fitting handlebars....

[danster]

afternoon all

didnt last long before i went to the local shop to buy another bit for the bike after the exhausts lastnight!

am now the proud owner of some highway hawk wishbone bars and am going to attempt to fit them tomorrow - anyone got any advice or idiots guide comments?

anything at all welcome - i work with computers so useless with practical things - but am now determined that my previous approach of me earning the money and then paying the experts to do this sort of thing isnt the way forward! am hoping to do the bike up myself as a bit of a learning excercise and hobby too

thanks, dan

[Ttaskmaster]

Good on ya, Dan.

Nothing quite like spending 9 hours fitting custom stuff to your bike!!!

OK, I was wiring lots of stuff and it was my first project, but it was great fun!!

I also kept stopping for ciggies and stuff

OK, for the bars....

I will assume your 1100 is assembled the same way as my 650 in this respect.

First, plan out precisely where the bar will be positioned.

Make sure NOW that the new position won't stretch or pull the control cables at all.

Remove the grips.

Various ways to do it, but basically they're glued on.

Use careful pressure to pull the bar ends off. I say careful, because they're basically chromed plastic. Ease/work/wiggle these off. Do not force them. It may take half an hour, but you must avoid damaging the grips.

Then, work a long stemmed, thin flathead screwdriver under the grip rubbers and separate them from the bars. Be VERY careful with the right one, else you'll damage the throttle slider. Finish by carefully pulling off the grip buffers.

Some people reccomend working some washing up liquid or glue solvent under the grips.

Loosen all the handlebar fitments.

These will be secured with allen bolts or screws. Just loosen the fitments - Do not try removing them.

Use a small flathead screwdriver and lever out the four screw caps from the risers on the yoke.

Undo the four bolts holding the riser tops in place and lift the bar out of the riser.

Now remove the fitments. Slide them off the bar, remembering which way round everything goes. You remove the bar first so you can manoeuvre it about and avoid stretching the cables!!

Re-assemble in reverse order.

Slide the control fitments onto the new bar and finger tighten only.

Position the bar where you want it.

Re-attach the riser tops and finger tighten only.

Now sit on the bike and lift it upright. Use a hold on the tank to lift it (because the bars are still loose, remember) and if possible, have someone help you hold it. You will need your hands, so keep the bike stable with your legs and the weight of your arse on the seat (sorry - best way I can describe it).

Adjust the cant of the bar to where you want it.

NOW - TEST THE CABLES ARE FREE!!!

Do it now, or it will be a pain in the arse later and you might break them. If there are problems, sort them out. This is, however, a whole other topic which I won't cover at this particular moment.

Once placed and all is good, then you can tighten the riser bolts properly.

Confirm the position of the control fitments and tighten in place.

Reassemble the grips in reverse order too - Buffers, rubbers, end-caps.

Grips will have to be glued back in place.

I use Superglue myself. There are other threads on here that discuss the various options.

While you're letting the glue set, give everything a final check over, make sure everything works etc. Careful with the throttle grip.

Pay particular attention to the clip-on plug that connects the cable to the front brake light switch. This pops off easily.

That should just about do it.

If the cables won't reach the new position, longer ones can be obtained, but I haven't fiddled with this part of things myself yet, so I'll leave that for someone more learned like OldGit.

Various peoples' opinions will differ, I'm sure and I may have slight errors or something. This has taken about an hour to type and I am knackered, so I'm going for a ciggy.

Hope you have fun, matey!!!!

Woody.

[Ttaskmaster]

Shit, forgot - Re-insert the little screw-cap thingies into the riser tops!!!

[danster]

Good on ya, Dan.

Nothing quite like spending 9 hours fitting custom stuff to your bike!!!

OK, I was wiring lots of stuff and it was my first project, but it was great fun!!

I also kept stopping for ciggies and stuff

OK, for the bars....

I will assume your 1100 is assembled the same way as my 650 in this respect.

First, plan out precisely where the bar will be positioned.

Make sure NOW that the new position won't stretch or pull the control cables at all.

Remove the grips.

Various ways to do it, but basically they're glued on.

Use careful pressure to pull the bar ends off. I say careful, because they're basically chromed plastic. Ease/work/wiggle these off. Do not force them. It may take half an hour, but you must avoid damaging the grips.

Then, work a long stemmed, thin flathead screwdriver under the grip rubbers and separate them from the bars. Be VERY careful with the right one, else you'll damage the throttle slider. Finish by carefully pulling off the grip buffers.

Some people reccomend working some washing up liquid or glue solvent under the grips.

Loosen all the handlebar fitments.

These will be secured with allen bolts or screws. Just loosen the fitments - Do not try removing them.

Use a small flathead screwdriver and lever out the four screw caps from the risers on the yoke.

Undo the four bolts holding the riser tops in place and lift the bar out of the riser.

Now remove the fitments. Slide them off the bar, remembering which way round everything goes. You remove the bar first so you can manoeuvre it about and avoid stretching the cables!!

Re-assemble in reverse order.

Slide the control fitments onto the new bar and finger tighten only.

Position the bar where you want it.

Re-attach the riser tops and finger tighten only.

Now sit on the bike and lift it upright. Use a hold on the tank to lift it (because the bars are still loose, remember) and if possible, have someone help you hold it. You will need your hands, so keep the bike stable with your legs and the weight of your arse on the seat (sorry - best way I can describe it).

Adjust the cant of the bar to where you want it.

NOW - TEST THE CABLES ARE FREE!!!

Do it now, or it will be a pain in the arse later and you might break them. If there are problems, sort them out. This is, however, a whole other topic which I won't cover at this particular moment.

Once placed and all is good, then you can tighten the riser bolts properly.

Confirm the position of the control fitments and tighten in place.

Reassemble the grips in reverse order too - Buffers, rubbers, end-caps.

Grips will have to be glued back in place.

I use Superglue myself. There are other threads on here that discuss the various options.

While you're letting the glue set, give everything a final check over, make sure everything works etc. Careful with the throttle grip.

Pay particular attention to the clip-on plug that connects the cable to the front brake light switch. This pops off easily.

That should just about do it.

If the cables won't reach the new position, longer ones can be obtained, but I haven't fiddled with this part of things myself yet, so I'll leave that for someone more learned like OldGit.

Various peoples' opinions will differ, I'm sure and I may have slight errors or something. This has taken about an hour to type and I am knackered, so I'm going for a ciggy.

Hope you have fun, matey!!!!

Woody.

Woody,

I can't thank you enough mate - that is absolutely brilliant!

I got impatient and got out there to get the current bars off, did most things as per your list apart from not realising until it was the last thing that there were little inserts on the bolts for the riser clamps!!! i thought it was all done as one piece from below - what an idiot!!

i'm pleased with how it went though, a lot less worried about having a stab at things now, for people who know what they're doing, the bars are a piece of cake - but it was a good starter for a moron like me.

ended up having to change the bars as 1 - couldnt get the current factory risers off but 2 - more importantly, realised i will actually need some bars on risers to get a comfortable riding position anyway. popped back and swapped the wishbone bars for t bars which are pretty much the same just connected across the bottom to form a square so that they are now intended for use in risers / clamps.

will be having a go at fitting it all later today or tomorrow so the second half of your instructions will come in very very handy - positioning it all etc etc.

again, thank you very very much - i'll post back the progress and some before / after shots for anyone who cares ;-)

more bits to add to the list of things i should sell now, can get rid of the screen, saddle bags, supports, tool bag roll for front already - next will be the rising lights / spot lights, indicators, front and rear floor boards.

can't wait for the exhaust to turn up - interesting to see what a challenge that presents!!!

thanks, dan