Topic: handlebar weights

[rab1dwolf]

I just switched to a drag bar and i beleive the vibration is gonna drive me nuts.  My old bars had a metal rod that was held in by clips but that doesnt fit in my new bars.  What has everyone done to weight there bars? I was thinking of either something to slide inside or a bar end.  If anyone uses bar ends are they still compatible with bar end mirrors?


and while on the topid of mirrors...has anyone seen any standard mount mirrors that are a little lower profile then alot of the ones i see that are like 6" tall?

[Green550F]

Ive seen alot of stuff out there for wings. weights that go inside the bar to change the resonant frequency. I've also heard of people mixing lead shot with silicone and stuffing it in, sounds like a bad idea or at least a mess to me.

Bike bandit has some clamp on the end style mirrors and some shorter mirrors too under the aftermarket category

[Jay B]

and while on the topid of mirrors...has anyone seen any standard mount mirrors that are a little lower profile then alot of the ones i see that are like 6" tall?

Check out mine in my avatar. I bought a cheap set from JC Whitney for about $10 and bent them down till there was just enough clearance between them and my hands. The stems were pretty tough though. I did them in a vice rather than on the bike. And yeah they vibrate some but they work OK and I like the look. Can post some pics tonight if you like.

[Honda CBer]

try filling your drag bar with BB's... the kind that one shoots windows out with when he was 10 

for mirrors, only bar-end-type mirrors look right with drag bars IMHO...
like:
or or

[Ibsen]

I have these bar end weights on my 650. They do help a little.
Also keeping the carbs synchronized will help minimize the vibrations.

[MRieck]

 I used a Bar Snake for vibration.

[rab1dwolf]

Jay: Can you throw up some pics? i like what i can see in the avatar

Ibsen: Do you know which brand they are? they look very similar to the ones i found in some catalogs last night

[Ibsen]

I bought them off Ebay, but I belive they are Universal Round Bar-Ends:

 http://www.toolparts.co.uk/acatalog/Handlebar_End_Weights.html

[Ernie]

Ive been thinking about this subject but as yet havent tested my idea,being in the construction feild for the last 25 years i learned a few things one of which is that on some building footings and bridge footings anchors and abutments are oil filled to reduce resonant frequency vibration.so i plan on filling my bars and trying different amounts to see if it helps, sounds crazy but who knows

[rab1dwolf]

oil would be an interesting idea, bit o had to drill holes in my bar:)

[seaweb11]

I've been reading this post since it went up.

I don't get it.

I put on a set of clubmans and went riding.

Am I misssing something

[DammitDan]

Maybe your bike doesn't vibrate as much? 

I have GP touring bars on my bike with bar-end mirrors from Emgo.  All's I can say for the vibration is, get squishy gel grips.  And don't get Emgo bar-end mirrors 

They work well from 0-40, but above that all you can see is that there may be a vehicle behind you, and you can't tell how big or how fast or how close, since everything is a blur (and the attachment mechanism is pretty cheaply constructed, too)

[Green550F]

Sounds like my uncle's harley   On our last family ride he swore there was about 50 of us riding!

[seaweb11]

someone said......
"Maybe your bike doesn't vibrate as much? "

Well I  know my frame is straight as I had it done before the rebuild.

Is the lead weight to correct for......... bad frame alignment?  Fork alignment?  Wheel alignment?
I still don't get it.

Seems a few of you here have the weights .....why?

[DammitDan]

someone said......
"Maybe your bike doesn't vibrate as much? "

Well I  know my frame is straight as I had it done before the rebuild.

Is the lead weight to correct for......... bad frame alignment?  Fork alignment?  Wheel alignment?
I still don't get it.

Seems a few of you here have the weights .....why?

A combination of all three?  I know my bike vibrates pretty heavy at 5-6k RPM (highway speed), especially in the pegs/bars.  And since I have shorter bars, the vibration is more noticeable than if I had longer bars (where the vibrations would dissipate more through the long body of the bars).  In effect, my hands are closer to the engine, and therefore they vibrate more.

[Jay B]

rab1dwolf- Here's some pics. Looks like I got one in there twice. I'm a computer moron. Anyway I've got my hand on the bar in one of them, that's as close as you'd want to go. I like bar end mirrors also, I thought these fit the "old time cafe" theme of the bike.

[DJ_AX]

The PO on my 750 had a short mirror like that on the left and a tall one on the right...
At highway speeds the short one was clear while the tall one blurred bigtime.
on the short side I'd often bump it with my knuckles whenever I put my hand back on while riding.
I've replaced them with a cheep pair of aftermarket tall ones so now they both blur equally.
As far as the vibration goes... my bike would vibrate at high speed till I balanced the wheel.
(now it vibrates at a much much higher speed ... 110mph, but I only go there occasionally : )
I do still get a little bit of a shimmy decelerating around 45 to 42mph. But as long as I have a finger on the handle it's fine.
Running with the stock handlebars though....

[Ibsen]

someone said......
"Maybe your bike doesn't vibrate as much? "

Well I  know my frame is straight as I had it done before the rebuild.

Is the lead weight to correct for......... bad frame alignment?  Fork alignment?  Wheel alignment?
I still don't get it.

This is not about any of the things you mention. All those things are fine on my bike as well.  It's about the high frequency vibrations created  by the engine in a certain rpm range. On my bike it is at around 5000 rpm. But as I mentioned in a post above, a tuned engine with properly synched carbs will minimize it.

[rab1dwolf]

from what i can tell bar vibration is fairly normal within reason.


mine dont vibrate that bad, they really just hum.  But considering im going to go on a weekend bike trip and be on the bike for about 2 hours a shot I wanted to make it as comfy as possible.

[mick750F]

   I have these on/in my bars. I'm not sure how much they've helped my numb arm syndrome because I changed other things at the same time I installed them. No more numb arm though...

http://www.denniskirk.com/jsp/search/search.jsp?resultType=results&store=Main&searchString=anti-vibration%2Bbar%2Bends%2Bis_nla%253A%2B0%2B%2Bsubcategory_id%253A%2B410%2Bleafcategory_id%253A%2B41005&userString=anti-vibration+bar+ends&catId=410&leafCatId=41005

[rab1dwolf]

mick: those were the specific ones I was looking at:)

Jay: thats EXACTLY how I want my mirrors to be.  It lowers the profile and gives it that meaner, aggresive look.

[Jay B]

mick: those were the specific ones I was looking at:)

Jay: thats EXACTLY how I want my mirrors to be.  It lowers the profile and gives it that meaner, aggresive look.

Glad you like them. Like I said, I ordered them from JC Whitney. They don't come with the bug guts though, you have to apply those yourself.

[dusterdude]

try filling your drag bar with BB's... the kind that one shoots windows out with when he was 10 

for mirrors, only bar-end-type mirrors look right with drag bars IMHO...
like:
or or

where could i find the type on that buell?

[bwaller]

I have narrower bars with bar-end weights and good grips and they do help, but like dusterdude I like the look of the mirrors on that Buell.

[Honda CBer]

try filling your drag bar with BB's... the kind that one shoots windows out with when he was 10 

for mirrors, only bar-end-type mirrors look right with drag bars IMHO...
like:
or or

where could i find the type on that buell?

found this site a while back... never ordered anything from them, but they do ship overseas (UK company)

http://www.britnett-carver.co.uk/trojanhorse/prods/213.html