Installed Murphs Wedges yesterday and...

[Conhardcore]

I did enlist a buddy and fellow rider and it went much easier as a two man job.  As Maxtog mentioned on another thread, the hold the washer at the dimple with a dental appliance method while I tightened the bolts worked very well after we got it figured out.

My first impression after getting the left bar tight enough to sit on the bike and see how they felt, and prior to moving on with the project was great.  They felt awesome and on we went.

It took about an hour without rushing and getting the system down to hold the washer, and really not a tough job at all...just a little tricky.
I rode the bike home from my friends house and put a total of about 100 miles on the bike between yesterday afternoon and a bit last night.
I had taken the Helibar risers off the bike and had decided to go with the stock setup and the wedges to get it as close to factory as possible.  For me, the bike handles substantially better with the bars lowered and I do not find them uncomfortable.  In fact I find the riding position more natural and athletic that the straight up position the risers forced on me. 

So here's the latest thoughts and kind of interesting development with the wedges.  First, the subtle lift on the ends of the bars looks and feels perfect when sitting on the bike. The equally very small pull back is just about perfect to keep nearly the stock bar height and not have to stretch to reach the bars.  My left hand feels perfect on the bar while riding.  My ride hand has developed an ache that dare I say is no better or possibly worse than with the stock height bars without wedges.  I'm disappointed because they truly feel almost perfect, but after about 4 hours of riding today, the ache in the right hand hand came on pretty fast  

Could it be because the bars come a bit closer together in terms of width?  That is one part about the setup that I don't particularly like, preferring the bars to be wider vs narrower.  I'm not giving up on them yet cause it feels so close, but I thought I had nailed it during the 2 hours I rode it yesterday after I installed them.

As much as I love this bike, I'm finding that dialing a bar position that doesn't make my hand ache is becoming frustrating.  It's not about vibrations, it's about hand position.  I would add something else to the C14 that needs to be added to future models other than cruise control; adjustable bars like on the FJR 1300 and various BMW's would be great.

A note to add that the product itself is top notch with all bolts requested and about 3 days from order to my door!

Any thoughts?

[maxtog]

Not sure this required a whole new thread.  But, anyway...

You might find that the risers + the wedges help with your hand more than you think.  It is certainly worth a try after you have given the non-riser method enough time.

Trying to find the ideal bar positioning really is a challenge, especially when there are so few adjustment options and people are built so differently.  If you are really still not happy, you can take a radical step and get something fully adjustable like these:

http://www.helibars.com/blog/multi-adjustable-handlebars-kawasaki-c14

I say "fully" but nothing is really "fully" adjustable.  In the above example, you have a LOT more control, but nothing as far as width, you can't vary the length of the extenders, and I don't think there is any control of the rotational angle of the grips.  But it is gives a hell of a lot more options than anything else I have seen.  Expensive- oh yes.  But what is $700 compared to pain and constant discomfort?  I see people on the list dropping several times that trying to gain 10 or 15 extra horsepower on a street bike (for reasons I simply can't understand).

[curly]

The Helibar route is the way I'm going as soon as I can pony up for the $700 price tag. I feel my problem is the reach from the bars to a straght up position. My hands go numb even with "1 3/4 risers. The only relief I get is scootting all the way up on the tank and taking all the weight off my hands.

[Murph]

 

http://www.murphskits.com/catalog/advanced_search_result.php?keywords=LSL&osCsid=6da49cde7a3e3fe60634eecd0a9d8864

CHC
 thanks for the feedback, you have hit on something I learned when we started sellingthe handle bar adapters forthe C10. For some people the only way they will get comfort ,they need bars that are "longer" then stock.

Murph
COG 2769
Industry Member

[Conhardcore]

http://www.murphskits.com/catalog/advanced_search_result.php?keywords=LSL&osCsid=6da49cde7a3e3fe60634eecd0a9d8864

CHC
 thanks for the feedback, you have hit on something I learned when we started sellingthe handle bar adapters forthe C10. For some people the only way they will get comfort ,they need bars that are "longer" then stock.

Murph
COG 2769
Industry Member

Thanks Murph.  Looks interesting but I doubt I will go to that level of modification.  I'll work it out one way or another though

[Conhardcore]

Not sure this required a whole new thread.  But, anyway...

You might find that the risers + the wedges help with your hand more than you think.  It is certainly worth a try after you have given the non-riser method enough time.

Trying to find the ideal bar positioning really is a challenge, especially when there are so few adjustment options and people are built so differently.  If you are really still not happy, you can take a radical step and get something fully adjustable like these:

http://www.helibars.com/blog/multi-adjustable-handlebars-kawasaki-c14

I say "fully" but nothing is really "fully" adjustable.  In the above example, you have a LOT more control, but nothing as far as width, you can't vary the length of the extenders, and I don't think there is any control of the rotational angle of the grips.  But it is gives a hell of a lot more options than anything else I have seen.  Expensive- oh yes.  But what is $700 compared to pain and constant discomfort?  I see people on the list dropping several times that trying to gain 10 or 15 extra horsepower on a street bike (for reasons I simply can't understand).

I've ridden with 2" Heli Bar risers for a few thousand mile and do not like the bars that high on this bike.  I will continue to give the wedges and stock height some more time.

[Wile]

I have the risers that Murph sells and like the position they give me.  Still I needed something more to help with the numbness in my hands.  So I got a set of wedges and put them on top of the risers.  No problem on the install other than the paint was chipping off the risers at the contact points. So I had to sand off the rest of the paint to allow for a uniform contact point.  Having been a gunsmith I'm use to manipulating parts while assembling them together and keeping the washers lined up while a tad tricky was no problem. 

At first I did not like the closeness of the hand position but I soon forgot about it because those 6 little degrees made all the difference in my ridding position. Really set me in a much more upright position and not putting nearly as much weight on the bars. Seems to allow me to lean into a corner easier too but that may be just in my head.

Unfortunately the numbness is still there. I have grip puppies on too and all the bolts and nuts are tight throughout the bike.  Looks like my next option is heavier bar end weights. 

Thinking of making custom ones out of copper over the winter.  It's slightly heavier than steel and will give a definitely different look. Haven't decided to coat them to keep them shiny or let them develop that natural patina.

[MrFurious]

The stock bars are actually a two-piece unit with the bar itself sliding into the riser and being retained by a bolt.  Wouldn't be hard to remove one and take it to a machine shop to have them make a slightly longer version out of some bar stock on a lathe to get the wider width you're looking for.  Would be a lot cheaper than the Heli or LSL options.

[Barry]

The stock bars are actually a two-piece unit with the bar itself sliding into the riser and being retained by a bolt.  Wouldn't be hard to remove one and take it to a machine shop to have them make a slightly longer version out of some bar stock on a lathe to get the wider width you're looking for.  Would be a lot cheaper than the Heli or LSL options.

Uh huh... or a longer bar with a bend in it...  that was my first thought when I saw the bolt.  Hmmm... I can get these longer, and bent to support whatever angle I want.

 

[philipintexas]

Longer bars are no problem, it takes some precise locating for the various holes/tick-marks, as they are all critical and require a rotary table to reproduce them at various degrees of rotation, however, the bars have small pins underneath that engage a slot in the stanchion. The pin is pressed in and not meant to resist much torque, just to keep the bar from twisting during assembly. If you put a bend in the bar you will also increase the chance of twisting the bar in the stanchion and could overpower the pin. Heavier bars could be made of stainless steel, and an inch or two added.
Regarding the "closeness of the hand position" with the wedges, I think part of that is illusion. Has anyone measured the before/after difference?  I checked my notes and can't find that measurement.

[manowarwi]

I tried the wedges earlier in the year and I had hand issues as well.  For me the pain was in the outer in my outer palms.  I think what did it for me was the way the wedges caused the handlebars to sweep back, which combined with my lanky arms (I'm 6'2" with a slightly longer wingspan) the weight was moved to the outside of my hands thus causing the pain. 

My solution was to remove buy some tennis grip tape and widen the insides of my grips which in turn allowed my hands to line up with the bar.  Check out this thread where I posted pics: http://www.zggtr.org/index.php?topic=1451.msg14900#msg14900 That was about 3000 miles ago and I haven't had any discomfort since. 

This isn't a slight on the wedges, I'm sure for a lot of people they work wonders - as do traditional risers.  You just need to keep on poking until you find what fits you best.  A little mistake I was making along the way was when I'd sit on my bike as a mock up, I never had my full gear and your position changes a bit with boots, a riding jacket, and gloves.