Clip-Ons and Triple Clamps

[bertmoog]

I've been driving around with clip-ons and that unsightly handlebar clamp now for a couple of months and finally decided the clamp had to go. Hellgate has a thread on his clip-ons and triple and he got a custom made triple for a steal. I highly recommend going this route if you have the means, but if you've got a limited mod budget like me, here's how to make it work:

First of all, I bought the CBR 1100 clip ons on ebay for $50. There are many options for clip ons but I noticed these in particular have about a 1" riser to keep from hitting the tank or fairing. It just works perfectly. I can turn the forks all the way to the stops with a little room left over.

But, what to do with the triple? To do this mod, you have to be "all in". There's no going back so make sure you are satisfied with clip-ons. I started with an angle grinder (If you dont have one, chances are you know someone who does). Using a cutting wheel first, cut off the majority of the two trees.

Next, looking at the picture above, I took a grinding wheel and ground the remaining part of the tree down to the level of the rest of the clamp. This was the trickiest part because of the angle differences. It is crucial not to take too much off because angle grinders are aggressive, it takes a little finesse.

I was trying to do this without taking off the clamp but I finally gave in. To take the triple off, you have to disconnect the key switch at the wiring harnesses located underneath the left side of the tank (kinda inside the frame). If you were thinking about doing the dual headlight mod, this would be the time to do it.

After I took the triple off, I got my palm sander and started with 120 grit to 220 grit to 320 grit then to 1000. This makes the jagged surface (left by the grinder) smooth, almost as smooth as i wanted it.

Almost. So then I took Fred's advice on polishing metal from my wheel thread and polished the clamp to a near mirror shine.

 

[bertmoog]

Thats basically it, I thought about using bondo on the holes and then painting it back that glittery color but I decided it doesnt look that bad as it is... for my taste. Total project time: four hours.

 

[DefyInertia]

OMG amazing work :thumbup: Great write-up too...rep sent.

How much for a OEM top triple?

 

[chuckfz6ryder]

That looks great! I have no desire for this mod, but I'm sure that more than a few will thank you and follow your lead.

 

[bertmoog]

OMG amazing work :thumbup: Great write-up too...rep sent.

How much for a OEM top triple?

From powerpartsplus.com it appears to be $90, which is pretty low sounding, but the problem would be getting the key switch thingy off of the old one and onto the new one. You would have to cut off the headless bolts... maybe a dealer job?
Thank you, for the compliments! :rockon:

 

[Damnitsjeff]

Looks awesome!!!! It makes it look a whole lot better. Does this mod change the handling at all or is it just for looks mostly? opcorn:

 

[mbodell]

After I was looking at your pics, it looks like the 07+ fairings are lower on the sides than the 04-06. It looks like you could grind down the nubs on the clipons and go alot lower than I could.

 

[bertmoog]

Looks awesome!!!! It makes it look a whole lot better. Does this mod change the handling at all or is it just for looks mostly? opcorn:

Looks primarily, I got so tired of seeing those things sticking up and serving no purpose. I guess technically it knocks off about 1/3 lb. of metal.

 

[bertmoog]

After I was looking at your pics, it looks like the 07+ fairings are lower on the sides than the 04-06. It looks like you could grind down the nubs on the clipons and go alot lower than I could.

I think the fairing is slightly lower. I also lowered the front of the bike about 1-5/8" by sliding the forks up in the clamps. What did you mean by "nubs" on the clipons?

 

[Hellgate]

WOW! Freaking AWESOME!

That was my first plan of action and I had bought a used top clamp off of eBay, it arrived mangled and I threw it in the trash. $35.00 down the drain.

Well done!!! :cheer: :rockon: :cheer:

The 07 fairing is HIGHER than the 04 to 06.

The clip on's help handling in that more of your weight is on the front wheel, and you can hang off the bike easier. You also have more lenght on the top of the bike, again better to hang off with.

Again, well done!

 

[n1one]

Great Job!!!:thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:

The finished product looks fine without any additional painting..I wouldn't change a thing!

 

[bertmoog]

The clip on's help handling in that more of your weight is on the front wheel, and you can hang off the bike easier. You also have more lenght on the top of the bike, again better to hang off with.

Thank you! I don't know why I thought he was talking about the clamp trees.:banghead:

The 07 fairing is HIGHER than the 04 to 06.

Really? I flipped back and forth on two stock pictures and it looked like the fairing (in relation to the gas tank at least) was a little bit lower than the 04. Oh well, maybe thats why the 04's look slightly sleeker to me.

Thank you for the feedback. :rockon:

 

[hot4teach]

Do you have any pics from the side with the bars straight? I'm trying to get an adea of where the grips end up compared to the stock bars.

 

[bmccrary]

You should have noticed some handleing differences by moving the forks that high up in the tripple tree!

When I was racing harescrables we played around with moving the forks up and down the tripple trees, basicly making the wheel base of the bike shorter and longer. However the movement of the fork in the trees were only, mm not inches. The FZ turns tight with out leaning from the factory, it should turn inside of itself now.

Have noticed if the bike is unstable in anyway? I would be a bit cautious with them like that.

However I will give it to, that is some nice work and alot of attention to detail! Great Job.

Need to get some rubber covers to fill the holes. That or just put it lots of random switces and buttons, lol.

-bryan

 

[bertmoog]

You should have noticed some handleing differences by moving the forks that high up in the tripple tree!

When I was racing harescrables we played around with moving the forks up and down the tripple trees, basicly making the wheel base of the bike shorter and longer. However the movement of the fork in the trees were only, mm not inches. The FZ turns tight with out leaning from the factory, it should turn inside of itself now.

-bryan

I don't know if I would necessarily notice anything. I did that right after I got the bike, primarily because I think it sits up to high in the front. I love the naked look, I just want it to be slightly more aggressive looking.

But, the reason I don't notice is because I adjust myself (riding tendencies, how I handle the bike in certain situations) based on what the bike gives me as feedback. Ive never raced and though I might have sort of a clue as to what you mean (wheelbase; turning tight; etc.) I can't relate that into what the bike feels like. I just know the bike does "this" when I do "that" and I need to do "that" in this situation because of how the bike will react. Maybe I did something to screw up the handling, I don't know, I mean I think it handles fantastic. Can you elaborate maybe on what you mean? You must be very in tune with your bike to be able to tell the difference in millimeters, I dont think I could do that, I'm impressed! :thumbup:

 

[bertmoog]

Do you have any pics from the side with the bars straight? I'm trying to get an adea of where the grips end up compared to the stock bars.

This is on the center stand:

 

[MarinaFazer]

Where did you get your rear tire guard? Or did you just have the black one painted? That looks sweet...Thanks!

 

[bertmoog]

Where did you get your rear tire guard? Or did you just have the black one painted? That looks sweet...Thanks!

I actually painted it on my back porch. I used this:

Yamaha 0918 Deep Red Metallic K (DRMK) - ColorRite

and this:

1253 Base - ColorRite

and about 4 coats of exterior all weather gloss urethane. you can get it at Lowe's for about 7 or 8 bucks a can.

The red is a pretty close match, I couldn't believe it.

 

[Synr]

That really looks fantastic! I like the holes left over from removing the clamps.

 

[bmccrary]

Ok so just because I an engineering major and a bit of math nerd (they tend to go hand in hand) I decided to play around with a little trig and geo to give you some numbers to go along with what I was talking about earlier.

So based off some quick measurements I measured my forks to be 29.5 inches long from the top of the body to the center of the front axle. (while on centerstand)

The rake on our bikes is 25 degrees. (The larger the rake angle the longer the wheel base and vis-a-versa.

The length from center of front axle to center of rear axle is roughly 57 inches.

Now you can make a triangle if you draw a line using the fork tube as the hyp. down to the axle, then draw a line going parrallel to the ground intersecting an imaginary line going straigt down off the center of the stearing head.

The short line parrallel to the ground we will call line X.
Base line calculation with forks even with tripple trees is 12.47 inches.

However, you said that you lowered the bike roughly a inch and 5/8 which comes out to 1.625 inches. I didnt know if you moved the forks up that much of if you lowered the bike that much. Those are two different directions. So I did both senerio's:

If you moved the forks up, making the distance between the top tripple tree and the front axle shorter, then line X's new value is 11.78" Which is ~0.7 inches shorter, making the wheel base now 56.3 inches long.

If you lowered the bike overall 1.625 inches. Then using tan as apposed to sin to solve you come out with the line X value to equal 11.706." Which is a 0.76" change to make the wheelbase now 56.24" long.

Which in the grand scheme of things really isnt that bad. However just for grins and giggles...

Our front end has ~5 inches of travel. So doing this same calculation....
When the front end is completely bottomed out the distance between the top tripple tree and the front axle is 24.5" and the value for line X is now 10.35". Thus making the wheel base 2.115" shorter!

When I was racing harescrables hard in my younger years, lol. We played around with moving the forks up in the trees some.

Now for harescrables for those of you who are not aware of what they are. The track was in the woods, the trails varied from anywhere to 3.5 to 10 miles long depending on the amount of land available to use. The minium width of the trail was roughly 29 inches. My bars were cut to 31.5".... So things got a bit tight from time to time.

So by moving the forks up you were able to make the bike turn a bit tighter. Which would come in handy on some of the more tight and technical tracks. However like everything else in suspension tuning, every advantage has its disadvantage. With the shorter wheel base the bike would not be as stable.

Not all sections of the track were extreamly tight, there were points where you could find yourself in 3rd and even 4th gear ringing it out with roots, rocks, dips and other debris and trail terrain. So having a twitchy bike was less than satisfactory.

You have probably noticed the effects of moving the forks up, but if your riding style is as you say then you have more than likely adjusted for it. You should however notice the bike turns alot better inside your garage when moving it around. (I can turn circles around my buddies GSXR)

I would say take the clips ons off and try riding the stock set up and you would probably notice the difference. However that would be a bit hard to now :Flash:.

I hope some of you other out there found this helpfull as well and understand some of the dynamics of chassis set ups and Harely's really can't turn with their large rake angles.

-bryan

Oh and here is a pic of me at one of my last races.