Topic: Need Opinions on Bars and Taillight

[bartsitarski]

Hey guys. I just ordered a new set of blubman handlebars for a 78 550. When i install these, is there anything special that i have to do in terms of brake lines, cable adjustments, etc? As is sits now, the bike is bone stock. I want to do mild tweeks to it, but, keep it mainly original. Also, any recomendations on a new taillight and rear turn signal combo while keeping original rear fender? I have founs a few on fleabay and amazon, but, wanted to get your thoughts.

[flybox1]

routing of all your cables may change due to the lower bars and the extra length.
i'd source shorter cables so they all tuck in nicely.
lucas style tail lights look nice.

[Rigid]

Cateye taillights tuck nicely into a small housing on the fender.  Small led turn signal lights look nice but require replacing the flasher unit, no biggie, just another $15.00.

[RFogelsong]

You may have issues with the length of the front brake cable coming from the master.  I had some turn signals mounted on the headlight ears and they interfered with the stock length cable.  Plenty of people run stock throttle cables with clubmans. 

I have a lucas style taillight with the stock fender and it's great.  Covers up all of the holes except for three tiny ones just back of the seat that I plugged with rubber stoppers. 

[Bootlegger56]

I cut the front off of a stock 550K1 fender that I plugged and painted and installed a Lucas.   I like the look of it....but that's just my opinion.  I saved my good stock fender and bought a rust bucket to cut up and paint.  The Lucas fit the fender and seems to me to have the right size ratio for the style of the bike.
I didn't do the clubman thing opting for a cut down set of super bike bars.  For mine everything stock was too long and required replacing with shorter or judicious and creative routing.

[RFogelsong]

OP:
For mounting a lucas taillight on a stock rear fender, imagine all those proportions in the photo above, just with about 12" of fender between the top of the taillight and the back of the seat.

Might help with visualization

[bartsitarski]

Thanks for all the input guys. Definitely helps!

[Jiminy Indy]

Just a heads-up that when you put the clubmans on that you may have to adjust the fork stops so you don't dent in the side of your gas tank with the end of your bars. I just drilled a small hole through the stops on the trees and put a small bolt through.

Just a thought...

[Chachi]

These are direct fit with no fender mods. The package even includes hardware to fill left over holes from stock taillight mount. I was looking for a smaller taillight that I could install that would also allow me to easily switch back to stock. This one does and it's pretty nice. Glass lens for light too.

http://shop.noschoolchoppers.com/33cb-tail-light-package
http://www.lowbrowcustoms.com/index.php?l=product_detail&p=1036

[Bankerdanny]

I was just about to say something similar to Jiminy. Clubmans look cool and the more forward stance helps with handling in my opinion.

However, you will lose some maneuverability because the bars will limit how far you can turn the front wheel. The first time I pulled away from a curb after installing cubmans on my Enfield I nearly got hit by an oncoming car because I couldn't turn sharply enough to stay out of the left lane.

I also had a small dent in the right side of my tank when the bike fell over and the bar hit the tank. If you look at racing bikes from the 50's and 60's you will see dents on both sides of the tanks to allow the bars to move farther side to side.

[RFogelsong]

On the clubman clearance issues:

I have a $37 ebay set on my 550k (you should be able to find them pretty easily, there's one guy who sells 7/8" clubmans for $37 shipped) and I haven't had any clearance issues.  That said, my bars are rotated pretty far forward (not uncomfortable), but the tank clearance is prefect (about 1-2" between the controls and the "honda" emblem on the side of the tank when turned to the factory stop).  In fact, the last set of bars I had (same guy, same bars) actually protected the tank from being dented when some moron knocked it over, so that's kinda cool.  Bent the bars though, hence set #2.