Bar End Weights

[sadicarnot]

Like a lot of people I was not comfortable with the reach to the handle bars on my '09 RSTD. I purchased the kit from Buckeye Performance that moves the bars back 1". I never liked the solution they provide for installing the bar end weights. As you know, the bar end weights are screwed into a rubber insert in a fitting pressed into the bar end. The Buckeye kit includes a sponge rubber piece that holds the bar end like a bilge plug. I have found that vibration is causing the sponge rubber to slowly wear away. Also because it is sponge rubber the bar end weights always seemed to be that they could wiggle out.

 

At this point I want to state that it is my understanding that all installations using the parts from Buckeye have had zero issues. I could have left the bar end weights as is and had absolutely zero issues with them.

 

The other issue that I had with the parts is that they come with carbon steel fasteners. As you can imagine, these quickly rust and look unsightly (although I am the only one that notices this). I wanted to at the very least change out the bolts with stainless steel ones.

 

I work at a power plant and we did some work on the condenser. In particular I wanted to check how well the plugs were doing in 2 of the condenser tubes. These are the plugs we use:

 

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7091/7066194955_d8aaa5bbee_b.jpg

 

The plugs were too big to fit into the ends of the bars, so I used a razor blade to shave them down:

 

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7215/7066195827_ecc81c6f91_b.jpg

 

This is what the sponge rubber piece looks like after 22 months in service:

 

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5196/7066196551_c690030a7a_b.jpg

 

I ended up getting 110mm long bolts, I should have gotten 100mm, but the 110 will work:

 

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7272/6920119796_86afa32d2e_b.jpg

 

Any way, they are in there really tight now. I will have to see how well they work over time.