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Instead of trying to fit a trunk to my RSTD, I am interested in finding luggage that can create similar capacity to a Venture trunk and be attached the rear factory accessory luggage rack and the passenger sissy bar. Any real life experience with this type of product or suggestions would be appreciated. Mike

Hello, Would anyone who owns the Diamond R Accessories RSV LED Saddlebag Light Bar be able to eMail me the installation instructions ??? I'm particularly interested in knowing if it is necessary to lower the mufflers in order for light bar installation. Thanks in advance, Mike

Looking to add a light bar but can't seem to find a after market that says it will fit. Do I have to buy Yamahas? Do I need a actual bar or is there another way to mount lights?

Anyone have a left over 2ndGen OEM Venture line LED light bar template and wiring instructiions still laying around. Bought a NOS bar locally but the paper work was long gone. I could probably figure it, out and make a template, but thought I'd try this first....

I have a short in my light bar. (I guess that's what you call it...The chrome bar that holds the turn signals and the ?Fog lights? They are on sometimes and off sometimes. It is not the switch (which seems to be built on to the cigarette lighter. When they are working, the switch will turn them on and off; but when they are not working, turning the switch on and off several times, never brings them back online. I have removed the seat and jiggled wires and never got the lights to go on or off or even flicker. Even when they are not working, everything else on the bike works, even the front turn signals which are attached to the light bar. My next plan of action is to open the fairing and trace the wires. Just thought I would ask about this, in case there was some common problem that was known and someone could point me in that direction. Thanks dana

I won this helmet at the STAR Midwest event last weekend in Indianapolis. Black, new, size XL, normally I wear a Large, but the person offering the item for the charity auction said it ran small, so I tried it on and it was a great fit. Here is my review after a nice one hour ride last night: I got to try out the Shark Evoline helmet last night. This is a heavy helmet, I feel it and the weight naturally shifts depending on where you have the chin bar, feels best with the bar back, but I don't think it will be a problem in either case. I had it on for an hour and it was fine. Weight was one of the worse comments about this helmet that I have read in reviews, I don't think it will be a problem for most people. But most important, it was the best helmet I have ever had for the least amount of air buffeting or wind noise/blast. With the bar back and the shield up, it was a nice flow of air around the face, with the shield down, there was a noticeable slow flow under it but not up into the eyes. With the bar in front position and the shield open, there was a little air around the face, and with the shield down, I could only feel a tiny tickle on the bottom of my beard. That was the important test, because if the helmet let a LOT of air up inside around the chin/mouth/eyes with the bar down and the shield closed it would be hard to stay warm in winter, but this promises to be a very comfortable and warm helmet in winter, with convertible features and usefulness well into spring and starting early fall. Yesterday it was totally comfortable. NOTE: temp about 67, winds calm. Bike: 89 VR with Baker wind wings and stock windshield. Most helmets put a lot of air up under the shield on this bike. Speeds, city to 55 country to 70+ mph highway. So now I look for a headset system for it.

Anyone made a handle bar cross bar for our 1st Gen?

hey everyone. need handlebar holder. i have one side stripped and cant torque bar nut. anyone? its number 10 on the diagram. 10 26H-23442-01-00 HOLDER, HANDLE LOWER . . . 1. looks like this. http://www.swamotorsportwarehouse.com/YAMAHA-XVZ12T-1200-VENTURE-83-HANDLEBAR-LOWER-HOLDER-FITTING-26H-23442-01-00-XVZ1200-5503

Got the following bar riser kit for my Wing and took pics of the install process. http://wingstuff.com/pgroup_detail/322_handlebar_risers/2361_gl1800_handlebar_risers_mbl_risers_standard_or/?goto=%2Fpgroup_list%2Fgl1800%2F322_goldwing_handlebar_risers%2Fdes%2F The process... http://s393.photobucket.com/albums/pp16/SilvrT/2003%20Gold%20Wing/Bar%20Riser%20Insallation%20-%20GL1800/

Trying to get more members involved. In the Savager Hunt in the Fun and Frivolous Forum the current target is: USA: You, Your Bike and a Bar with a Budweiser sign or banner on it. Canada: You, Your Bike and a Bar with a Labatts sign or banner on it. What Country will win?

Does anyone know where I can find a T bar handle to put on the trunk of my trike? I've seen them on others, but can't remember who had them or where I can purchase one or two. I want to change out the lock on the trunk and would like to install a T Bar handle instead of just a lock. Any help would be appreciated! thanks Don

So I'm not sure if mine does not work but I have never seen it. I have got to reserve and drove 40 miles and the fuel gauge shows 1 bar and then none but no light?????? I am happy to say the I have been getting around 45-47 mpg

The question is to anyone that has installed the HD licence plate light bar on their bike. What has anyone done to finish off the 90 degree bend at the top of the bracket with the two holes in it. I believe the two holes were used to bolt it to a tour pack or frame work that the tour pack is attached to. With the RSTD the bend is very visible since we do not have a rear trunk, it's not that it is terribly distasteful, it just looks like something is missing.

Hello Riders Looking for the chrome cover to the driving light bar on the front as well as a light bar spacer. I emailed the contact listed on the site for the spacer, never responded to my inquiry. My scoot was missing the U-shaped chrome cover (Yamaha does not have this single itme available) and I would like to also install the spacer to make it easier to access/cowling removal. Any out there looking for sell or move these items?

Hey fellow riders, I just had my second windshield replaced because of cracking from the bottom. The first, about a year and a half ago, was cracked between the left two bolt holes. It was replaced by the dealer under warranty, no problems. This time it cracked out of the far left bolt hole. I printed off the info from this site about the rear fairing bosses breaking and the support bar being a little out of shape. When the dealer took the windshield off, that was the case. They replaced the rear fairing and the support bar along with the windshield, all under warranty. Hope this solves the issue for future cracking as I only have one year left under warranty. Great dealer to work with, Yamaha Jack's in Ellensburg, Wa. I can tell the rear fairing is a lot more evenly spaced from the handlebar mounts so I'm assuming the support bar was a lot of the problem. Don.

Does anyone know of a larger front crash bar for the 1st Gen? Something that provides better protection and still looks decent. I accidently dropped the VR in the garage and the thing laid absolutely flat. Nothing damaged. Something that would at least allow the VR to lay at an angle and protect the fairing and acessories.

I'm in the process of reassembling the cables routing in the handle bars. Anybody be willing to take the 2 screws off the handle bar cable plates (both sides) and eithor take a picture or describe what you are seeing so to which cabes/wires are in relative to their positions. Not asking you to dismantel yours just to describe what the cable/wiring positionings are.

Hi guys, I installed a Bar Snake on my bike today and took the bike out for a 5 hour road trip and WOW.. thank you!! what a pleasure THAT was.. I suffer horribly from hand buzz on any bike, especially the left hand, very susceptible to hand buzz.. Annoying as heck.. but today, man that was the first ride in AGES where my hand didn't buzz, go numb or fall asleep.. I installed one on my bike, took me 90 minutes or so to figure it out how best to install it.. what parts needed to come off, what was the best way of doing it ect... And then installed one on my buddy's bike which took all of 30 minutes or so.. Simple easy and well worth the cost and effort to install. I'm SO impressed.. It doesn't take all the vibrations out of your handlebars but it attenuates those high frequency vibes that put your hands asleep.. done wonders for me! I ordered the HD-3L from http://www.barsnake.com Its longer than I actually needed, but that came in handy especially for installation.. The best time to install the bar snake is if you're switching from OEM grips to say something like Kuryaken ISO grips which seem so popular and comfortable to ride with.. Its best to do it at this time as you have to remove the handlebar threaded inserts that the OEM bar weights screw onto. To remove these threaded inserts, you'll find a shiny dimple under the handle bar ends. Best way to describe this is that they are soft welds that go through a hole in the handle bar and hole in the insert to hold it in place. Start with a small bit and drill a hole into this dimple, it's rather soft.. then a medium bit and then finally a larger one that takes up the whole hole to remove all the material and you'll find the threaded inserts are now free and easy to remove. If you're like me and already have the ISO grips installed and cannot remove the left one (glued on way too good) then you can still install the bar snake but will lack about 4 inches of it in the left side of the bar. Just in case someone is going to ask later, I'll add how I installed the bar snake on two bikes today.. the first one took 90 minutes and the second one easily 30 minutes since we figured out what worked and didn't work.. If you're going from OEM grips to ISO grips, then your work is tons easier.. Same installation process. The bar snake comes with a pull wire. The task is to pass this wire through your bars and attach the snake at one end of the wire and then pull the snake through the bar by this wire until the snake protrudes at the other end.. then you trim off the excess bar snake and that's it. But in reality, there's a little more to it.. This is how it's done with the left ISO grip in place.. Take the end cap off the left ISO grip to expose the hole in the end. Remove the right side switch cover. There are two phillps crews holding it in place. You'll have to loosen and move the brake reservoir clamp as well. (make a mark on the bar with a marker to relocate the clamp at the end of the task). Under the switch box, the wire bundle needs to be slid out of it's pinch hole. Both halves come apart and you can rest these on the bike's gas tank which you have covered with a towel or heavy blanket.. The right side ISO throttle grip can now be slid off the handle bar with ease, no need to loosen throttle cables. Inside the handle bar tub, you'll notice an insert with threads inside. This is where the OEM bar weights screw into. You will need to remove this by locating the shiny dimple near the end under the handle bar. Using first a small drill bit, then a medium then larger drill bit, you drill out the dimple which is made of softer material. Once you removed all of it, the insert will be loose and able to be removed. De-burr the resulting hold inside the handle bar to make sure it doesn't catch on the bar snake when passed through. Take the supplied pulling wire and make a small loop at the end of it, about the same size that you can slide a pencil through.. This will make it easier to pass it through the handle bar's tight bends.. Patiently thread the wire into the left side of the handlebar, being careful not to bunch it up if it hits a snag.. Starting off with a straightened wire without bends or kinks make it easier. You'll be able to feel it go through but most likely it will bind up just as you get it to the last bend of the handle bar.. and this is where the little loop at the end of the wire really comes into play.. Using a straightened out wire coat hanger with a hook at the end of it, start reaching into the right side of the handlebar to try and hook the little loop so that you can then pull the wire the rest of the way through.. Patience is a virtue here While you're doing all this, your bar snake has been soaking in VERY hot bucket of water to soften it up. Attach the pull wire that came out of the right side end of the handle bar to the end of the bar snake. One end is tapered with a reinforced hole for this task. You'll want to secure the wire so that it won't pull out or bind on it's way through.. I took a turkey baster and used it to blast about three loads of ordinary liquid dish soap into the right end of the handle bar in order to get it in deep. This is key to the task as it will allow the bar snake to pass through easily. The left end of the pulling wire is wrapped around a screw drive handle (a better grip to pull with). As one gent is ready to pull, the other gent has to lube up the bar snake with dish soap read to lube up the bar snake as it's going into the handle bar. And as one pulls on the wire at one end, the other guides and lubes the bar snake at the other end. We found it MUCH easier to pull the bar snake through if you twist the bar snake as it's being fed through. Because the bar snake is meant to be very tight inside the bar in order to do it's job, the twisting of the bar actually reduces it's diameter and makes it easier to slide in. You'll know you have almost pulled it all the way through as all that soap you squirted in comes pouring out of the left end of the handlebar, so have towels ready to catch it, and not get it on the bike or floor (slippery on the floor) As in both installation process, we found that you can pull the bar snake all the way up to the left side threaded insert, but as soon as you let go the pulling tension, the bar snake retracts on itself. What we found works best is to keep pulling on the wire, while the other gent is twisting and releasing the bar snake at the other end. The tension on the bar snake will pull in more of itself from the right side.. You'll know when all the tension is gone when you can't pull anymore from the left and no more bar snakes goes in from the right. Check it again in five minutes to make sure all that retraction tension is gone. Once satisfied that its completed, you can cut the bar snake's left end piece and put everything back together again. If you're installing a bar snake just before installing ISO grips, both threaded inserts can be removed and the bar snake can be pulled all the way through so you have some hanging out both ends.. Trim off excess at both ends and put everything back together again. Its a simple enough process, once you know the little tricks and idiosyncrasies of our bikes.. As I said, for me I feel it was money well spent and time well spent installing these. Its made lot of difference in my being able to ride without my hands going numb from hand buzz. If you need more info, drop me a line.. Cheers

In need of 1 handle bar nut cover for 86 Vr. While on a trip last week with the kids, one of my plastic covers that hide the nut to adjust handle bars came flying off. Hoping someone will have this small item, Gladly pay for it and shipping. Thanks Gil

The left side highway foot rest is loose. The allen screws are tight, but cant get enough squeeze on the bar. Any ideas what I can use as a shim to allow the screws to pull the clamp together tighter on the bar? Thanks for the help. Bret

Can someone confirm if the stock handle bars on the RSV is 1 inch outside diameter and 7/8" inside diameter? What's the length of the bar? (I can't find my flexible measuring stuff ergh!) Thanks in advance.

Sorry to post this one here, but I need an answer pretty quick. I just put RSTD bars on my RSV and after riding it I found that something just didn't feel right. After getting down and looking, the left side of the bar is hitting the air inlet on top of the fork, and not seating good in the riser. I did have the forks lowered in the triple tree. The right side is turned in a little so it's not touching. What would be the best way to fix the left so it won't touch the bar? I installed progressive springs, so I'm not running air in the forks.

Seeing as I'm caging & trailering to Cody I can bring along some of my products besides what I intend for the raffle. Items would be horn brackets & wiring harnesses, lift adapters- standard & freestanding, crash bar braces, & 1 arm rest set. Prices will be discounted to reflect both savings in shipping and a cash discount for all items. I'll be limited to 4 each of the harnesses and brackets, crash bar braces, adapters, & 1 arm rest set due to what I have available and have room to haul with me. Anyone interested let me know either here of in a pm. We're leaving Tuesday so I have to know by tomorrow evening of any requests. Thanks, Larry

So after a lot of searching, I was not able to locate any threads specific to putting Flanders bars on an RSTD other than which ones and that they work well. I have wanted to do this for a while but was apprehensive about the cable and hose length when I saw different pictures of scooters with the new bars on. After starting to develop a sore left shoulder blade, my wife said it was time for me to go for it. Worst case, put the stock bars back on and sell the Flanders. Good enough. Since I couldn’t find a thread specific to RSTD's, I figure this was a good chance for me to contribute to the site and other RSTD owners who may want to put these bars on their scooter but are not sure how to do it or may be a little nervous about tearing apart their bike. Who knows, it may even end up in the tech library . I am mechanically inclined and I do most all my own car/house/electrical work. In hind sight, this job can be done by anyone with a small amount of skill, a few tools and the guts to try something. Really, what’s the worst that could happen? That being said, after I bought the bars, I was ready to tackle this project. I tore into this about 5 PM on Thursday and finished up around 10 PM (without putting the end weights on, more on that later) that same night. I did some internet price searching and found the bars that are recommended at a great price on this web site http://www.xtremerevolution.com/Store/spc-12346-19-7-flanders-1-inch-handlebars.aspx. I want to throw a BIG plug for these folks. They listed the bar for $120.95 on their site which is a GREAT price IMHO. I figured out that their store is here in San Diego, so I called them and went to pick up the bars (no shipping cost). When I got there, they sold me the bars at a discount as compared to the online price (maybe a break for being military) and I got them for $120.66 out the door (after the ‘governator’ got his cut of course). ALL the folks there were really friendly and most of them ride. Overall had a great experience and will go back for other custom parts. Here are the specifics on the Flanders bar as compared to the stock bar: 650-08373, Flanders Pullback Handlebars, Chrome, Metric Knurled (4" in side x 5" out side) - - - - - - - - Flanders - -Stock (06-09 RSTD) Height: - - - -9”- - - - - -8” Pullback: - -18.5”- - - -16.5” Center: - - - 8.5” - - - - 8” Width: - - - - 33”- - - - -33” Diameter - - 1”- - - - - -1” Here is the visual difference: The first two pics shows the pull back, the bar knurls are on top of each other. This one shows the added rise: Here are the steps I took. First step was to remove the windshield and put somewhere safe. Second and probably the most important one, COVER EVERYTHING in the area that is painted or chromed (ask me how I know this). I covered the tank, light bucket to start and then the cowling (after the aforementioned ‘ask me’ incident) so as not to ding anything as I went. After covering everything, I removed the speedometer, two 8mm bolts in the back and 1 allen bolt in the front. Once the speedo is loose, there is one connector covered by a rubber boot. To remove the connector, slide back the boot and there is a catch on the top in the center (yellow arrow). Push that in and the connector will come right out with a little jiggling. Below the speedometer are two black quick release zip ties. Lift the tab sticking out of the tie to release the lock, remove and set aside for later. After the zip ties, I released the plastic clamps that hold the cables on the sides of the stock handle bars, no pics of this, I just slid the clamp portion apart by hand and they opened right up. Now all the cables and hoses were loose. Next I removed the brake and clutch reservoirs. Pop out the chrome caps that cover the bolts then remove the two allen bolts that hold the clamp to the bar. HOLD ONTO THE MIRROR as you loosen the bolts, it will slip and turn (ask me how I know this one too). Once the bolts were out, I placed the assembly over the front of the forks between my head lamp and driving light. Repeat same process for the other side for the clutch reservoir. After the clutch is off, it’s easy to get to the two Phillips screws that hold the turn signal housing. Remove the screws and both assemblies can be put off to the side or front to keep them out of the way. Next I removed the throttle housing held in by two Phillips screws: Once the two screws are removed, the back half with the cruise control buttons and kill switch can be placed off to the side, just slip the wire housing out from the bottom of the front piece of the chrome housing. I had forgot this until later when it FELL OFF and hit the cowling (see first ‘ask me’ statement). Next, I loosened the throttle cables so the grip and the rest of the housing can be removed. I loosened the lock nut on the cable and then turn the adjusting screw to the stop to allow the most slack on the upper cable. This loosened the top cable enough to allow for removal from the throttle. I turned the throttle clockwise (as looking) at it as I slipped a scribe under the cable to pull it over the channel and then pushed the end through the holder. Picture isn’t real clear in the area I was working, but you get the idea. With the upper cable removed, the lower cable comes off easily the same way. Now the housing can be put off to the side. Next step is to remove the bar end weights. Pop the chrome cap and remove the center allen bolt. If this is the first time you are removing this bolt, it may be tight due to having red thread lock on it. With the bar end weight off, the throttle will slip off easily (make sure it doesn’t fall off when you remove the bar end weight). Remove the clutch side bar end the same way. At this point the stock bars should be pretty naked, accept the clutch side grip. I held off on removing this grip until I knew that the bars were going to fit the way I wanted, but it can be remove easily at any point. I slipped a scribe (small screw driver will work) between the grip and the bar and slowly moved it around the bar being careful not to damage the inside of the grip. Then I sprayed some lube (I used Sea Foam spray lubricant, but WD-40 or equivalent will work) between the grip and the bar. I worked it back and forth, this loosened the grip and it slipped right off. The stock bars are now ready to be removed. They are held in by two clamps with two allen bolts each. Loosen one bracket at a time. When you loosen the second bracket, HOLD ON TO THE HANDLE BARS (ask me how I know this one, glad the tank was covered). With the clamps off, the bars are free for removal. The new bars are ready to be put on. Just install them in the clamps and make sure they are centered between them. I positioned them in a neutral spot for height knowing I would have to adjust them once everything was on. This allowed for testing cable, wire and hose lengths. In order to make things easier, I removed the bracket at the top of the forks. Two allen bolts and it comes right off. This can be done before installing the new bar; I just didn’t realize I needed to until I got to this point. I found that the left side cables and hoses had plenty of room, but the right was going to be the challenge. The first thing I noticed that would need to change was the routing of the throttle cable. The cable was under the wire run to the headlight. The pencil in this picture is on top of the throttle cables and is pointing to the wire going to the head light is. In order to get the cables over the top, I needed to remove them from the chrome housing. I didn’t want to try and fit the chrome housing through the small space and scratch it when getting the cables off was so easy. One Phillips screw holds the clamp for the top cable and then it slips right out. The bottom one is screwed in, need to release the lock nut and then turn it off. Count the number of turns to remove so you know how far is goes back in when you reinstall. No pics, but pretty easy to do. Once the cables are out of the housing, it was a simple matter of feeding them back under the wire going to the head light. The cable now goes over the wire giving extra length and better options for routing. I had to test fit the throttle over the ends a couple times to find the right routing. The mounting of the throttle housing needs a hole in the bar to hold it in place. I measured the stock hole location so the mounting would be the same on the new bars. Stock location should be 6 19/32”. The tape was slipping when I took the picture, but 6 9/16” would work. The length from the end was easy; getting it the right way vertically was more challenging. I lined up the stock bars next to the Flanders to get a good idea of where to hole should be. The rest I just eyeballed. I marked the hole and then placed the housing pin over the mark to make sure it was in the right place. The picture shows two marks, the first one was for horizontal, the second for vertical, so the lower mark is the one I was using to test with. After lining up the housing and checking the about 10 times (a little nervous about drilling a hole in the bars), I took a swig of beer and hit the mark with a punch to dent the bar. Then a couple more swallows of beer, it was time to drill. After drilling a small pilot hole, I used a graduated metal bit to enlarge the hole to the right size. I put the throttle housing in the hole and everything lined up great. Next hurdle was the brake line. The stock position is in front of the forks and there was not enough slack to position the brake reservoir properly without really putting strain on the hose. I decided that I wanted to move the hose to the back of the forks as others have mentioned doing, but I didn’t want to remove the brake hose to do it (draining system, re-bleeding, blah blah). After some fiddling, I figured out that there was not enough room to fit the reservoir between the forks and the tank without some help by removing parts. I removed the right mirror (NOTE: the threading on the right mirror is reverse, that is why there is a notch in the lock nut) and the brake handle. The headlight bucket was also in the way and had to be moved to the left. Three 8mm bolts from the inside and it was loose and moved out of the way. With the fork at the left lock, a little fiddling and slow moves, I fit the reservoir through the gap in the forks. I had to go hose first, reservoir upright and clamp hole toward fork. Sorry I didn’t get pics of that step. I did the shift without hurting anything. I can tell you it was a tight fit, but go slow and you can do it. Once I had the hose through, the main thing I was concerned about was pinching the hose between the forks and the frame or tank when the bars were at the right locks. As long as the hose is next to the fork, there was no binding or pinching. This was accomplished later by zip tying the hose to the wires. If you use Zip ties, do not pull them too tight, don't want them hurting the brake hose. Just enough to hold it in place worked. (I had to go back and take these pics because the first ones didn’t come out well so these show everything put back together.) The wires and hose for the right side going to the cruise control and the brake had to be routed under the speedo and closer to the handlebar bracket. I thought I might have to pull the tank and find more slack on the wires, but turns out just messing with the routing gave enough play. The throttle cables used to go under the bracket for the windshield, when I was done; they ended up coming through the gap in the speedo housing. I had to bend the guide down to get the cables to stay down some. This shows where the cable goes under the Speedo housing. The left side was much easier. The wires and hoses just ran tighter to the bars but there was plenty of room. When I put on the left grip, I figured I would have to use some grip tape or adhesive. I was positioning the grip in place just to test fit and after it sat for a minute or two, the thing didn’t move, so I just left it. (fortunately, it was in the right place) I figure there must have been enough adhesive residue left on it to hold. Since finishing, I have had the bike out in the sun and heat and it still doesn’t move, so I held off putting anything under it. If it shifts at all, I will put some grip tape under it. You may want to use some to start with, your call. Everything gets mounted back the same way it came off except the bar end weights (more on those at the end). There is no alignment hole for the turn signal housing, just put it the way you had it or whatever is comfortable. You will have to re-align your mirrors because of the height and pullback change, but that is easy. I am sure everyone has done that, but if not, the directions are in the owner’s manual. Before putting the speedo and the headlight back on, I moved the bars lock to lock several times to make sure there was no binding or pinching. Everything was clear, so I put her all back together. Tested the throttle several times as I went, pulling lock to lock to make sure there were no issues. Worked great with no binding. I also tested the bar height to get close. I knew I would have to adjust them after riding and I was right. I had them too high to start so I just pull the speedo back off, loosened the clamps a little and pulled them down. Just make sure they don’t hit your legs at the locks. Last step was to reset the throttle play by tightening up the cable nut and then setting the lock nut. After everything was back on, I had to wait until the next morning to test ride. Between the late hour and having consumed several Guinness drafts during the change, I opted to wait until morning. My buddy that was helping me told me when we were done that we should have got picture of the arm position with the stock bars and then with the Flanders. Of course, we didn’t think of this until after the Flanders bar was on. Oh well, not putting the stock one back on for that. I can tell you that these bars are incredible. It is so much nicer to have that extra pull back, has to be one of the best mods next to the air horns. Not sure if I notice the height change as much, but there are more options for positions overall. Here is what you can expect to see when the project is done. (Ignore the man in the mirror, he is insignificant) ======================================================================== THE STOCK BAR ENDS As promised, here is my idea for keeping the stock bar end weights. Not sure if I should have put this in a separate thread, but here it is. I have read where several people changed to the ISO grips with the Flanders handle bars, but I really like the stock grips and weights, and I don’t like the stiletto bar ends that go with the ISO grips, so I had to figure out how to put the stock weights back on. I read Freebird’s tech article on switching the stock bar end weight holders, but when I took the grips off, there were no tack welds to be found. I think they may be pressed in. I pulled on them, put a bolt in and hit it with a hammer and the things won’t budge. So that solution wasn’t going to work. I may try more later on, but I don’t want to hurt the stock bars as I plan on selling them at a later date. Here is my fix for keeping the stock bar ends. It was a little different, but it worked. I figure they need some rubber so they are flexible and absorb the vibration so I came up with this plan. I went to the hardware store and picked up a 1/4x4” bolt, ¼” flat washer and matching nut. Also picked up a nylon spacer, 1” long, 1/2“ OD and .257” ID. They are in the bins at Home Depot in the bolt isle. I cut the spacer in half with a hack saw at a heavy angle so it looked like this: Then I ran the bolt through the weight and the spacer, putting a washer in between the spacer and the nut on the end. The theory being that if the spacer is pulled together, it will expand as I tightened the bolt. Next I covered the spacer with a strip of old inner tube I had lying around (kind of a pack rat). I wrapped it until it was the same diameter as the inside of the handle bars, about 7/8”. I had to keep test fitting and cutting back on the amount of tubing until it was snug inside the bar. The final layer was a short piece of grip tape (from changing my golf club grips, again, I am a packrat). Make sure the first layer of rubber hits the nut to keep it from moving. I could have glued the nut to the spacer, but this worked too. I ended up with the tape because I found the rubber would slip a little while trying to tighten the end down. Now it’s ready to fit into the bar. Before putting it in the last time with the tape, I put a light layer of lighter fluid on the tape. This allowed the rubber and tape to slip into the hole and evaporates pretty fast. After it set for a minute to let the lighter fluid evaporate, I twisted the bar end clockwise and it snugged right up. I tugged a couple of times and it held. It took several attempts to get it right, including pushing rubber into the throttle, and having to thump the left one with a rubber mallet to seat it, but with a little patience, it worked. I have ridden the bike several times since I did this and the bar ends are just as tight as when I started. I was a little worried about losing one, but it seems to be holding. If this changes and one pops out, you folks will be the first to know. I am still going to try and get the stock nuts out of the stock bars, but that is later. Hope this helps some of your folks out. (I can tell you this. I have a new respect for all the contributors who have written articles for the tech library.)

I've got Baron's risers on my RSV and I'm not really loving the set-up. Yes, they do put the bars back where they're comfortable for me, but they allow the stock risers to flex too much for my liking. Has anybody got a longer reach aftermarket bar they would want to sell or maybe trade for my risers? I need about another inch or two of pullback.