Flat bar GSXR?

[Miztaziggy]

So with the house up for sale and all my savings going toward the new house, a second bike will result in the loss of my manhood

Decided to do the flat bar conversion after all.

I still have a few things I am not clear on though for anyone that's done it before:

- How did you swap the lock over between top yokes?
- Did you need a special bracket for the brake reservoir?
- Is a longer throttle cable required? I guess they're a pain to get hold of and fit if so?
- Will I ruin the grips trying to take them off? If so, can any old grips be fitted to the new bar?
- Alistair said a ultra low bend renthal bar, why is that? To avoid issues with full lock?
- There are loads of bars available with different angles and bends, how did you pick the right one? Guess?
- I assume the higher bend bars can be angled backward toward the tank to bring the bars closer?
- I know people cut parts of their fairing off, is that just for slow speed manoeuvrability? No issues at high speed if I don't cut it?
- Are there (usually) any fiddly springs or anything to go wrong by disassembling the LHS and RHS switch gear things to put on a new bar?

[AMCQ46]

Sounds like a plan Chris, and you can always convert back if you don't get on with it, or you come to sell.

Some questions are GSXR specific, so I can't help with them but here goes.

- How did you swap the lock over between top yokes?
The bolts will be tamper proof, so you have to drill them out on the std yoke, then just use normal bolts to fit to the new yoke.
- Did you need a special bracket for the brake reservoir?
Don't know, but I guess it's just a bit of bent metal, so easy to knock up.
- Is a longer throttle cable required? I guess they're a pain to get hold of and fit if so?
Don't know, I didn't need one on the storm, but did need to change the routing.
- Will I ruin the grips trying to take them off? If so, can any old grips be fitted to the new bar?
You can get the grips off easy enough by putting an small screwdriver into the joint and then squirting wd40 in. But if you choose to cut them off then all replacement grips will fit as the bar diameter is standard.
- Alistair said a ultra low bend renthal bar, why is that? To avoid issues with full lock?
I used ultra low bend to minimise the amount of fairing I needed to cut.
- There are loads of bars available with different angles and bends, how did you pick the right one? Guess?
- I assume the higher bend bars can be angled backward toward the tank to bring the bars closer?
In less you want to turn it into a cruiser then the straight (no rise, just bent back) or ultra low bend are the best option. The ultra low bend allows you to tilt back and forwards slightly for comfort and tank clearance on full lock.
- I know people cut parts of their fairing off, is that just for slow speed manoeuvrability? No issues at high speed if I don't cut it?
You have to cuts the fairing on the storm to stop the bars hitting the fairing at full lock, if you didn't it would fail the mot and would be dangerous.
- Are there (usually) any fiddly springs or anything to go wrong by disassembling the LHS and RHS switch gear things to put on a new bar?,
No, there will be no parts falling out when you just take them off the bars, they are designed to be removed.

On the storm you need longer brake lines and I had to add two inches to the horn wiring, the clutch line was ok

Good luck

[popkat]

I've not read all through the thread but looking at the link on page 1 it says the kit includes everything you need (hoses etc), if you need longer cables go to http://www.venhill.co.uk/

Is your GSXR a K3/K4 ?, if it is as far as I remember you have to cut the screen back at the corners but should get away without cutting the fairing, not sure on later models though.

[Miztaziggy]

I've not read all through the thread but looking at the link on page 1 it says the kit includes everything you need (hoses etc), if you need longer cables go to http://www.venhill.co.uk/

Is your GSXR a K3/K4 ?, if it is as far as I remember you have to cut the screen back at the corners but should get away without cutting the fairing, not sure on later models though.

Yeah it's a K4. Looked at the room behind the screen, and it's very tight, there's no way I would get away without having to cut a big chunk out. Seems hitting the faring is an MOT fail too.

Can someone have a look at this page please, and tell me, what do you think they mean by the bits below. The 50mm they refer to is the width of the top of the fork, so the inner diameter of the clip on, but what does it mean by thicker or longer fork clamp 'with 65mm centres':

http://www.bikermart.co.uk/proddetail.a ... =Multiclip

50mm Slim version has a thinner fork clamp which is 27mm wide (standard is 39mm)
50mm Wide version has a longer clamp with 65mm centres (standard is 51mm)

[AMCQ46]

The slim one has a shorter clamp onto the fork leg, so would be needed if you were going to fit on top of the yoke if there was only a small length of fork showing.

The wide version has a bigger distance between the center of the fork leg and the center of the height adjustable clamp. This will give you wider bars and could also help if you have a wide top yoke you need to clear or to get more tank clearance on full lock.

They do look like good kit

[bigtwinthing]

CNC (coolncomfy) bar conversion is the same company Bigtwinthing used on his Firestorm for his flat bar conversion,

Chris.

Yep and i reckon its a superb mod. The handling has only changed as you site slightly further back and more upright. However with my Shock and forks sorted and the flywheel lightened i have to get a bike of weight over the front if i give it some gip off the line. It does wheelie more if you want it too. Its allowed me to keep the storm as at 56 i was getting aching wrists and a bit of a back ache after distance.

i did 560 miles on the CK Stag run and although i was tired the riding position was great.. Its a classy bit of kip, well made and week worth the money i think.

[bigtwinthing]

I did cut my fairing but it looks neat i think, i used a Dremel. Some of the guys here have seen them and i think it looks good still. The mod for me was a must.

[Steve6088]

Wont a gsxr with flat bars look a bit sh1t though?

[Miztaziggy]

The slim one has a shorter clamp onto the fork leg, so would be needed if you were going to fit on top of the yoke if there was only a small length of fork showing.

The wide version has a bigger distance between the center of the fork leg and the center of the height adjustable clamp. This will give you wider bars and could also help if you have a wide top yoke you need to clear or to get more tank clearance on full lock.

They do look like good kit

That sounds like that's right. Thank you for that.

I thought that if I get these, I can raise up 70mm for a long trip up to Scotland and then lower for the track, or MOT, best of both worlds.

Wont a gsxr with flat bars look a bit sh1t though?

Very possible....

[grumpyfrog]

I've the higher renthals on mine, and should have just gone for the lower ones, but now I have them I'm not going back-- if that makes sence.

There was something on the telly last week about women in sport (no relevance to this post Chris) and the lass who is back in BSB was shown running around the country side on her own bike- sure it was a Gixer with flat bars. looked grand to me.

hardest thing I found was getting the anty tamper bolts off the lock system ,the rest was a breeze.

[bigtwinthing]

Wont a gsxr with flat bars look a bit sh1t though?

my mate had an R! with them and they looked ok, it still went like bloody hell and for 300 miles till he got a numb butt.. nuff said.

[Miztaziggy]

Does anyone know whether a clutch cable is specific to a bike, or fairly generic?

It's because when I go for the adjustable clip ons, they don't come with the longer brake hoses and clutch cable that the flat bar kit does, I have to source them myself.

Looking at the cable itself, it does look fairly generic...If not, maybe I can re-route the cable and get some extra slack on it, I don't know.
http://www.wemoto.com/bikes/suzuki/gsxr ... nky_glide/

[grumpyfrog]

can you find out the length of the original cable, I've a spare longer one that came with my bars hanging up gathering dust. ill check the length tomorrow. yours for 2 undercooked burgers.

[Miztaziggy]

yours for 2 undercooked burgers.

You'll be loving those undercooked burgers when we get up to Kircudbright in August

[AMCQ46]

yours for 2 undercooked burgers.

You'll be loving those undercooked burgers when we get up to Kircudbright in August

looking forward to it already .... although not too much beer as the new drink drive laws are ZERO blood alcohol, so the morning after needs to be though about!