Just a couple of q's:
I own an '89 Tenere and I want to raise the handlebars. What is the best way to do this?
I dropped the bike on tarmac a week ago and I think it bent the handlebar mounts! Is this normal? If so, wouldn't raising the handlebars give them more leverage and thus make the bending of the mounts even more normal?

I am planning a trans african- how essential is it with alloy handlebars?

Thanks for your help

[This message has been edited by john-l (edited 27 August 2001).]

You can get handlebar risers from a number of places (Wunderlich, Touratech, etc). These are basically replacements for your current handlebar clamps. However read on first before buying...

Unless you really binned your bike, I think you'll find that you haven't bent anything. The handlebar clamps are bolted to the headstock through rubber mounts, and have simply shifted slightly. Undo the nuts holding the clamps to the headstock, push the bars back into the right position, then do up the nuts again.

I found it disturbingly easy to bend the original steel bars on my XT600E. Since then I've fitted a set of Renthal Paris-Dakar bars which so far have been indestructable. My experience is that the mounts just shift, rather than the bars bending. Note that any replacement bars are likely to have slightly different dimensions (height, rake, etc.), so I would recomend getting some new bars first, then deciding if you need to get the risers.

Also, go for some aluminium brush guards to protect your levers and fingers. I've fitted some Acerbis Rally-Pro guards, which I've tested extensively by lobbing the bike at the scenery many times, and I've yet to even scratch a lever.

Hope this helps.

Iain.

'99 XT600E
'01 XRV750

Morocco Trip
http://iain.woolley.net/Trips/Maroc2001

Hey, thanks for the extensive info. It really helped.

john-l

Something anyone who rides off-road might want to consider is fitting Answer Pro-Taper bars on their bike.

I put a pair on my XR650L and I have yet to find a way to bend them, even with some really bad crashes. They're the best aftermarket part I've bought for my bike so far. You can probably mount them on your bike with the Universal mounting kits they have.

And as Iain said, I really doubt your clamps are bent, I've never seen that happen. It's likely that the forks twisted a little in the triple clamps and that your bars bent. If your forks twist, you can loosen up the triple clamps, straighten everything out and then tightnen them up again. If that sounds like too much work, you can ride up to a tree or a signpost and turn the wheel into it with a lot of force to push it back the other way.

Bet of luck,
Wright

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Wright Bagwell
http://www.geocities.com/wwbagwell/