Topic: Handlebars and Back Problems

[cafe2be]

For those of you that ride long distances, which bars do you prefer? I bought a drag bar. Like the look, but prefer the Clubmans. Worried that I will be slouching too long on rides and possible hurting my back.
What are your experiences with either? Also thinking of Clip ons.

[KB02]

I just replied to your other post (carbs for beginers?). The drags will be the best for your back.

[Geeto67]

I would not go lower than a drag bar without rearsets. Fer starters it is not the back you have to worry about with low bars so much as it is your wrists, not having your body set up right on the bike will cause a lot of wrist pressure. A lot of the setup has to do with your height and physical dimensions also, I find clipon or clubamn cb750s uncomfortable without rearsets but I am over 6" tall, but a buddy of mine who is 5'9" felt fine without them. There is no universial answer.

personally I recomend spending the money on a pair of tomaselli condor adjustable clubmans (if you have to have clubmans), that way you can set them up high for trips or low when you want to be a posuer

[cafe2be]

Thanks again for the reply Geeto. I would still like to meet up and see the bikes. I signed up for vinmoto too. I wanted a lower bar, so I ended up with the drags. I may look iinto clubmans in the future. I am 5'9" 150.

[jhasewhite]

I'm only 23 and I have learned that my body just can't deal with clubman bars. I really like 1.5" rise Rizoma aluminum superbike bars,they look great and still bearable after 500 mile days. I find myself charging harder with the superbike bars because of the increased leverage, With clubmans it felt like I had to muscle the bike into a corner.

[Johnny5]

I just put clubman's on my CB750K and Im 5-10. It's a drastic change, but it's hard for me to tell how it's going to feel once I have a lower seat in place. But now, I would be uncomfortable after a half hour. Im thinking rear sets will dramatically add comfort. My cafe build wont be for long distances anyway.

The best bars for sport/touring would be the lower supersport handlebars. They look cooler to me than the drag bars. personal opinion.

[unkle fester]

I went from drag bars to superbike bars........10 times more comfortable..........

[bwaller]

I went from drag bars to superbike bars........10 times more comfortable..........

+3

[andy750]

I have two bikes -Cafe CB750 K2 with tomaselli bars - similar to clubmans but less of a severe angle and I have Euro bars on my other bike(CB750 K4) - see below for pics of both bikes.

I am 6`4, 190, 36`inside leg...for me...both bikes are very comfortable. The Cafe bikes bars are not a problem on the wrists with these bars - most of my weight is on my knees if there at all. I dont have rearsets and find it comfortable for 300 mile rides around the mountains of New England. The seat due to low padding is the first thing to get uncomfortable not the bars.

On the K4 I rode 700 miles to Mid-Ohio this summer over 2 days (500 one day) and bars very comfortable with a slight lean forward. No wrist issues.

I just got some superbike bars to try and they are slightly wide/lower than the Euro bars so should be interesting to compare.


Cafe K2 with tomaselli bars




K4 with Euro bars




Good luck
Andy

[KingCustomCycles.com]

I prefer the narrow feel of drags with 4 inch dog bone risers.  $35.00 for the whole set-up. 

[gator1gear]

I prefer the narrow feel of drags with 4 inch dog bone risers.  $35.00 for the whole set-up. 

Where did you find these bars? I love 'em

[fixahonda]

My 550f had clubmans when I got it. I rode it like that for a little while but the "greyhound taking a dump" riding position and lack of leverage just got to me.
I ended up going with a set of 400F factory bars. Pretty low, drilled for all of the handles and wires, look nice and are pretty cheap.

If I was going to have a lower seat and rear sets then that's a whole different story. Then you can rest your arm on the tank and lean on that while you are on long rides. That used to be pretty darn comfortable when I was on a long weekend ride with the 600RR.

[mystic_1]

I have 10" mini-ape-hangers on my bike, but it's a chopper and therefore in the minority around here.  Still, very comfortable even on long rides.

mystic_1

[Shenanigans]

I have done long distances on club mans and found that as long as I rest about every 100 miles I am fine. But maybe I am just young and wreck-less. 

I have also done from PHX to LA on my 750 with superbike bars and found that its not my arms that get tired but my butt even with the nice flat stock seat to move around on.

[coyotecowboy]

I've got drag bars, stock seat and used to have factory pegs.  Wasn't too bad around town, but after an hour or so at highway speeds I found myself sliding my ass around trying to keep my hips from cramping up.  (bad deal at 80+)  Sooooo, I did the po' boy rearsets last weekend, flipped the pegs side to side (you better have a welder handy to do it right) shortened the shifter about an inch and redesigned the brake pedal.  MAN what a difference!!!  It went from feeling OK to feeling "right".  My balance is better on it now, I can dive into corners with more confidence (more like attack them ) and keep my line without even thinking about it.  It just goes where I look now instead of having to plan out corners waaay in advance and hoping that I come out OK.

But... I think Euro bars or 400f bars are in order.  That would get my seating position better and would probably make the bike even easier to manipulate.

There's a reason the late 70's superbikes had "superbike" bars and rearsets.  It looks to be the best combination for that type of bike.  High CoG, and reatively heavy bikes need the rider higher up to make things happen faster.  It also puts your body in a more natural position, right angles at the knees and hips, even if you are leaning forward.

[KingCustomCycles.com]

I prefer the narrow feel of drags with 4 inch dog bone risers.  $35.00 for the whole set-up. 

Where did you find these bars? I love 'em

 drags are from CyclerecycleII in Indianapolis and the bones are ebay.  

[gator1gear]

Thanks a bunch!

[dustyc]

 Sooooo, I did the po' boy rearsets last weekend, flipped the pegs side to side (you better have a welder handy to do it right) shortened the shifter about an inch and redesigned the brake pedal.  

Mind posting a pic?

[TheFox]

I think that people set up the clubman bars wrong. I see a lot of people mounting them either too far up or just parallel, like I did at first. The best position I have found is about 15˚- 20˚ downward, which moves the grips towards you and slightly upward. I've got some rear sets off of an '05 GSXR-600 I plan on adapting. That might also improve the riding position. Although, I'm 6'3" and it doesn't bother me at all when I ride. Any-hoo, we'll see when I get it all together.

Brad

[gerhed]

Clubmans can be turned "upside down". Mine ended up higher and farther back as a result.
Feels better on back and wrists. Doesn't look as cool though.

[goon 1492]

Man I might have to fire up the duplicator rectifier for those dogbones, that's a double sharp setup King! Almost triple sharp

[goon 1492]

Not sure what bars are on mine but I cranked them back a few degrees to give me more up a sitting upright for the ergonomicks(spelling ) , does anyone know what kind they are, and thanks again clevland for the guage covers, (shamless advertising )

[goon 1492]

better pic....

Now that I'm thinkin about it, I think mine are just stock.......

[coyotecowboy]

 Sooooo, I did the po' boy rearsets last weekend, flipped the pegs side to side (you better have a welder handy to do it right) shortened the shifter about an inch and redesigned the brake pedal.  

Mind posting a pic?

As soon as I take some

[edit] Basically it moved my pegs back 8 inches and down about 1 1/2.  Makes for a great riding position for me because most rearsets I've seen looked like they would move my feet too far up and put my hips at a worse angle than they were with the stock pegs.  Like I said, right angles at the knees and hips is where you want to be for some semblance of comfort.  Or a better way to put it would be that your lower legs and your backbone are on the same plane as long as your knees and hips don't go too much tighter than 90 degrees (varies person to person)

[crazypj]

Depends on the bike and the distance.
My Yam has MX bars, 550 has 400f bars, CB, clip ons ( but doesn't go anywhere yet and will only be 20 mins or so riding) Suzuki Katana, stock bars (I can only go for 225 miles on it, most rides are 250+ so my wrists hurt like hell last 25~30 miles)
PJ