficult, should I put these (rearsets) on to retro-fit the brake cylinder?
How about my brake lights?

Haven't really looked at the connectors yet for those.

Thinking about just adding the cbr passenger pegs to stock set up....sell the rearsets to help fund the paint job - or the handlebars.

Quote from: nakedfoot on September 06, 2006, 10:22:24 PM

Cheap enough mod though. Worth a try.

+1 For $20 you can just buy some and try it.

I have 89 Clipons and LOVE them. The position make me more comfortable rather then worse

i've been running drag bars for a while now.  no bar end weights (have bar end mirrors), but handles filled with lead.  vibes were reasonable for 1 to 2 hrs, but after a recent valve check and carb sync, i've had no issues with this setup since. 

just did a 900km (almost 600 mile) ride in 2 days a couple of weekends ago and had no vibe issues - hands were fine.  i personally don't mind the wrist position, but I that's more an individual thing and also effected by position (sitting more straight up and having wrists bent up towards your head, or sitting lower or even on tank, where wrists are bent down towards the ground type of thing).

drag bars are pretty cheap, so maybe just try them out (ensure your bike is running smoothly also) and give them a try, see how you like it.  there are other options if you end up not going with them for whateve reason, so you should be able to ge tthe position your after.  I'm always up for trying new bars myself, to experience different riding positons and steering characteristics, so let us know how you make out.

The bars are cheap, just try it out. If you put your anti vibration bar ends in then the vibes shouldn't be any worse. If you don't like the possition, try the risers. Everyone is different when it comes to what's a comfortable position, so there's no point on asking advice on comfort. just give it a shot.

does anyone have a picture of the drag bars installed?

Quote from: wever411 on September 07, 2006, 10:24:17 AM
does anyone have a picture of the drag bars installed?

here are a few different angles

http://ca.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/rexsantos@rogers.com/album?.dir=/9915re2&.src=ph&.tok=phigy7EBXsaeyxn2

Awesome bike!
love the quad-pot look of the black duals and the black gauges....

I'll try-em....are those the ?Bikemaster? bars??

Not completely straight huh?
Any issues at full lock?

Also, I'm sure grips help some in the vibe department....which ones do you guys suggest?


Maybe clubmans w/ risers.....
I'm an idiot.

and how do you get the old grips off and put new grips on?

Quote from: nakedfoot on September 07, 2006, 11:17:53 AM
Awesome bike!
love the quad-pot look of the black duals and the black gauges....

I'll try-em....are those the ?Bikemaster? bars??

Not completely straight huh?
Any issues at full lock?

Also, I'm sure grips help some in the vibe department....which ones do you guys suggest?

Maybe clubmans w/ risers.....
I'm an idiot.

Grips - I like ProGrip, as they come in TONS of different styles and are dual density gel grips (helping to quell vibes).

As to clubmans with risers... doesn't that kinda defeat the purpose of clubmans? Maybe try some Bikemaster Superbike bars? They are a bit lower than stock, come in black and chrome finishes, and should be good for long distance and sporty riding. I used some when I went to the track a few weeks ago and they held up fine. My normal bars are Suburban Machinery (Type 2) though. I do everything from commute to long trips with those (most was 550 miles in one day on them).

hence the: "I'm an idiot." comment.

clubmans are cool - I want those - just worried about long distance stuff...

Figured the drag bar is a nice happy medium between clubmans/clip-ons and stock.

One more thing....
Right now I have a set of newer? "F" style bars (speckly black finish) on my 95e.
Just wanted to throw that out there so everyone would know where I'm coming from....and that they will be up for trade/sale.

What are these srinath?? siranth?? sirinathanininanan??? - bars people keep talking about?
(still noob)
Does he make them (assuming)?
Cost??
Rise, pull back, color, width please.

nakedfoot- thx.  not sure what bars they are.  just went into one of my local shops, saw them on the wall, knew they were drag bars and picked them up.  cheap too.  I've seen a bunch of them, and find them hard to tell any differences    maybe wall thickness varies, but most of them have the slight 10 degree pull back like the ones I have.  I've also see some straight, broom stick straight bars too.

grips are gel filled from ebay.  can't remember the brand, but i'm sure any good quality grip would help like you said.  Also Alpha suggest ones that I hear are also pretty popular.

oh and no issues with full lock.  closer then stock, but haven't had any issues.


wever411-you can either just cut the old grips off, or use something like a flat head screw driver to break the adhesive from grip to tube/bar, then pry off.


good luck guys.

I have drag bars on my ride and it's fine.  I've never used anything else, so I can't compare it to anything.

WREX, very nice looking bike. What kind of fork brace is that?

Quote from: SeriousGeorge on September 07, 2006, 03:40:16 PM
WREX, very nice looking bike. What kind of fork brace is that?

thx SeriousGeorge - it's a one off piece.  I describe it (and other stuff) a bit more in this thread here.

http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=26910.msg283821#msg283821


looking forward to seeing/trying Srinaths upcoming bars.  Never had the chance on his first set, but lots of people did and they looked like a nice alternative.