LanceTokyo
Member
Hello.
I'm a new member posting from Tokyo.
I have a C650GT waiting in a garage while I get a parking space (required in Tokyo).
The bike is great, but the handlebar position kind of sucks. A lot. My arms are long enoug so even sitting all the way back in the saddle I'm in a 'sit up and beg' position which is not good for control, in my experience, and leads to making the bike feel a lot more tentative than a more forward position would afford. The only way to stretch out my arms is to lean back like I'm on a chopper and don't want to use a backrest, takes up too much room.
There's plenty of wheel lock to even interfere a bit with the windscreen if necessary, or a Dremel will make short work of that. Or just run the screen up and leave it.
Before I start ripping off the bars and looking for non-BMW alternatives, are the C650/600 Sport bars substantially different from the GT? Any dimensions available? (I can't find anything about this despite looking for a while.)
Aftermarket:
22mm? is 7/8inch close enough?
Any bar mods required to accommodate the 80 control switches?
Rotate stock bars?
Has anyone simply ditched the acre of plastic bar cover and rotated their bars forward?
(Incidentally this would free up a lot of handlebar for clamps and mounts.)
I've swapped out bars on most every bike I've had and it can make a huge difference in control and comfort. Usually I end up with an old European BMW low rise sidecar bar bend, low rise, limited pullback / rake. I think something like this would be a significant improvement in the riding position for me. (Probably higher rise than a naked bike.)
Any experience based comments would be welcome! (Free opinions welcome, too, just don't expect a free answer!)
Thank you.
Lance
I'm a new member posting from Tokyo.
I have a C650GT waiting in a garage while I get a parking space (required in Tokyo).
The bike is great, but the handlebar position kind of sucks. A lot. My arms are long enoug so even sitting all the way back in the saddle I'm in a 'sit up and beg' position which is not good for control, in my experience, and leads to making the bike feel a lot more tentative than a more forward position would afford. The only way to stretch out my arms is to lean back like I'm on a chopper and don't want to use a backrest, takes up too much room.
There's plenty of wheel lock to even interfere a bit with the windscreen if necessary, or a Dremel will make short work of that. Or just run the screen up and leave it.
Before I start ripping off the bars and looking for non-BMW alternatives, are the C650/600 Sport bars substantially different from the GT? Any dimensions available? (I can't find anything about this despite looking for a while.)
Aftermarket:
22mm? is 7/8inch close enough?
Any bar mods required to accommodate the 80 control switches?
Rotate stock bars?
Has anyone simply ditched the acre of plastic bar cover and rotated their bars forward?
(Incidentally this would free up a lot of handlebar for clamps and mounts.)
I've swapped out bars on most every bike I've had and it can make a huge difference in control and comfort. Usually I end up with an old European BMW low rise sidecar bar bend, low rise, limited pullback / rake. I think something like this would be a significant improvement in the riding position for me. (Probably higher rise than a naked bike.)
Any experience based comments would be welcome! (Free opinions welcome, too, just don't expect a free answer!)
Thank you.
Lance
