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Couldn't stand a bar of it. Well in fact I could.


At long last my Renthal Medium Road Bars have arrived today. Spent the afternoon fitting them. It was not a smooth process. Not the bars fault at all as I have not changed the brake hoses etc.

I wanted a set of bars that would take a fair bit of weight of my wrists and the front end. I toyed with getting the Renthal Low Road bars which I see a few fit to their Bandits. I wanted a bit more of an upright seating position. So I went for the Medium Road Bars. Let me say they have given me what I wanted. More upright. My wrists are at a more natural position compared to the OEM bars. I have more leverage on the bars due to them being wider compared to the OEM bars. So I am very happy with them. I will just have to fiddle with the front dampening settings due to the weight coming off the front end as it has now. This is the good.

The Bad and some more good. I can not have the grips. clutch, brake or switch gear positioned so there is no bar showing at the end. See below photo of bars fitted to bike for this "over hang". Also there is a bit of pull now on the wiring into the switch gear. The brake hose is just about at full stretch. So too the throttle cables. This, however, has not affected either the braking of the throttle. When bars are at full lock the throttle cables do not pull and make the engine rev. I will just keep and eye on the wiring and make sure it is not being strained. If it does I will have re-route this wiring somehow.

There is just enough clearance for bars and the tank at full lock too. I think had I have gone for the Low Road Bars that the bars would have just about hit the tank. I will of course not know this for sure.

Also my bark buster hand guard fit but they now clamp in a bend in the bars. They did not on the OEM bars.

I did not want to cut the bars down. So I have "over hang" as mentioned above. I may get a machine shot to run me up some bar ends that are just caps at the end and the rest fitting into the bars. Paint then black and really no one will know the difference. In the short I ride I did this arvo after fitting the bars I noticed less vibration through the bars so may just a cap on the bars will suffice.

Ok now some photos to show the difference between the OEM bars and the Medium Road Bars.





What they look like on the bike. 




UPDATE from yesterday .... I was able to remove some of the wire brackets that hold the wire to the switchblocks tight to the frame. This has allowed me to move everything on the handles bars to the end of the bars now. Have just fitted the OEM bar ends too with some fuel hose over the bolt and a bit of tape to take up the gap. Then tighten them and they are holding nice and tight.





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