Replacing bars on an LTD

As has been noted elwhere in these forums, the stock bars on an LTD are just plain goofy. I don't like the angle of the grips, and they're particularily bad when you need to feather the clutch in a low speed left. Yuck.

Does anyone have a suitable set of replacement bars that won't necesitate new control cabling? I'm looking for something that will result in a slightly more aggresive stance, but the clubman and clip-on conversions are far too low for my needs. Judging from pictures, I think I'm looking for something from a GT550 or similar. Any suggestions?

See here

My post with pics shows "European" bars from z1enterprises.com

No cable change required.

I have used bars from a Eliminator and Shadow. Roy

Chris i've got Z1 style bars on my Spectre,similar style to the LTDs,and give a better riding position

Thanks for the suggestions, guys. The European bars still look a little high and bent inwards for my tastes.

Faole, where did you get those Z1 style bars? They look ideal. Any cabling changes required?

Chris the handle bars were on the bike when i got it,just had a look at Z1 Enterprises site www.z1enterprises.com/ if you look underparts for z1 /73 you should find the bars,the front brake lever was changed for a "straight" type,LTD have a lever with a slight downward angle,not sure about top brake hose,but clutch cable was ok,hope this is of some help

Alright, I'm still a bit undecided. without the bars sitting in front of me, I really can't tell from the pictures if I'm going to like the feel.

There doesn't seem to be a measurement for the angle of the handgrips. That's one of my major concerns. The LTD bars have grips that are turned way in towards the center line and tilted down. What are they like on the euro bars or the Z1 bars?

Thanks for the help so far!

I have a set of stock bars from my 77650b(put on clubmans), they might be an option:whistle:

I have an '79 kz1000st, I think it had the same bars as the LTD, and yes, they are horrible!

Take a look at a Superbike bend bar. I had them on my ST for a while. They gave the thing a real sporty feel. Not great if you want to ride more than about two hours at a time though. I got mine on ebay for about $20.00 new. might be worth looking at. Also, a LOT of people put dirt bike handlebars on their KZs. Those are cheap, and easy to find. They're a little higher than the superbike bars too.

Here's a shot from the rear of the superbike bars I put on the 400.

Here's another-you can cee the pull-back a little better. To me,at least,these feel just right. No problems with the cabling,but the master cylinder is pretty close to the tach.

Got them here for $13.50
store.azmusa.com/knclubhanbla.html
Hope this helps.

Post edited by: WharfRat, at: 2006/05/13 06:41