When I dropped my GS500E a couple of months back, one of the bar ends fell off. Along with it, the metal tube that the bar end screws into (which looks like it has been spot welded into place) also fell off. Now, I got a replacement bar end, but because the screw coming out of my old bar end which went into the metal tube (that was secured into place) got bent, the new bar end won't screw in all the way to the metal tube.

Soooooooooo

I've come to the conclusion that I need to replace the entire handle bar. Are there any good aftermarket handlebars that are more comfortable? I'm looking for comfortable, not sporty :-p

Or is there a better alternative I"m not thinking about? Also, will the replacement be something that I should goto the dealership for? Or is it something that can be done at home? I'm just worried since I don't want to screw up anything important like the front brakes or all the electronic stuff. Any help would be appreciated as always, thanks :-p

well, in my opinion sportier and more comfortable are the same thing.  i put suburban machinery bars on my bike (srinath's bars are roughly similar), and being the tall guy that i am, i find i can stretch out more on the bike with lower bars, and hence it is more comfortable for me.  your wieght is only on your wrists if you let it be on your wrists.  it's fairly easy to hold up using your back and stomach so your hands just rest on the bars.  but, if you've got back problems, wrist problems, or arn't really tall and don't want to be leaning forward, forget everything i just said.  

I went with the Bikemaster GP Touring handlebars.  They're similar to the stock GS bars, but for some reason seem more comfortable.  Don't know why.   :dunno:

Changing the handlebars is pretty straight forward.  If you change from the stock set up too much though, you'll need to re-route some cables so the don't get pinched and pulled.  To avoid having to remove the gas tank to do this, here's an idea:  Instead of having them come out from under the tank and around the forks, you may want to try out from under the tank directly to the controls, then zip-tie them together to organize them.

You could also look into making some bar risers for the handlebar to make it more comfy.  If you do that though you'll probably have to do the cable thing.  

It all depends on what bars you get and if you do risers or not.

Bike masters atleast the superbike bars are a bit wider and lower rise than GS stock... Even wider and lower are the MSR dominator aluminum dirt bike bars... lovely... that Jim Knopf's bike has them in gold anodised.... BTW mine are 0 rise and narrow as you can get... OK they are 1 inch or so wider than they have to be.
Cool.
Srinath.