Handlebar Replacement, Vol 1.
Well, I got tired of hitting myself in a very private place whenever I took very tight turns so I decided it was time to switch handlebars. I like the White Brother's Longhorn bars for long distance touring, but at 44" wide, they can be a handful in turns. Late last year I bought a set of 1500 Kawasaki Mean Streak bars. This is the last Vulcan 1500 model I needed to complete my task of installing a part from every 1500 Vulcan made onto Ghost.
There are two big challenges to making this work. First, I ran all my control switch wiring through the handlebars. This means I have to unpin the wires from the connectors and pull the wires back through the bars without damaging the insulation. Then I have to recover the wire bundles with something before clamping them to the new bars.
Second, my fairing bracket is held on with the riser bolts, so I need to use longer mounting bolts. With Mean Streak bars, the mounting bolts are welded on, so I can't just use any old longer bolt. Instead, I picked up some 2" risers that essentially act as thread couplers and then used some longer bolts through the top triple clamp.
I started by removing the seat, tank, and fairing so I could get to the wiring connectors that are now located under the tank. Stock has them in the headlight bucket, but I don't really like the look of all those wires going into and out of there.
Then I proceeded to remove all the stuff off the handlebars that I could . I laid the brake and clutch master cylinders between the frame tubes.
I used a scribe to depress the locking tabs on the wire pins so I could pull the wires from the connectors. I could have cut the wires, but de-pinning the connectors provides better conductivity in the long run. I used a small hook I have to grab the wires to pull through the top clamp, then I pulled them through the bars out to the switch boxes. The only difficulty with this was where I'd spliced wiring extensions as the heat shrink would catch on the holes I drilled in the handlebar. The left side wires were more difficult than the right because there are 5 more wires on that side. The whole bundle is thicker and fills up the handlebars, making it harder to pull the wires through.
Once I got the wires pulled out and all the stuff I needed of the handlebars, I pulled the stock risers off, removed the fairing mount bracket and test fit the Mean Streak bars. I've posted several pictures of my fairing mount for those of you who may be interested in installing a Batwing fairing on a pre-FI Classic. The welds aren't pretty, but the must be good as it's held true for five years now.
With the MS bars on, I laid the old bars on for comparison. The old bars are about 8" longer on each end and have a laid back feel. The MS drag-style bars will take a while to get used to, but should bring some of the handling back to Ghost. You can see the 2" risers attached to the bottom of the Mean Streak bars in this photo.
Next up was removing the rust stains from the previous version of my fairing mount. I had the steel mount sitting on top of the top clamp and as you can see, it rusted a bit and discolored the clamp. I used some Never Dull to clean up the rust stains, the re-polished the aluminum with White Rouge and Blizzard White using buffs attached to my electric drill. Those rust stains have bothered me for five years - I'm glad their gone as I put a lot of work when I initially polished the aluminum on Ghost.
I used two Quick Grip clamps to hold the mount to the top clamp while I held the MS bars and started the mounting bolts in from the bottom. QuickGrips have rubber pads on them so they do not mar up the aluminum.
Next up was installing the throttle grip. I forgot that KuryAken grips have a spacer tube in them that is needed on some bikes, but sticks the grip about 2" further out. The switch housing is set in its alignment hole. Once I removed the spacer tube, the grip is just about lined up with the switch housing. The housing aligns the throttle cables, so it must cover the end of the grip. So, I have to drill new alignment holes for the switch housings. I used my calipers to measure the distance I needed and transfer a mark onto the handle bar. Using a 1/8" bit, I drilled a pilot hole, then drilled the finished hole using a Vari-bit. Vari-bits produce a burr-free hole and perfectly round hole and does it very quickly. With the new hole, I was able to run the throttle cables and set the right side switch box. Then I installed the throttle lock on the new grips.
I plugged the individual wires into their mating connector to ensure I had the wiring right. My first pass had the headlight high beam inoperative and the right side turn signals would not stop flashing. I switched a couple of ground wires and got everything working as advertised. Then I found a lone blue/tan wire that appeared to have been pulled apart. I searched that whole garage and the old bars probably a dozen times for the missing end before I realize this is an EXTRA wire for the low beam lights. I went through this same headache when I ran the wires through the bars 8 years ago and just forgot about it.
I used a chrome weave mesh to cover the wire bundles. First I taped the wire bundle together in several places, then taped pin ends of the wires together. This makes threading the bundle easier. The mesh cover is like Chinese hand cuffs. You push the mesh closer together and it expands greatly. I fed the wires in like a snake swallows its prey, about an inch or two at a time. I measured the length I needed from the switch box to just before the connector. I secured the top end with a zip tie and taped the bottom end. This will hold the mesh and keep it from fraying. You may notice that the mesh doesn't go all the way to the connector. That's ok the uncovered wires will be under the gas tank.
The right side wires were twice as fast as the left, mainly cause I learned from my mistakes on the left.
With both bundles covered, I tackled what to do with the tachometer. It was mounted using the stock handlebar clamps. MS bars do not have clamps, so I needed a different place to mount the tach. I decided to mount it via the fairing bracket. I marked and drilled a center hole in the tach bracket using the Vari-Bit. I then disconnected the tach and threaded some chrome mesh over the wire bundle. I reassembled the tach upside down so that the orientation will be correct.
I then re-installed the tank, noting the lack of clearance now between the bars and the tank, the fairing and windshield. I mounted the tach using the center bolt for the shield. Now the tach will be just below my line of sight while riding, so it should help me keep my speed down. 2800 RPM in high gear is about 70 mph. Should keep me in line on the interstate.
The only adjustments I needed to make was repositioning the hydraulic lines out of the master cylinders. I had the lines pointing back and they were now hitting the tank, so I loosened the banjo bolts and turned the fittings so the hoses were toward the front of the bike. Next up I'll need to get some metric t-bolts to mount the mirrors with. I hope J&P Cycles has that.
Test ride tomorrow!
There are two big challenges to making this work. First, I ran all my control switch wiring through the handlebars. This means I have to unpin the wires from the connectors and pull the wires back through the bars without damaging the insulation. Then I have to recover the wire bundles with something before clamping them to the new bars.
Second, my fairing bracket is held on with the riser bolts, so I need to use longer mounting bolts. With Mean Streak bars, the mounting bolts are welded on, so I can't just use any old longer bolt. Instead, I picked up some 2" risers that essentially act as thread couplers and then used some longer bolts through the top triple clamp.
I started by removing the seat, tank, and fairing so I could get to the wiring connectors that are now located under the tank. Stock has them in the headlight bucket, but I don't really like the look of all those wires going into and out of there.
Then I proceeded to remove all the stuff off the handlebars that I could . I laid the brake and clutch master cylinders between the frame tubes.
I used a scribe to depress the locking tabs on the wire pins so I could pull the wires from the connectors. I could have cut the wires, but de-pinning the connectors provides better conductivity in the long run. I used a small hook I have to grab the wires to pull through the top clamp, then I pulled them through the bars out to the switch boxes. The only difficulty with this was where I'd spliced wiring extensions as the heat shrink would catch on the holes I drilled in the handlebar. The left side wires were more difficult than the right because there are 5 more wires on that side. The whole bundle is thicker and fills up the handlebars, making it harder to pull the wires through.
Once I got the wires pulled out and all the stuff I needed of the handlebars, I pulled the stock risers off, removed the fairing mount bracket and test fit the Mean Streak bars. I've posted several pictures of my fairing mount for those of you who may be interested in installing a Batwing fairing on a pre-FI Classic. The welds aren't pretty, but the must be good as it's held true for five years now.
With the MS bars on, I laid the old bars on for comparison. The old bars are about 8" longer on each end and have a laid back feel. The MS drag-style bars will take a while to get used to, but should bring some of the handling back to Ghost. You can see the 2" risers attached to the bottom of the Mean Streak bars in this photo.
Next up was removing the rust stains from the previous version of my fairing mount. I had the steel mount sitting on top of the top clamp and as you can see, it rusted a bit and discolored the clamp. I used some Never Dull to clean up the rust stains, the re-polished the aluminum with White Rouge and Blizzard White using buffs attached to my electric drill. Those rust stains have bothered me for five years - I'm glad their gone as I put a lot of work when I initially polished the aluminum on Ghost.
I used two Quick Grip clamps to hold the mount to the top clamp while I held the MS bars and started the mounting bolts in from the bottom. QuickGrips have rubber pads on them so they do not mar up the aluminum.
Next up was installing the throttle grip. I forgot that KuryAken grips have a spacer tube in them that is needed on some bikes, but sticks the grip about 2" further out. The switch housing is set in its alignment hole. Once I removed the spacer tube, the grip is just about lined up with the switch housing. The housing aligns the throttle cables, so it must cover the end of the grip. So, I have to drill new alignment holes for the switch housings. I used my calipers to measure the distance I needed and transfer a mark onto the handle bar. Using a 1/8" bit, I drilled a pilot hole, then drilled the finished hole using a Vari-bit. Vari-bits produce a burr-free hole and perfectly round hole and does it very quickly. With the new hole, I was able to run the throttle cables and set the right side switch box. Then I installed the throttle lock on the new grips.
I plugged the individual wires into their mating connector to ensure I had the wiring right. My first pass had the headlight high beam inoperative and the right side turn signals would not stop flashing. I switched a couple of ground wires and got everything working as advertised. Then I found a lone blue/tan wire that appeared to have been pulled apart. I searched that whole garage and the old bars probably a dozen times for the missing end before I realize this is an EXTRA wire for the low beam lights. I went through this same headache when I ran the wires through the bars 8 years ago and just forgot about it.
I used a chrome weave mesh to cover the wire bundles. First I taped the wire bundle together in several places, then taped pin ends of the wires together. This makes threading the bundle easier. The mesh cover is like Chinese hand cuffs. You push the mesh closer together and it expands greatly. I fed the wires in like a snake swallows its prey, about an inch or two at a time. I measured the length I needed from the switch box to just before the connector. I secured the top end with a zip tie and taped the bottom end. This will hold the mesh and keep it from fraying. You may notice that the mesh doesn't go all the way to the connector. That's ok the uncovered wires will be under the gas tank.
The right side wires were twice as fast as the left, mainly cause I learned from my mistakes on the left.
With both bundles covered, I tackled what to do with the tachometer. It was mounted using the stock handlebar clamps. MS bars do not have clamps, so I needed a different place to mount the tach. I decided to mount it via the fairing bracket. I marked and drilled a center hole in the tach bracket using the Vari-Bit. I then disconnected the tach and threaded some chrome mesh over the wire bundle. I reassembled the tach upside down so that the orientation will be correct.
I then re-installed the tank, noting the lack of clearance now between the bars and the tank, the fairing and windshield. I mounted the tach using the center bolt for the shield. Now the tach will be just below my line of sight while riding, so it should help me keep my speed down. 2800 RPM in high gear is about 70 mph. Should keep me in line on the interstate.
The only adjustments I needed to make was repositioning the hydraulic lines out of the master cylinders. I had the lines pointing back and they were now hitting the tank, so I loosened the banjo bolts and turned the fittings so the hoses were toward the front of the bike. Next up I'll need to get some metric t-bolts to mount the mirrors with. I hope J&P Cycles has that.
Test ride tomorrow!
posted by James Vierkant at 11:00 PM
1 Comments:
I remember when Brillo used the same bars on his Nomad. I wondered why until I got the Nomad and even with the stock bars low speed handling isn't what it could be. So how do they work for you? I would probably leave the wiring intact rather than put it through the bars, but that is about it.
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