That's a first, the only changes I've seen on here are people who've raised them. I find them ok, you must be used to a sportier position.
I agree with you. I wondered about fitting some flat bars but they’ll hit the fairing when you turn to full lock. Maybe, just maybe flat or flater bars could work if they have enough rake back towards the rider. I’m not big on sit up and beg. I’d prefer a bit more prone or leant forward whichever is the correct term.
I just look at the bars while at the extreme. Not much clearance if any to lower. I'll just have to man-up and get used to them. How hard can that be on a Multi? Moving on to better issues.
I have just changed mine on my 2017 1200s to a bar that's 90mm narrower than standard, just to make life easier in London traffic. It does that straight away, the real benefits are a more aggressive, slightly further forwards riding stance. This has got rid of any minor buffeting that remained after changing the screen, more importantly the seat seems to work better, it always felt like it was forcing you forwards onto the tank, with the new riding position this seems much more comfortable and natural. This has transformed the bike, minor changes have made a massive difference. The bike feels more sporty, more comfortable and looks great.
I might try this when I get a new bike - do you have any links to the bars used? Also - any interference issues/did you lose a lot of lock or still manageable?
You can get some flatter Renthal that do the trick. Have considered it myself to get a bit more weight over the front when pressing on a bit...
Which bars were they...was thinking of lopping a bit off each side but if I can get some slightly lower ones that are narrower that would be worth trying
That’s interesting. Any pics and specifications much appreciated. The sit up n beg position made my back ache high up between the shoulder blades. Slightly more leant forward would be good.
Be careful lopping a bit off, you may find there's not enough room to get all the controls back on. Performance parts were a great help, there's several bars that will fit, I went for the narrow ones. You need to drill and tap some new holes to make it all work, you will also need a special tool to remove the switches. I'll dig some pictures out.
the bars are shorter and they have a slightly bigger rise on them, not my bike but my friend has them on his and i liked the way it rode, only drawback was the steering lock due to the shorter bars puts the switchgear closer to the tank on full lock.
Hi Mike, thanks for post. I need to do the same to get the bike in and out of the garden(and London traffic when we can all go back out! A couple of questions if you don't mind - I assume that's https://www.performanceparts-ltd.com/ ? Which make / model was the 'narrow bar' you used? Also, was it easier than simply grinding off the OE bars? One more, what's involved in re seating the pins on the controls?
If you ground off the original bars I'm not sure there's enough straight bar to get all the controls back on and you would still have to re drill and tap some holes. The bars I bought were the LSL Superbike medium rise, gold anodised. There's enough room to put all the controls on these bars, don't go lower or you will hit the tank on full lock. Getting the holes right was tricky, I had a brilliant engineer help me, transferring the positions from the original was difficult. A couple of the screws are tamper proof so you will need the right ones, they have a little pip in the middle. I bought a cheap tap set that worked well, the others are split pins that just pull out and tap in. If you take your time it'll be fine, I'm glad I had a mate to help. Let me know if you need anything else.
The difference is worth every minute, absolutely amazing in traffic and has made no difference at speed, instantly better
