Bonneville America Forums Forums Technical Forums Accessories Handlebar mis-adventures

Well my adventure into replacing my handlebars has been a bit of a disaster.

I can’t get the clamp to tighten all the way up due to the taper on the brake reservoir interfering with the handle bars.
Problem is the bars are 1”on the throttle and go up to 1¼” on the body, and that extra ¼ “ gets in the way of the brake reservoir.

Because the bars are dimpled I really need that clamp to tighten right up. I also have the ISO grips, which are a bit longer than normal making the throttle boss 1 ½ “longer than the bar so I can’t afford to slide them back anymore.

Anyone any ideas, used a different brake reservoir assembly, had the same problem. Did think about bashing or clamping it down to flatten them out a bit but I had has such a nightmare with them so far I am thinking I will just go to British customs and get these ones.

http://www.british-customs.com/triumph-america-speedmaster-radius-drag-handlebar-1-1-4.html

here are the pics of it





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You could carefully grind out the 1/8" offending part of the 1 1/4" section of the bars - touch up with silver paint. If you were careful most of the ground/painted area would be hidden by the reservoir. I don't think this would weaken the bars very much - at that point they are actually 2 sleeved tubes.

Or sell those bars and get the British Customs bars which look very nice.

Hit it with a hammer to flatten the bugger out a bit.

Thanks all,

I think I may try and flatten them out and if that fails I will stick them on the walls like a trophy set of antlers.

Looks like the British custom ones must have a bit longer on the throttle tube as their brake reservoir isn't hard against the collar, but you are right friar John, going for a 1" bar would be the smart choice to avoid much of the same.

Wasn’t until I started taking of all the cabling and fitting the controls properly for doing the measure for the brake lines that I noticed the problem.

Hopefully this will save someone else making the same costly mistake.

Forgot my alternative option, which was how do the HD guys do it. Does anyone know if there is an alternative custom housing that would fit

I ran 1-1/4" Chubby T-bars for over 2 years, and I'm now running 1-1/4" Double Z-bars, the Z-bars have a flat spot on them and our switch block and mastercylinder fit there nicely, the T-bars didn't have a flat spot & everything worked great for me no problems at all,

Interesting how it fits your 1¼” bars okay.

It could be because the brake reservoir sits just above the dimpled part of the bar, which may be enough out of shape

Going to try and flatten it with a clamp tonight,

Aye, Solved a 1” into 1¼” bar will works as long as it hasn't distorted

Its because of the bar being out of shape as the 1" throttle bar enters the bar at the dimple entry hole, but not enough to see it by the eye (probably due to the welding and folding of the bar on the edge not being round).

Tried them on the other side and it was okay (and they fit upside down away from the dimple part).

Think I may have prematurely panicked at my $$$ custom bar not working after reading posts that dimples don’t work on our bikes (after I bought it)

Think I will try the hammer, clamp and if all else fails get a buffer to take the point away, thanks all

Good to hear it's working out and you have a plan that's not a total redo.

cheers, its a pain as i didn't ask for dimpled just internal wiring, but I guess I didn't specify not dimpled,

but they have been back to get remade and back again for the last 4 months for various reasons (they made me new ones cause I wanted them bigger free of charge) , so just happy I can solve this easily as those shipping costs are a killer

MM, Maybe my optimism was a bit premature. Put them in a vice using a big lever to flatten part of the bars and it broke the vice in half (cheap cast iron).

Where the dimple and throttle tubes all enter the body of the bar is pretty thick, think the only way to flatten is with the gas axe.

Also had another look the British custom bars and the set up doesn’t go all the way to the collar.

I believe the technical term is knockometer.

CAREFUL grinding of th master cylinder housing fixed similar problem for us...

Tried a file?

how about opening the clamp a bit? a touch with the dremel or
a burr in the drill could open the clamp up?

Ha, Ha, yeah , spent a number of years on Oil rigs on the north sea as a pipefitter so no stranger to the use of large heavy objects for bashing pipes.

Thanks for all the good suggestions,

Have given the bars a little touch with the grinder but the bars aren't thick enough to make the gains I'm looking for.

I was going to hire a set of oxy/acceteline bottles to give it a red cherry heat up then screw down the control assembly in the hope the master cyclinder pressing against that part of the bar will flatten it out. But hiring stuff costs money, which is why for a lot of us it is cheaper to buy than make

I had thought about taking a bit out of the clamp and master cyclinder, but wasn't sure if there was enough meat on them for this to be a safe option, but if someone else has done this I will get into it with the file, a cheaper option is always good.

Did you need to take much out of the master cylinder, thinking this must be a problem for quite a few

Handlebars can go one of two ways, very easy or big pain - This feels more like I'm playing a part in a mr bean movie

I have been trying to fit a set for over 9 months now.

Set 1 – 6” T bars sold to me as straight swap no cables - fail- all cables to short
Sent back, if I’m going to have to change the cables I want bigger bars

Set 2 – 8” bars, sent to bike shop up north to make cables, bike shop send them back to me as not drilled at T section and not dimpled for internal wiring so I sent them back

Set 3 – 8” bars received, dimpled for internal wiring, bars ordered are 1 – 11/2 at the collar but were not flattened – result the brake reservoir could not go by the collar and so clamp for throttle assembly would not tighten on.

Did try to squash it down in a vice, vice broke, took it to a fab shop where we heated and tried to flatten it, throttle part of bar bent with heat and welds cracked, bars badly twisted with heat, thrown in bin

Set 4 – Went for 10” bars this time but going through a custom shop 3 hours away to have them ordered as I am having no luck. Drive up to shop 6 weeks later to pick bars up. Collar problem fixed as the part of the bar is flattened, but bars not dimpled or set up for internal wiring, shop sends bars back

Set 5 – Still waiting, put bike back together as the sun is coming to this part of the world again, refitted all cables. handlebars more of a pipe dream now

guy at work has a Harley, he sourced and swapped them out in a day, and has a 200 page catalogue of parts on his desk - -I put salt in his coffee ☺




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OKay SORRY I gotta ask are you looking for T bars or Ape Hangers or whats the deal??? 1 inch bars should work..yea sorry more then often your going to need new cables.. I am lost here dude

Sound like you should just put the stock back on and go ride for a bit hope it works out for you..

Just a bit of humor Jason on my handlebar adventure - Bars are fatties 1" to 1 ½" not just 1" all the way through.

its getting the bar made right thats the problem, Cables not a problem, bike is back together and ready for the weekend – please don’t rain


Here is a bit of a light hearted look at the whole episode

Lesson No1 for me –

Not all cables are made equal, Santa wanted them fitted for xmas - I was originally told that 6” bars don’t require cable change (save $$ & time over xmax waiting for cables I thought) , but that’s only if you have an America, speedmaster cables are slightly shorter, hence why I originally bought 6” ones


Lesson 2

Don’t listen to the Harley guys, Listen to the local Triumph bike shops - None of the local bike shops would source them for a Triumph for me and now I can see why - they all say they have had to much hassle in the past with this.

Lesson 3

Try asking for what you want through interpretive dance as email and telephone doesn’t seem to work - It doesn't matter how many times I say - I want a dimpled bar, internal wiring with a flattened out end at the collar, I end up with a non dimpled bar that is not drilled at the T Bar for internal wiring and not flattened at the collar.

Lesson 4

Its all about the Harley

Main problem has been getting Fatties to fit the triumph. They make them the way they would make a harley fat bar but a harley has a notched master brake cyclinder so won't have the same problem as the Triumph.

i.e. bars are 1' on the throttle and then 1½ on the body, so they are fatties, thats the look I want. With a fatter body than the throttle part, unless the bar is flattened out at the collar the master brake cylinder will never sit right and the throttle assembly won't clamp.

Lesson 5

Pass the BUCK when possible - I have a custom shop up North getting them on my behalf now but they are having the same problem and have also had to send them back as they are not right yet –

But hey I’m no longer the one standing in the post office Q at lunch time while I discuss moose with the Posty "I understand you can’t ship moose antlers without a permit and I know its illegal to shoot baby moose, but these are Handlebars, yes I know there is not a bike attached to them, it woould be to heavy to carry (sigh – unwrap bubble wrap, borrow tape, re-wrap and then to the back of the Q again



Lesson 6

Make sure your Holidays include bike shopping. The Place that makes them is a 4 hour, $450 ferry ride away and the only place in the country, originally it seemed cheaper getting it in the country I live in due to international postage but now it may just be less hassle to fly to USA and pick a pair up

When big nose G is not working full time on handlebar projects, he spends the rest of his time earning a coin running large complex projects on time to budget, and renovating on the weekends. Skills one would think would stand him in good stead for tackling minor triumph mods.

Wow! What a frustrating saga. Here's some suggestions to pursue in your free time (because life is so simple in little ol NZ) ...

1. Grind the master cylinder instead to fit the unflattened bars.
2. Grind the bars flat yourself and get them re-chromed.
3. Change to Harley controls.
4. Cut off the offending master cylinder and just jam your foot in the spokes when you want to stop - it would probably be less painful than what you've experienced.

This may be silly ...why not make some

That "not dimpled" is BS from a shop. My bars are not dimpled and I have internal wires. Just takes a little time.

Just a thought here, You could have used a HD master cyl. and switches on both sides. Plenty of after market stuff to choose from.

I have done three bar changes, one was a 1 1/4" - 1" bar and I have all ways got NON DIMPLED and drilled the wire holes where I wanted them for internal wires...seems like the problem is you are getting dimpled bars

had the same issue with the rivco risers i just put on, i can't get them (the caps) to meet up 100% small gap left, maybe thats normal, looks ok though

Looking at the picture, can you tighten the clamp up so that thinks do not rotate?...maybe then measure the gap and make a spacer to fill the gap? The 1 1/2" bar seems to be the problem...I didn't have the issue with the 1 1/4".

One other suggestion is to change out the controls and switches like: http://www.jokermachine.com/onlinecatalogstreet2004.asp?CategoryID=64

Thanks SDKimo,

The basic problem here has been I have paid for something and got something else that doesn’t suit, so the supplier needs to send the right thing as opposed to me having to do all sorts of funny stuff just because they have stuffed up. It just gets a bit trying when they send the wrong thing 5 times.

I actually tried to fix the bars by putting a heat on them to flatten it out, and the bars got severely twisted so I had to through them away. Could have done it a few different ways but thought that was the easiest at the time – what I should have done was send them back (again)

The real lesson here is, if you are going for bars then are not 1” all the way through then make sure they are notched otherwise you have to spend time fixing them. If you want internal wiring AND THEY ARE T BARS then make sure they are drilled where they weld to the riser (dimples don’t really make a difference – but god dam it if I have paid for dimples then I want dimples)

I am know waiting for a new set of bars that will be made for:

Internal wiring (& dimpled) and are notched.

I have went through a custom shop this time, which means I don't have to pay for them or accept them until they are right. They now carry the burden of sending them back each time.

if you look at the BC ones here on the Bike in pic one, they are slightly pulled back from the collar, I suspect it may be because they are not notched as they go up a size, or because they are not dimpled and they thought putting the wires before the collar was the best option.

http://www.british-customs.com/triumph-america-speedmaster-radius-drag-handlebar-1-1-4.html

I did try the bars with the notched out and it does work, but they forgot to do the holes before they welded them onto the risers

As I understand it is where the brake reservoir hits the bar not allowing the clamp to close. When I had the 1-1/4" bar there was a necked down part as shown on the BC bars...I was looking at my bars today at noon, I can see there is about 1/8" or so gap between my 1" bar and the reservoir...That is why I said the 1-1/2" bar may not work....

Ha ha, cheers, yeah pretty much you are both right, going fat causes a bit of hassle (around 9 months worth)

When I took my switch gear up to the custom chop last week they got them in from the supplier, they had managed to make them with a big flat spot & they fitted, but supplier had forgot to put holes on from the riser, so hopefully the next set they get will have what I asked for.

Will post pics of the bars when they arrive