Unofficial Royal Enfield Community Forum

Royal Enfield Motorcycles => Bullet with the UCE engine => Topic started by: Vitalc on August 17, 2010, 03:27:49 am

Title: Handlebars
Post by: Vitalc on August 17, 2010, 03:27:49 am
When I first rode the G5, my wrists were strained a bit. Indeed the handlebar , uh, handles, are in an odd angle : pointing upward and outward.

I loosened the central fix and turned the handles down a bit, everything fell more natural into place. Unfortunately now at extreme steering angles, the electric clusters now touch the gas tank.

I left the handlebars at their new angle, and rode comfortably a few hundred miles, but I guess eventually the tank will be hurt. OTOH I hesitate to try a new handlebar and find it is even worse or otherwise not an improvement.

Is it just my particular anatomy? or have others struggled with this?
Title: Re: Handlebars
Post by: Ducati Scotty on August 17, 2010, 06:41:00 am
I don't think it's just you, but you can fix this.  The switch clusters are held in place by two little plastic pins that fit into holes in the handle bar, this keeps them from turning on the bar.  I think that these are placed such that you can't put the bars into a comfortable position and not have the clusters hit the tank. There are two options to get them where you need them to be:

1) Get the bars where you want them then disassemble one switch cluster.  Figure out how much you want to rotate it until it's both comfortable to use and doesn't hit the tank.  Mark the bars and drill a new hole for the pin.  Remount the cluster and repeat for the other side.

Option 1 is trickier than it seems to get the placement just right.  So there's option 2:

2) Get the bars where you want them to be.  Open the cluster and cut the plastic pin off.  Put a wrap or two of electrical tape around the bar near the inside edge of the cluster placement and remount the now pinless cluster where you want it.  The tape should provide enough friction to hold the cluster in place.

OPTION 2 IS POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS!  That little pin not only keeps the cluster from turning, it keeps it from sliding off the end of the bar.  Not too big a concern on the left but something to be considered on the right where the entire throttle tube and hand grip could slide off the end of the bar.  The stock bar ends on the new C5 would keep the throttle from sliding off the bar but the throttle could still wedge against it and get jammed.  Either way it's bad news.

That said, my bike came with both the pins already sheared off, probably poor packing or assembly at the factory.  I positioned them with some tape and have had no problems so far but I do keep an eye on it.  Most people go for option 2 when they get a new set or bars rather than try to drill the hole in just the right spot.  I've always drilled but I can understand why most people don't.  There's not much space to get the lever, cables, wires, and switch cluster all to a usable position and not hitting the tank.  Getting the hole drilled just a few degrees off can screw it all up.

Also, maybe these bars just don't work for you.  Any decent moto shop should have a selection of bars for about $20-25.  Buy one, mount it and see if it feels good.  Can you mount the controls with enough slack in the cables and without dinging the tank?  Go for it!

Scott
Title: Re: Handlebars
Post by: ScooterBob on August 17, 2010, 11:52:03 am
Rotating the bars down DOES do a world of good for comfort. I think the problem here is that RE is using the same old bend as always - but they've added all the switch poop over the years. I just rolled the OEM's down and re-indexed the switches on the Military - yeah - they bounce off the tank - but I try not to steer that hard. In normal operation they are good, though. Scotty is right - there are a million different bends out there - I WILL say that the cafe bars from CMW are REALLY nice on the C5 .... they fit MY style and comfort level very well ......
Title: Re: Handlebars
Post by: Vitalc on August 17, 2010, 12:37:01 pm
Thanks Scott,
Yeah, I remember adding barend mirrors to the ducati was an evening-filling program including drilling and grinding. Here I kind of noticed that suddenly the clusters moved freely,  as if they'd been held in place by a dot of glue. The electric tape seems a good idea, at least on the right.
Aaah the acebars !!  8)  I've had them on every oldie I owned, On the G5, I don't quite see them without a longer aluminum tank and rearsets. I guess i'll patiently wait for a continental kit for the EFI... then start looking for another 10 horses and find the correct black leather jacket  ;D ;D
Title: Re: Handlebars
Post by: ScooterBob on August 17, 2010, 12:57:04 pm
Thanks Scott,
Yeah, I remember adding barend mirrors to the ducati was an evening-filling program including drilling and grinding. Here I kind of noticed that suddenly the clusters moved freely,  as if they'd been held in place by a dot of glue. The electric tape seems a good idea, at least on the right.
Aaah the acebars !!  8)  I've had them on every oldie I owned, On the G5, I don't quite see them without a longer aluminum tank and rearsets. I guess i'll patiently wait for a continental kit for the EFI... then start looking for another 10 horses and find the correct black leather jacket  ;D ;D

The extra horsepower is in the jacket and the cafe bars .... ! Hahaha!  ;)
Title: Re: Handlebars
Post by: Sub on August 17, 2010, 03:21:52 pm
Lets see some pics!

I avoid turning my bars lock to lock anyway - if you've ever done it and watched the wires leading around the head you'll see they are brought quite tight at full lock. All I can think is that the wires must be going around something sharp somewhere, and this wire stressing is just going to act like a wire slicer. Its a bit like asking for electrical issues down the road. :)
Title: Re: Handlebars
Post by: Ducati Scotty on August 17, 2010, 03:52:27 pm
Unless you've got a sidecar or are doing really tight parking lot maneuvers the bars don't go full lock when riding.  But I'm with Vitalc, I don't want a tank ding because someone nudged the bars while it was parked.  Did I mention my Ducati was totaled basically because of a tank ding?  of course that tanks costs $1800.

Regardless, the bars shouldn't hit the tank.  We don't have adjustable steering stops so setting up the bars and controls properly is the easiest option.

Scott