Bar conversion with pics

[Jayneflakes]

Who knew it would take so long? The main difficulty was the switch gear and throttle cables. Sadly my local store was out of stock of Throttle cables, so we have made do for now and will be picking up new ones on Wednesday.

So this was the start.
P5233302 by Jayney, on Flickr

Which lead quickly to this.

sy146 by Jayney, on Flickr

DSC09031 by Jayney, on Flickr

DSC09034 by Jayney, on Flickr

Then this part just jumped on all by itself.

DSC09035 by Jayney, on Flickr

Nearly ready to ride. Just the front brake lines to sort out.

DSC09054 by Jayney, on Flickr

The brake lines took so long to make and seal, that it got dark. However, the front now has two charming lines of steal braided raciness with stainless fittings. Slight imperfections at the calliper caused seepage, but once located, was quickly sorted out.


The obvious question should be "how does it ride Miss Flakes?"

Well, a quick spin around the block showed up a major change, it feels like new bike, the handle bar is so comfortable, the steering feels so much easier and controlling the bike feels great. The limitations of the steering lock are now what stops me turning around in our narrow road, not trying to balance on clip ons. The risers are some what higher than most people fit and a little more backward leaning, this has given the bike a touring bike feel to it, with out harming the steering. She is still snappy and precise.

If I had to do it again, I would allow a longer amount of time for brake lines or have them made up, rather than fiddling with them myself. I would also have plenty of spare wire ready to rewire Switch gear, this is a job that I have to do today. The cables are too short as standard, but do work to a degree, so will have a lot of fun fitting them next week!

As an experiment though, it has been a complete success. I am very happy with the results and can't wait to take the bike for a blast.

[Geodude]

Oooh nice bars, same colour as mine What yoke kit have you used?

[Jayneflakes]

The yoke is a Suzuki SV650N K3, bought from E-Bay last year. It came in a nasty matt finish and took several hours with emery cloth, wire wool and a polishing kit to make it shiny. I also smoothed out the casting marks with a file and polished to a mirror finish. I can now see my face in the top surface of the yoke and it is covered with a protective wax coat. While I was off work last year with a shoulder injury, I was told to keep it mobile even if it hurt, so I polished and polished until my fingers literally bled. Some of the best physio I have ever had and it was fun too. The standard Yoke has a shaped molding that flows into the Suzuki risers, this looked bad with the risers I used, so a good friend of mine, Wayne, machined them off for me.

The Risers are an E-Bay special and cost me Forty Australian Dollars. They were also mat grey when they arrived, so a quick go with the emery cloth and polishing kit got them nice and shiny. Again, they did not quite fit on the yoke, so Wayne and his magic CNC machine took the back bottom corner off. With out his help, this would not look half as nice.

Purple bars? Hmmm, not a fan to be honest

[Jayneflakes]

I always wanted purple bars on my mountain bike back in the 90's this is a retro-revisionist statement, also there are purple painted tattoos on the side panels. So there!

[Bibio]

off topic!!!!

hahaha, just had a thought

your a dike-with-a-bike not a bike-thats-a-dike.









runs and hides into my dark hole again. sorry

[Sid Squid]

Looks good, what do you estimate the 'bar position to be compared with the original? Which bars exactly are they and would you recommend those risers over the standard Suzuki naked risers and why? What was the specific reason they wouldn't fit, and what exactly was removed to make them usable?

Questions questions!

Originally Posted by Jayneflakes

steal braided raciness

I do hope not - nicking things is bad form donchaknow!

[Jayneflakes]

Right update time.

Just been for a blast on the bike, since fitting the bars and I can report some interesting things. She feels bigger on the road, I can see where I am going and I don't have neck ache! The bars being where they are feel very stable and steering is fast and responsive, but not twitchy, even with the lay back on the risers.

Motorway blasting is fun, the fairing sends the air just above my head, but there is buffeting around my arms now. However, there was a cross wind and I was giving it beans. Being restricted, means that there is a lower top end speed, but I never ran her at full tilt to notice. Tucking down behind the fairing for those extra 1 or 2 MPH wont happen anymore, but for actual ridability, that has really gone up.

My main problem with the new configuration though is one of exuberance, the new bars are wide and high and simply encourage a hooligan riding style. It is awesome.

Originally Posted by Bibio

your a dike-with-a-bike not a bike-thats-a-dike.

runs and hides into my dark hole again. sorry

You had better hide good, I iz a commin' to get ya and I got me a nasty big chainsaw!

Yeah, I iz a big dyke, which coincidentally is not a very nice way of saying it. My Mother prefers the term "Between Boyfriends!"

[punyXpress]

[QUOTE=Jayneflakes;2361452]Right update time.

My main problem with the new configuration though is one of exuberance, the new bars are wide and high and simply encourage a hooligan riding style.

Laydee - that is no problem !

[Jayneflakes]

Originally Posted by Sid Squid

Looks good, what do you estimate the 'bar position to be compared with the original? Which bars exactly are they and would you recommend those risers over the standard Suzuki naked risers and why? What was the specific reason they wouldn't fit, and what exactly was removed to make them usable?

Questions questions!

Right then, to answer to your questions, I need to have a bit of a sit down and think about this lot.

Bar position is about four inches higher and three inches further back than the clip ons. The main advantage is comfort here, neck ache is reduced, wrist ache is gone and my back ache has gone too.

The Bars came from M+P, via mail order. I phoned them up and talked to a really helpful guy about building a streetfighter style bike, but on a major budget. He recommended these bars because they are light, strong and comfortable.

The risers were an issue. I saw a very nice SV1000N in my local dealers, that had standard Suzuki risers on it. The were rather ugly and did not give much rise. I wanted a position that would be up right and comfortable, I was also aware that I did not want the bars interfering with the fairing, so by leaning them back, we still have room to turn the bars fully. The risers were chunky looking, but over hung the top yoke by half an inch. To prevent them coming into contact with the tank and also to make them look nicer, my friend machined them down for me. When he is not making bits for me because I smiled at him and fluttered my eye lashes, he is making bits for his XZ10 and ZX12 streetfighters.

I hope that this answers your questions, but if you want to know more, then please do ask. We are not finished yet, the original throttle cables are too short, with careful routing they did work, but it is ugly. The wiring loom is also too short on the right hand side, so we must find an extra four inches in there somewhere or add the difference. As much as I hate wiring, I know that with care, I can make it look good and no on would know it had been extended.

Originally Posted by Sid Squid

I do hope not - nicking things is bad form donchaknow!

Oops! My bad spelling again. Should have noticed that one.