Denting the tank with Bars.

topic of Clubmans and straight Drag Bars

How did you keep the controls mounted on the bars from Bangin into the tank and damaging it?

I am debating here, Mount my Clumans upside down on the 750 or Maunting the straight Drag bars.
I just dont want to spend all the time shooting a nice paint job on the tank just to ruin it on the first ride.

I have driven bikes with both style of bars and found the clubman or cafestyle bars are too hard on the wrists after a long ride. They look cool for sure but always aren't the most practical for prolonged riding. Drag bars are better than clubman's for a more upright position and they also have an agressive look. Superbike bars are my choice as they give a perfect positioning for handling, as well as when you want to lean into the front end on a high rpm blast. It comes down to riding comfort and fitting in with your bike's overall attitude and style.
Cheers-Colin Firth-Ontario Canada

'77 Kz650 with Wiseco 700 kit, totally rebuilt from frame up after 13 years of dormancy.

RAN429, bars or controls on the bars should never be able to hit the tank. If they can, then it is inevitable that at some time they will, It will be when you least expect it!

All front ends will have a "stop" somewhere, usually at the bottom of the steering head-stock. To increase the stop radius fit a small ferrel or a build up of weld so that it can never happen.

Agree with Colin on choice of bars, however, the others look the part!

RegardZ

Heat the tank and make dents with a body hammer. Cafe style!

My cafe bars will not hit the tank on my 1000, because not only do they hang down, they also are moved forward. I can go lock to lock without any problems.

The drag bars I had on my Spectre were a different issue. They would hit the tank on both sides. I often would hit the horn button on accident while turning. I was able to live with this, though, and I never put any dents in my tank or any scratches in the paint even, until my accident. The tank received dents on both sides from the bars. If I had had other bars on, the tank would have been undamaged.

If you want the lines of the straight drag bars, you could put risers on, but superbike bars would be much cheaper if you went that route.

Anyway, my point is that you'll likely have more problems with the tank with the drag bars than the clubmans. I loved both styles, but my favorite are the clubs. I commuted with them for an hour and a half each day with no discomfort, but I'm young yet.

twowheeledterror wrote:

Heat the tank and make dents with a body hammer. Cafe style!

I would but im not equipped anymore for metal reshaping.
Guess the straight or superbars i have will be mounted then. Not wanting to reshape my tank at this time.

If I could just get it to quit raining so much up here I would actually go outside and do something with my Bikes.

Modify the sterring lock stops by adding weld so it doesn't hit. If no welder try rubber stops glued on.

dont add too much to those stops or you might find yourself going back and forth a lot trying to get into tight spots.goodluck,happy wrenching!

hows your back doing 429?if you get some free time and want to make some money ive got a restaraunt/bar over in iowa that were wiring/plumbing he had some apprentices trade him some cabinet work for plumbing it,but they screwed it up so bad all we can do is tear it all out and start over again but me and my guys are spread kinda thin and there bitching about being overworked,i wonder why they dont complain about those nice big checks and new vans they get to drive!haha anyway the job is north of council bluffs iowa 2-3 weeks worth of work if you can get here let me know!

I had trouble with my bars hitting my LTD tank. To solve this problem i cut my drag bars in two pieces and added three inches to the middle. To strenghten the weld in the bars i inserted a piece or round stock in the two pieces before i welded the pieces up.
Before i widened the bars i had pieces of foam pipe insulation on the back of the turn signals that were mounted to the handle bars.
I also hid the weld with the same insulation when i finished welding the bars. Kinda like a MotoCross bike. Roy