DIY handlebar conversion kits

[number9]

One thing for the VFR that I've been considering is some kind of handlebar conversion. Either go with something like Helibars, or going with some kind of motocross-style bar setup. Helibars only give you 1.125" more height and 1.5" more rearward, which isn't a lot for $300. (They are made in Maine though )

LSL in Germany make this handlebar conversion kit, which Spieler resells here for about $270:



It looks like a pretty nice bit of kit. It comes with a new top triple clamp, risers to hold down the new bars and the new bars themselves. I'd re-use my new bar-ends and grips. The nice thing about the LSL setup is that you don't need to lengthen your brake lines or throttle cables. On a lot of the other kits, you do.

Here is a guy on VFRDiscussion.com that's installed the LSL kit on his bike:



I guess I could try and come up with an equivalent kit myself, but that'd involve drilling the triple clamp and finding the right kind of risers. I could outsource the drilling to a machine shop, but I'm not sure I'd end up saving much money overall. Has anyone tried to DIY this kind of thing? For $260 it seems like a pretty good deal for the LSL kit, but the DIY option might be fun...

[Pigman]

Stunters do this all the time....buy a set of bar mounts, drill the holes and mount up some DB bars and done


4.3 Bar Mounts | Pro Taper

[number9]

Stunters do this all the time....buy a set of bar mounts, drill the holes and mount up some DB bars and done


4.3 Bar Mounts | Pro Taper

The bike thing I don't want to have to tackle is lengthening the throttle cables or brake lines. On the VFR (with its packaging) that would be a huge pain in the balls.

You can get used top clamps on eBay for $30 or so... then it's just finding bars (should be easy) and risers (trickier?)

[Kurlon]

How does one kit get away with moving the position of the controls without longer cables while another that supposedly doesn't offer as much of a change in position can't?

[number9]

How does one kit get away with moving the position of the controls without longer cables while another that supposedly doesn't offer as much of a change in position can't?

You know, I have wondered that myself. The Helibars claim not to need lengthened cables either, but some of the generic raised bar kits do.

On the LSL kit, they mount the bars quite "low" on the clamp, so the cables don't need to go up and over the clamp (towards the dash) and then back down to the bars. I have stock bars on it right now at the stock height on the forks, and there's barely any slack in them!

[sedanman]

I put risers on my wife's bike and was able to reroute the cables so I didn't need longer ones.

[Imbeek]

I bought the lsl kit for my triumph speed four (when I owned it). Very high quality pieces and I will likely look to them again to put taller bars on the GSxr front end I'm installing on a wrecked sv650 I just got.

On the triumph, I was able to use the same cables but it was a pain to reroute the cables to make that possible.

One objection some people have with drilling the triples instead of using the lsl kit, is that depending on the bike (and true for the GSxr triples I'm using) the material can be thin and isn't designed for the load you are putting on it. Plus it weakens the triple, regardless of additional load. Plus, drilling is irreversible. With the lsl kit, you can go back to stock, pristine, if you or a future owner wants to.

Plenty of folks on svRider drill the GSxr triples and it seems ok, so pick your poison...

[number9]

I bought the lsl kit for my triumph speed four (when I owned it). Very high quality pieces and I will likely look to them again to put taller bars on the GSxr front end I'm installing on a wrecked sv650 I just got.

Thanks, that's nice to know. I can always sell them if I ever sell the bike. You can usually sell Helibars for 90% of what you paid for them it seems...

One objection some people have with drilling the triples instead of using the lsl kit, is that depending on the bike (and true for the GSxr triples I'm using) the material can be thin and isn't designed for the load you are putting on it. Plus it weakens the triple, regardless of additional load. Plus, drilling is irreversible. With the lsl kit, you can go back to stock, pristine, if you or a future owner wants to.

Yeah, I'd have to take a look at the VFR triple. I had a quick butcher's hook on eBay and you can get used ones for $40 or so. The VFR is no lightweight so they're probably built pretty strong. I'd have the drilling done by a machine shop anyhow...

[klp]

I went with a combination of heli bars and spacers for a total of +2.5" height and .5" closer to the rider. I did manage to use stock throttle and choke cables but needed longer brake lines.

If you just go up 1" or so you can get away with stock lines all the way around. Any more and you need brake lines. Think of it as an opportunity to upgrade.

My bike is a 99 Busa.

[PeaPod]

I picked up Imbeek's Triumph and part of the selling point to me was the LSL kit and the ability to go back and forth easily between the bars or stock clip-ons with no backyard engineering like drilled triples.