Bonneville America Forums Forums Technical Forums Accessories Risers?

I see a lot of posts here about risers - Rivco or other - and I am just wondering what is the purpose of risers. I assume they bring the bars back a little to let you sit back a bit but how much difference can they make?

Like night and day. I was always reaching for the bars due to long legs and short arms. The Rivco risers set the bars back 2" (50mm). This made riding position more comfortable (less strain on teh low back), and handling more stable (due the fact that I didn't have to reach as far on the turn in). On tight sweepers I found that the bike wanted to straighten out, it was me inadverently pulling on the outside handlebar.

I was told by someone to sit on the bike in your normal riding position arms at your sides. Close your eyes for a few seconds and with your eyes closed extend your arms in front of you to a comfortable position. Open your eyes and that where the handle bars should be. For me it was around 2.5 inches back. If you are at the stock bar position, you don't need risers.

Quite a bit of difference, relieve stress points like back, shoulders,wrists, and necks because of either pressure or angle. The drag bars and straight risers on my SM from the factory I found uncomfortable. I put 1/2" taller and 1 1/2" farther back coupled with BA bars and now I sit more upright and arms farther apart and can ride all day in comfort.

Wendy has back problems and I put 1 1/2" taller risers on her BA and I think they pull back about 3" (could be 2" I forget) and the new position went a long way to relieving her back pain.

Ian's so very correct and I like midlife's technique. I tried two sets of risers before I finally got my handlebars to fit me just right; unlike Ian I replaced my America bars with Speedie drags to find that sweet spot. Everybody's different in this regard and a well fitted set of bars and risers can make your bike seem brand new.

I'm 6' tall and found the Rivco risers a huge improvement. I use a backrest bag on trips and before I couldn't really relax as I felt I had to almost reach for the bars. Now it's so much better like they should have been that way to begin with. I wish I'd gotten them years ago.

You may not even need "pullback" risers - even straight ones , by virtue of the fork rake , will bring the bars closer to you AND higher .

.....or Jim's Spacers for just a bit of rise as well as some pullback.

http://www.spacerjim.com/TriumphAmer.htm?

Everyone above is correct, no riser is right or wrong generally speaking but when it comes to the individual there is a huge difference in just a few inches. So don't think pullback is right or straight is right think about what is wrong with your riding position and what adjustments you may want to correct it. For me my bars were too far forward and my wrist position was wrong so I put slightly taller risers on with a pull back angle to bring the bars closer to me and I changed my type of bars to make the distance my arms are apart and wrist position better.

Thanks all for the tips. I tried MidLife's suggestion and I could use them back by a couple of inches using that method. Maybe Santa brings me something nice this year.

pharmboy, FWIW, I thought my America fit perfectly, but would notice a bothersome pain (nothing severe) at the back left of my neck after about 30 minutes ride. I finally put risers from Spacer Jim on the bike, no more pain. Just that small amount made all the difference

Also FWIW, I have

a pr of risers similar to these

which gives me pretty much the exact posi that suits my 6'1" length arms nicely and allows my back to settle right into my backrest. I also changed the SM for TBA bars too to find MY sweet spot. It did take a few goes at it though but it's hard to know until you actually fit them. Good luck