Clubman Handlebar on Street : My Experience

13377 Views 14 Replies 5 Participants Last post by Solo750owner, Aug 14, 2014

badguppy

Discussion Starter · Jun 20, 2014 (Edited)

Hey guys, got my street 750 not so long ago (14th June). Was waiting for the mods to be installed before writing a sitrep, hence the delay.

Stock Motorcycle Verdict : Not gonna prolong that which is already known, so in one word - Sweet. Very comfortable (am very short at 5'5"). Minor problems - difficulty finding neutral when engine is running. Am being told this is a common complaint. Gets hot too. Overall - love it.

Modified Motorcycle Verdict : Absolute Sh*t! I created a monster, an old fashioned bad monster. Nothing good about it. Except for looks.

Mods : Clubman handlebar, bar-end round flipped mirrors. Everything else is stock - stock risers, grips...everything.

Modified Street Review : The clubmans can't be made to point completely downwards for the lack for a higher riser. Without high risers, the controls will bang against the tank. Hence they are at an angle. Since I am a short fellow, having the bars at a forward angle makes the task of reaching for it quite a long stretch. The handlebars are almost in the same position and angle as clip-ons would be.

Having them low makes me throw quite a bit of my body weight on it when leaning. The angle of the bar amplifies that. What I got was something which looked like a cafe-racer, but uncomfortable. Very. It is difficult to realize this just by checking your new stance while installing the bar. The first 15 minutes of a 45 minute ride proved enough to form my opinion on this.

The weight thrown on the handlebar combined with the effort needed to reach for it, created an ultra sensitive steering. The stability of the bike is completely gone. It tends to wobble with the slightest steer, in contrast to the stock handlebar, which made the ride very stable and balanced and which used to feel like "the bike wants to go forward" and "not bend sideways and fall down". On top of the sensitive steering, the constant strain on the wrist and forearm makes it very difficult to make small movements and quick maneuvers. This increases with time, rapidly.

The round bar end mirrors are pretty average in their functionality. So far I have only had them flipped. And they are pretty useless. My forearm comes in between my line of sight of the mirror. Either this or limit my rear view with an awkward mirror angle, or reduce the maximum angle I can turn the vehicle by having the mirrors bang the tank. Just for flipped position. The upright mirrors might feel better. So far, their presence is same as non-existent.

I guess I will have to go back on almost everything and get the stock handlebar installed. Will do it tomorrow. Talk about a waste of 4 hours and 100 dollars.

Pics - Low light conditions and mobile camera. Sry about that..Street 750 Clubman

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Yusef

· #2 · Jun 20, 2014

Too bad that your mod didn't end up turning out the way that you'd have liked it to. I can't believe after all that work you are just going to go back to the stock handle bars, but I guess you don't have much of a choice in the matter.

Interested to see some pics of the bike with the custom handle bars installed though.

Hopefully your next run at modding your Street 750 will be more successful.

badguppy

Discussion Starter · #3 · Jun 20, 2014

Yeah well, someone had to be the first one to find out ..

I have never ridden a cafe-racer before so I don't know if this is the way this is supposed to be ridden and felt.

I had ordered a dragbar and a clubman bar. The dragbar was to be installed in case (like this) the clubman was uncomfortable. Unfortunately the shipment was packed poorly and the box being torn in places, the dragbar probably slipped out in transit, given its nearly linear shape. I have been refunded by amazon, but I could have used it in this scenario.

Will plan the next bunch of mods soon though. I too hope they turn out better than this one...

Reactions: 1

Livin On

· #4 · Jun 20, 2014

not for anything but its rarely just a question of bolting on a new set of bars. You will have to compensate for the new bar position by changing where your foot controls are located. Move them back a touch and you should be able to support your upper body with your lower. Being a shorter guy myself (5'8) I can see from the pictures that your riding position is almost folded in half, loading a ton of weight forward.

Thats the reason your steering is ultra sensitive now because you have so much weight leaned forward on them. You also should look into altering the seat height. New set of risers would help you get the clubmans into an appropriate position.

Modding a bike is never easy, don't give up

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harleyhoonigan

· #5 · Jun 20, 2014

the fact that it's never easy is the good side to it since once you have the mods on which you wanted and put them to work, it can be very rewarding.

Yusef

· #6 · Jun 21, 2014

So now @livinon wants you to put the handle bars back on and then play with the seating position. LOL. Kudos to you if you do all that work over again.

badguppy

Discussion Starter · #7 · Jun 22, 2014

Haven't removed them yet. Actually changing the handlebar itself takes like 10 mins. And is easy enough to be done in my garage. The most time was spent trying to raise the riser higher somehow and in adjusting the angle.

Turned the mirror upright. Helped improve the rear view a lot.

Will be trying out the cafe seat for street 750 to see if that improves the riding position by lowering the seat height, with the clubman ofc.

Livin On

· #8 · Jun 23, 2014

Not for anything but I've never met a motorcycle that will modify itself Yusef, I've also never met a unicorn so its possible my world view is incomplete

Guppy keep us infoed, Clubmans, sets and seats are on my list for the Street 750 so I'm interested in how all this works out!

Whats this Cafe Seat your trying out?

badguppy

Discussion Starter · #9 · Jul 1, 2014

400 kms of spinal abuse and I finally am getting my handlebar changed to the stock one today. The clubman did manage to get a lot of attention on the road.

I will keep on experimenting and next bunch of mods would be dragbar, pullback risers, tach relocation kit and the cafe solo seat available as a street accessory.

Reactions: 1

Livin On

· #10 · Jul 2, 2014

guppy did you end up changing any other aspect of the ergos, or did you just chug along unchanged hoping the bike would change itself...

badguppy

Discussion Starter · #11 · Jul 3, 2014 (Edited)

Livin On said:
guppy did you end up changing any other aspect of the ergos, or did you just chug along unchanged hoping the bike would change itself...

I don't have many options for changing the ergos now do I? I just chugged along hoping my spine doesn't change itself

I am not open to permanently and irreversibly modding the bike by doing metalwork on the frame etc.. yet.

Foot Controls - Moving the foot controls back is not an option right away, it would require some amount of thinking and metal work to be done.

Seats - The only options available at present apart from getting the seat worked upon by local seat makers are the reduced reach and cafe solo. I am yet to try those, will see if 1-1.5 inch lower seating position has considerable effects..

Risers - Well technically I could raise the handlebar and get a balanced seating stance, but it would kill the idea of having a lower and meaner front end, like by having the tach moved. Clip-ons would do a wonderful job in making the bike look awesome, but there wont be much difference in seating stance between clip-ons and clubman.

Tank lift - This is something I am looking into right now. There are some pretty cheap tank lift kits available for sportsters and I think one can fashion such kits easily without too much metal work. Wondering what a raised tank would look like.. This, along with a dragbar, should look pretty awesome..

Any suggestions or ideas would be of great help...

Meanwhile here is a picture of a chick 'miring my street....already miss that clubman, did that look awesome!

EDIT: Picture removed due to misuse. Someone posted it on Facebook (on Street 750 Community) without my Permission.

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Livin On

· #12 · Jul 3, 2014

Forwardish mid controls are just never going to work with clubmans from a comfort stand point, you're asking your body to fold itself in half instead of pitching yourself forward. Which looks like it leaves your upper body completely unsupported by the lowers, your top half and lower half are fighting each other unfortunately...

Oh and does the speed screen not work with the Daymakers?

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badguppy

Discussion Starter · #13 · Jul 3, 2014

I had the cafe speed screen removed. Don't like it.

harleyhoonigan

· #14 · Jul 6, 2014

badguppy said:
I had the cafe speed screen removed. Don't like it.

good choice, it probably made your bike look much more cleaner too.

Solo750owner

· #15 · Aug 14, 2014

Has anyone used the handle bars that go back 2 inches? I too am a short guy 5'7" and the long reach is messing with my right hand. Don't like having a tingling sensation on my finger tips.

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