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So on my first post, my Hello post, I mentioned I was going to do a flat bar conversion. Well here it is.
After reading a few posts on here I gathered what I needed.
Renthal Low Rise Bars
Moto-CNC fork/yoke conversion
Venhill Brake Lines.
Last night I stripped down what I had to and today I fitted.
In theory I thought a couple of hours and boom! Done. Well sadly not. I can hear the ‘we could have told you that’. Initially it went well and to be fair it was pretty straight forward, I was let down by my woeful brake bleeding and my pontificating over routing of wiring and the clutch line being tight.
Brake bleeding - I used an easy bleed kit from Halfords… shite, shite, shite! After persevering with a lot of swearing it clicked that I should be using a syringe. Not easy on a Sunday. Thankfully Screwfix came to the rescue with a somewhat unconventional and large syringe- it’s for getting oil out of lawnmower engines!
Job done, both sides in 20min.
Clutch line I unbolted the frame mount and loosened the banjo bolt and just moved the line a little. Not happy that the line is ‘floating’ but can’t think how to secure it. Maybe a Venhill line for the clutch with revised length. I can’t leave it like that.
Patch line made up for the horn, as is mentioned on other posts.
New grips ordered yesterday from Amazon and fitted, thought I’d wire lock them for good measure. Looks kinda trick too.
So fairing fitting, and yes this is where it came to a halt..forgot it needs cutting back on the ‘ears’. Something feels wrong about now cutting into bodywork. A dremel it is then. The fairing is broken and patched with rivets on inside so maybe I shouldn’t feel so bad cutting it. It’s working out where and how much. Anyway apart from that and clutch line it’s job done.
Yellow cable ties will be replaced with black. Just didn’t have any on me.
(Edit: I found Seanr999 great post on trimming the fairing so I shall be using this as a guide)

It’s all looking good to me, good job

That is one mother of a syringe
I find backward bleeding at the caliper bleed nipples works well.

Most follow the arc of the curve that is already on the fairing in front of the ears, obviously different height in handlebars etc will mean you may need to remove more, but just removing the fairing ears basically is a good starting point,

Chris.

sirch345 wrote: ↑Sun Aug 13, 2023 3:30 pm It’s all looking good to me, good job

That is one mother of a syringe
I find backward bleeding at the caliper bleed nipples works well.

Most follow the arc of the curve that is already on the fairing in front of the ears, obviously different height in handlebars etc will mean you may need to remove more, but just removing the fairing ears basically is a good starting point,

Chris.

Thank you, reverse bleed would be better as bubbles will go up.

I saw the pinned post on fairing trimming which echoed your advice on following the line over the ears.

How did you deal with clutch line bracket?

John

Everything always takes longer than you think. I now double my time estimate then add another 50%, so three times longer than I expect. Pretty much covers it.

Good job.

Sent from my Pixel 5 using Tapatalk

Smudger27 wrote: ↑Sun Aug 13, 2023 4:47 pm

sirch345 wrote: ↑Sun Aug 13, 2023 3:30 pm It’s all looking good to me, good job

That is one mother of a syringe
I find backward bleeding at the caliper bleed nipples works well.

Most follow the arc of the curve that is already on the fairing in front of the ears, obviously different height in handlebars etc will mean you may need to remove more, but just removing the fairing ears basically is a good starting point,

Chris.

Thank you, reverse bleed would be better as bubbles will go up.

I saw the pinned post on fairing trimming which echoed your advice on following the line over the ears.

How did you deal with clutch line bracket?

John

I made up bracket very similar to the original one, but made it taller, I used some thick galvanised wire I had in my workshop lying around to fabricate it from, then used the original fixing bolt to secure it in place after removing the original bracket,

Chris.

Ah right. That’s a nice simple solution, and there’s me trying to work out where you’d tie off the wire !
Thank you for the explanation.

John

freeridenick wrote: ↑Sun Aug 13, 2023 7:07 pm Everything always takes longer than you think. I now double my time estimate then add another 50%, so three times longer than I expect. Pretty much covers it.

Good job.

Sent from my Pixel 5 using Tapatalk

Agree, god knows what I was thinking….

And thank you, needs finishing off and a bit of tidying.

John

Smudger27 wrote: ↑Sun Aug 13, 2023 9:27 pm Ah right. That’s a nice simple solution, and there’s me trying to work out where you’d tie off the wire !
Thank you for the explanation.

John

I remembered (and checked today) that I left the standard bracket in place (not remove it as I said in my previous post above) as that also acts as a support in holding wiring harnesses in place. I then used a longer bolt to hold the original bracket and the new bracket (on top of the old) in place. My clutch hose in the new bracket now sits just above the old bracket. Yours may need to sit slightly higher than that as you are using Renthal Low bars, whereas I have Ultra Low bars, meaning your clutch master cylinder will be sitting higher than mine,

Chris.

sirch345 wrote: ↑Mon Aug 14, 2023 8:47 pm

Smudger27 wrote: ↑Sun Aug 13, 2023 9:27 pm Ah right. That’s a nice simple solution, and there’s me trying to work out where you’d tie off the wire !
Thank you for the explanation.

John

I remembered (and checked today) that I left the standard bracket in place (not remove it as I said in my previous post above) as that also acts as a support in holding wiring harnesses in place. I then used a longer bolt to hold the original bracket and the new bracket (on top of the old) in place. My clutch hose in the new bracket now sits just above the old bracket. Yours may need to sit slightly higher than that as you are using Renthal Low bars, whereas I have Ultra Low bars, meaning your clutch master cylinder will be sitting higher than mine,

Chris.

Hi Chris,
Thank you for the clarification, just starting my days off shift (and back with the living) and will be addressing the fairing ‘ears’ and this clutch line mount.
Our store only carry’s one size of P clip so I’m going to see if that’s useful and I have some galvanised wire too.
Black tie wraps will replace the yellow ones in the morning.
John

Fair do you got it sorted pretty quick it really does transform a storm.

Smudger27 wrote: ↑Wed Aug 16, 2023 11:43 pm

sirch345 wrote: ↑Mon Aug 14, 2023 8:47 pm

Smudger27 wrote: ↑Sun Aug 13, 2023 9:27 pm Ah right. That’s a nice simple solution, and there’s me trying to work out where you’d tie off the wire !
Thank you for the explanation.

John

I remembered (and checked today) that I left the standard bracket in place (not remove it as I said in my previous post above) as that also acts as a support in holding wiring harnesses in place. I then used a longer bolt to hold the original bracket and the new bracket (on top of the old) in place. My clutch hose in the new bracket now sits just above the old bracket. Yours may need to sit slightly higher than that as you are using Renthal Low bars, whereas I have Ultra Low bars, meaning your clutch master cylinder will be sitting higher than mine,

Chris.

Hi Chris,
Thank you for the clarification, just starting my days off shift (and back with the living) and will be addressing the fairing ‘ears’ and this clutch line mount.
Our store only carry’s one size of P clip so I’m going to see if that’s useful and I have some galvanised wire too.
Black tie wraps will replace the yellow ones in the morning.
John

I'm sure you'll sort it out

Chris.

Well the conversion is complete, minor tweaking of bars to do but it’s done. It’s scary cutting the fairing down as there’s no going back, but I’m happy with my handy work.
Took the bike for a shake down ride from Weymouth to West Bay(Bridport) and back, wow what a difference. You guys weren’t wrong, it’s a real transformation. I’m loving it.

Looks like a nice symmetrical cut, good job.

You might find you might need mirror extenders to stop your hands & levers hitting the missions on full lock

I'm glad you're loving the handlebar conversion

It was either that or change bikes for me, but I didn't want to change bikes, so this conversion was ideal

Chris.

get out and enjoy your new bike