my first bike help.

[retro]

Hi all, I have just got my first bike and need to put a new set of bars on the old girl.
Im after advice on what type of bars to put on? my mate has a set of renthal type mx bars he recons will be ok
and sit a bit higher than the set up i have now. please help with advice and opinions my bike is a GS500 Suzi (have a look at my rides section) Im also looking new paint soon and possibly dominator lights to get that streetfighter look. cheers

[oldskool]

Fat bars, all the cool kids are doing it.

[NINJAINOZ]

I may be wrong but looking at your top triple clamp (They look like the base of some bar mounts?) you may be able to fit a set of universal bar mounts like these>
http://shop.suzukimagic.com.au/Scripts/prodView.asp?idproduct=13723

2633

Just about any bike shop can get the same bar mounts to suit 7/8" or 1-1/8" fatbars for about $40 a set
The shops get them from here>
http://www.jtr.com.au/rhk/index.htm

If you go too tall with the bars you will have to change the cables & hoses so you will need to look for a set of low bars
Each brand has a chart for their bars just look at the specs & see what you want
I am going to be using a set of FLY AERO tapered bars, Low SX bend>
http://www.flyracing.com/sites/default/files/aero taper bar chart.pdf

Also you can look at some snow mobile bars for a low almost straight bar option
http://www.flyracing.com/sites/default/files/Snow Bar Chart.pdf

http://www.flyracing.com/product/snow/hard-parts/handlebars/aero-tapered-carbon-fiber-handlebars/729/sno-x-bend
(http://www.flyracing.com/product/snow/hard-parts/handlebars/aero-tapered-carbon-fiber-handlebars/729/sno-x-bend)
The STREET LOW or KTM LOW bars would probably the ones to look at in the Renthal list>
http://www.renthal.com/File/product2d.asp?productid=0&tabtype=5&zone=&biketype=&manufacturer=&model=&bikedate=

Need to make sure they have enough room for the controls too, Check the Dim-A & the Dim-F as well as the height / rise

[Tony Nitrous]

Personaly im not a huge fan of MX bar's, they tend to be a little too
wide unless your looking at junior type one's.

the REAL problem is that MX bikes dont have switch gear,
and the straight section is too short to take grip, plus switch gear,
plus the mastercylinder / mirror mount, this can put the mastercylinder /
mirror mount on the start of the 1st bend, levers then dont
pull in square to the bars. This is some, not all MX bar's.

Measure fromt the inside of your mirror mount / master cylinder out
to your bar end. and allow a copuple of extra mm. Does your mates
bar's have this distance ?

I've put Renthals on 3 of my current bikes, I find the 789's are
around half way between roadbike and dirtbike and suit me.
Piss-poor choice mean's you cant get them in AU but the UK's
cheap enough.

How wide are stock bar's, if not on yours then in a shop ?
I would expect to be able to go 750mm"ish" without a drama.
Done Bandit 12's / GSX14 etc just be re-routing stuff. Even going to
Renthals from clip-on's on a Busa the throttle, choke and switchgear
still reached, hose's to clutch and brake were a little too tight though.

Never bothered with Fat-Bar's, cant see any point with the
extra hassle when I cant break the standard size.

[retro]

Yeh looking at them they were bar mount but for some reason the other bars are attatched to the top of the forks, this has lowered the front of the bike about an inch or so and my mates (who know about bikes,well more than me) believe this could be why the steering feels heavy and the reason why I want to put the other bars on. Id also like to sit a little more upright. The bars are quite wide but my mate has fit a set to his wifes Zeal and the feel pretty good. Thanks for all your help for those who responded so quickly. Any other ides are welcomed.
cheers Retro.

[NINJAINOZ]

Its really up to you if you want the height of the MX bars if you can fit the controls (as Tony & I both mentioned)

Or you can go with some straight drag style bars (Snow moblie bars)

Im really liking the look of the FLY SNO X bend Carbon wrap bars, Thinking about ditching the Gunmetal FLY TAPERED SX bend bars (If your interested) I have on the way for a set of these
They could be trimmed down to reduce the width & still have plenty of room for controls & mirror mounts etc
Checkout Yuma's ZX9>
http://www.streetfighters.com.au/forum/showthread.php?24148-Yuma-s-Zx9R

http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb373/yumabizl/P1130176.jpg