Renthal handlebar chop! FJR dimensions?

[darius]

I've tried 3 different handlebars plus with and without risers and my least bad setup has been the Renthal Road Medium (sans riser.)

The rise and sweep of the bar is good it is but very wide, putting the grips out past my shoulders so I will cut the width down some.

Anyone else done this? I will order up a tubing cutter.

I'd really appreciate it if someone could share where I could find the end-to-end handlebar width of the FJR to copy (excluding bar ends.) I've been searching and can't find the measurements online.

Renthal Road Medium width is 725mm (29")

 

[Erci]

I don't have FJR dimensions for you, but I did have a Renthal on my FZ6 and I too cut it down.
It uses very thick aluminum.. roughly 4mm thick. Tubing cutter will probably work, but I used a tube cutting guide with a hacksaw, which worked very well and went very fast.
Another benefit of using a hacksaw is far less burring when you're done.
I've cut loads of aluminum tubes (common practice in mountain biking for handlebars and seat pots).. hacksaw + guide is better than tubing cutter :thumbup:

Steerer Tube Cutting Guide

As for FJR .. head down to your local Yamaha with a tape measure

 

[TownsendsFJR1300]

If you clamp a regular SS hose clamp around the bar end when your ready to cut, you can get a nice clean cut using it as a guide (with the above mentioned hacksaw) and a little bit of fine clean up with a file.

What do you do for bar end weights? "Bar snake"?

 

[Erci]

If you clamp a regular SS hose clamp around the bar end when your ready to cut, you can get a nice clean cut using it as a guide (with the above mentioned hacksaw) and a little bit of fine clean up with a file.

What do you do for bar end weights? "Bar snake"?

Hose clamp is a neat idea! For my bar end setup, I used HVMP Suzuki bar ends with hardware I picked up at Ace (long bolts and rubber expanding nuts).

Heavy bar ends are actually not recommended on aluminum bars, though I know plenty of people run them without issues.. I ran mine for ~ year.

Truth be told though, even with extra heavy ends, there was still a lot more vibes than with stock steel bar and stock ends.

 

[TownsendsFJR1300]

Hose clamp is a neat idea! For my bar end setup, I used HVMP Suzuki bar ends with hardware I picked up at Ace (long bolts and rubber expanding nuts).

Heavy bar ends are actually not recommended on aluminum bars, though I know plenty of people run them without issues.. I ran mine for ~ year.

Truth be told though, even with extra heavy ends, there was still a lot more vibes than with stock steel bar and stock ends.

Interesting!

I figured it would be worse, the "bar snake' was supposed to help (but impossible to get in a stock FZ handlebar). Great idea using the Sazuk bar ends too! No "rejection" issues???

 

[Erci]

Interesting!

Great idea using the Sazuk bar ends too! No "rejection" issues???

LOL.. no, it all got along well.

 

[darius]

Thanks for all the great ideas. I like the hose clamp guide + hacksaw approach.

For the bar ends, I drilled and tapped the bar for the OEM ends. Not looking forward to redoing that!

 

[iSteve]

I just put the same bars on my bike. I haven't cut them yet because I'm not sure exactly how much I want to cut off. So what I'm doing is trying different distances from the ends first. This way I get the length just perfect for me. You may want to try this yourself then you won't end up thinking you may have cut to much off or having to do another cut later.

 

[Koozi]

An old dirt bike(r?) trick to find the correct width is to sit on the bike while it is being supported in an upright position. Center stand will work here. Close your eyes and reach for the controls. Where your hands naturally fall is probably the correct width for you.
Don't reach for where the grips are, but for where they should be.

My cut down bars are 29 inches. That would probably be to narrow for most but I was a woods/single track rider and I prefer narrow.

As far as drilling for the tabs...just snap them off and bolt the controls on. They are not needed.

 

[FinalImpact]

FWIW: I use the tubing cutter as a solution to scribe a nice line on round items needing chopped. Yes, that would be long haul to actually "cut a steel or aluminum bar" with a tubing cutter.

^^ Agreed!!! Same concept with lever position rotation wise; Blindly throwing your arms out indeed lands them in a natural position!


Chris, what are looking to fix? Back, neck, arms, wrist?
Let me know if you want to ride mine. Although you may have done the FZ1 bars already??

 

[FinalImpact]

Chris, you have a chop saw? Throw the proper blade in that and you can widdle those bars down to mini-bike size in seconds!

 

[darius]

Chris, what are looking to fix? Back, neck, arms, wrist?
Let me know if you want to ride mine. Although you may have done the FZ1 bars already??

Stock bar: Wrists didn't agree with the extreme sweep
FZ1 bar: Too low, too narrow, had to sit too far forward, downhills didn't feel good w/ all the fwd weight!
Renthal Road Med: Allows good seating position with OSO2k set back plates. Bike feels balanced. Bar feels very wide, I hold the left grip awkwardly- half on the bar-end sometimes. Not sure why. It is centered in the clamp. Also had that bad habit on the FZ1 bar but worse. Throttle side no issues. :don'tknow:

The FJR handlebar setup is the most comfortable I've experienced on a demo ride. The FZ9 bar was actually pretty good. I can't try that bar because it's tapered- 1" at clamp.

Just saw on the FZ9 forum that the stock bar is allegedly 29.5" wide. It felt narrower than mine (29") so surprised at that.

Probably best if I ride over to the dealer and sit on some bikes with a tape measure.

 

[darius]

Chris, you have a chop saw? Throw the proper blade in that and you can widdle those bars down to mini-bike size in seconds!

No. Just my trusty sawzall..

 

[Erci]

The FJR handlebar setup is the most comfortable I've experienced on a demo ride.

While it's not a bad idea to figure out FJR angles and width, I don't necessarily think you'll get the same lever of comfort on FZ6 if you match FJR bar set up.
FJR has a longer foot pet to seat distance and foot pegs are more forward. The result: more weight on butt and far less weight on hands/wrists/shoulders.

I'm sure you know this, but hug the tank with your knees and use your core to hold yourself up. Minimize handlebar pressure. Doing a quick stop is a really good time to assess how much you're using your knees/core and how much you depend on your arms.

Having said that.. I agree with your findings: stock bar was exceptionally painful and FZ1 bar did create a bit too much forward lean (though way better than stock).

If I had FZ6 right now, I'd be using FZ6R bar.