i have a bmw that i am building into a cafe. i have just about stripped it down as far as i can go. i am at the point where i need to deciede do i go with clip ons or clubmans. the clubmans are cheaper! the clip ons are adjustable to a point. so which ones do you like? which ones should i use?
clubmans or clip ons
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tomaselli makes adjustable clips and clubmans. dont let gheeto give you shit about clubmans. he wants everyone to build the same exact bike he has. i have tomaselli clubmans on my bike that are awesome. i love them. clip ons on a streetbike are for people who think they are racers, but have never been on a racetrack. (lets see where this gets me!)
clubmans rule! go illmor!
doh!
jc
aaron, send my wheel.
clubmans rule! go illmor!
doh!
jc
aaron, send my wheel.
get what you want no matter what any one thinks .That said handle bars are ussually sold by age clip ons the youngest age group and go on up thru clubmans to drag /tracker bars to stock .
look at other post here on stability and you will see it takes a little bit to get used to clip ons you are as low as you can go ,clubmans are higher and cheaper and if you feel later you like the look and street position of the clip ons then crack open the wallet.You can get them with replaceable stems ,or welded one piece like a member sells here look in the for sale forum.
Either way its a topic that comes up like ,rearsets and cable actuated rear brakes.And comes down to personal choice on the street .On the track well only clipons will do.
Im so far behind ,that I think Im in first.
look at other post here on stability and you will see it takes a little bit to get used to clip ons you are as low as you can go ,clubmans are higher and cheaper and if you feel later you like the look and street position of the clip ons then crack open the wallet.You can get them with replaceable stems ,or welded one piece like a member sells here look in the for sale forum.
Either way its a topic that comes up like ,rearsets and cable actuated rear brakes.And comes down to personal choice on the street .On the track well only clipons will do.
Im so far behind ,that I think Im in first.
No Joe You are Wrong (I love saying that). I don't want people to build the same bike I have at all. What I really want is people to really think about the clubman decision beyond the goddamn price and hipster cache and see that for some bikes clubmans are not appropriate. I just want people to stop assuming clubmans are the answer because that is all they see and then bash their bikes to get them to fit. Next time you look at someone else's bike with clubmans check the tank for clubman rash, gaurantee it is more common than you think. I look at a lot of parked bikes in the city and see it on most of them.
Personally I think those fixed style clubmans are garbage, and in the hands of people with too little mechanical expirence and big dreams all they get in the end is a dented tank and butchered wiring.
That being said, stop making decisions with your wallet, all you will end up with is garbage parts. A good pair of clubmans will cost you the same as a decent pair of clipons so at this point you need to ask yourself which do you think you will be more comfortable with. If you can borrow both from a friend and test fit I would.
Personally I side with clip-ons for three reasons:
1) Adjustability. They are way more adjustable than any bar out there. They also will not interfere with the forks if you make front end adjustments
2) The fold in a crash. Some guys put those cheap clubmans on and they end up with such weird angles that if there were to wreck I don't see how it would not break their wrist. If you drop your bike of the stand the bar can also bend where as it is harder (although possible) to bend a clipon.
3) They look more racy. Clubmans always looked too backyard to me, clipons look like you came to do business, not fuck around.
My hatred of clubmans comes from all these hipster kids that go out and buy an old honda and suddenly think they have mechanical expirence because they own something old. And then they see a "cafe racer" bike and they are like "I want that" but really they don't know the work involved. Sure they want to try but most will get half way through installing the bars and then give up and put the thing together half assed. The end result is a lot of dented tanks because the bars hit and a lot of snipped wires because they did a poor job of tyring to thread them through (instead of notching the controls) and their bike never works again.
Clubmans are Gay.
And it is Geeto you illeterate fucktard. Gee - T - O not gheto ro Gheeto or whatever passes for slang these days... (ps I just wanted a reason to say fucktard)
Edited by - Geeto67 on Apr 08 2007 1:54:52 PM
my tomaselli clubmans fold but havent collapsed when ive dropped the thing. i would rather have my bars not fold in a crash/tipover because the only thing to stop them will be the tank. but i have crashed repeatedly hard on my aluminum clips and they are still perfectly straight even though people have tried to talk me out of using alum bars. but i do agree that steel bars would be better for crashing on. i have also crashed hard on my alum crapy raask rearsets and have not broken them. they are ground to shit, but the only time i broke them was when i actually ripped them to pieces crashing. but steel/non folding stuff is the way to go if youre planing on crashing the thing alot. (like a race bike) you will dent a tank with clip ons just as easily. you cant cure stupid.
the only "business" youre going to be doing with clipons is not spilling your coffee at starbucks. race poser! why dont you put a full fairing on it too. that way you wont get bugs in your face while youre wearing your davida. clipons are for racebikes. its a good thing ya never came across me on the street eh?
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seriously though, its what youre comfortable with. i have race bikes with clipons and for me, it was just too much of a pain in the ass to also ride something around on the street with them. so it was a personal preference. i wanted something a little more comfortable for the street. but still racy looking. my tomaselli clubmans are more adjustable than 90% of the clipons out there. the only other adjustable clipons ive seen are tomasellis. so they were perfect. for some reason my 77 cb550 had all of the wires outside of the bars. so there were no wiring issues at all. the nice thing about a 3 piece clip is you can put longer bars on them if you need to squeeze turn signal switches and master cyls and crap like that. my clubmans dont have that option but i didnt need it. i really like my clubmans though.
as for the rash, you might want to see a doctor about that!
when i get my wheel, im switching my signature to "pot stirrer/devils advocate!"
go against the grain man. go against the grain!
jc
aaron, send my wheel.
the only "business" youre going to be doing with clipons is not spilling your coffee at starbucks. race poser! why dont you put a full fairing on it too. that way you wont get bugs in your face while youre wearing your davida. clipons are for racebikes. its a good thing ya never came across me on the street eh?
seriously though, its what youre comfortable with. i have race bikes with clipons and for me, it was just too much of a pain in the ass to also ride something around on the street with them. so it was a personal preference. i wanted something a little more comfortable for the street. but still racy looking. my tomaselli clubmans are more adjustable than 90% of the clipons out there. the only other adjustable clipons ive seen are tomasellis. so they were perfect. for some reason my 77 cb550 had all of the wires outside of the bars. so there were no wiring issues at all. the nice thing about a 3 piece clip is you can put longer bars on them if you need to squeeze turn signal switches and master cyls and crap like that. my clubmans dont have that option but i didnt need it. i really like my clubmans though.
as for the rash, you might want to see a doctor about that!
when i get my wheel, im switching my signature to "pot stirrer/devils advocate!"
go against the grain man. go against the grain!
jc
aaron, send my wheel.
I happen to think the tommiselli adjustable clubman is a good design and a much better choice than the fixed junky clubmans. At that price level clipons are the same money so it is a matter of personal preference. My race bike has drag bars on it because I don't have to turn.
and for the record "clubman rash" is when a dumbass installs clubmans on his bike and somewhere in the turning radius the bar hits the tank under normal riding conditions (not in a crash). Either the ends of the bars hit or the loop hits the tank edge. You should see the amount of bikes here that have small dents where the bar hits the tank from normal riding and the schmucks just live with it. It is not exclusive to clubmans either I have seen drag bars do that too (but it is much much rarer and usually when somebody turned the drag bar down to act like a cheap clubman) on some bikes but the problem is mostly a clubman problem
Edited by - Geeto67 on Apr 08 2007 2:44:08 PM
and for the record "clubman rash" is when a dumbass installs clubmans on his bike and somewhere in the turning radius the bar hits the tank under normal riding conditions (not in a crash). Either the ends of the bars hit or the loop hits the tank edge. You should see the amount of bikes here that have small dents where the bar hits the tank from normal riding and the schmucks just live with it. It is not exclusive to clubmans either I have seen drag bars do that too (but it is much much rarer and usually when somebody turned the drag bar down to act like a cheap clubman) on some bikes but the problem is mostly a clubman problem
Edited by - Geeto67 on Apr 08 2007 2:44:08 PM
see, now youre wrong, its not a clubman problem, its a stupid problem!
doh!
hehe
the tomasellis are unlike any of the other clubmans out there that ive seen. maybe dunstall made something like them at some point. they are worth looking for if youre going to use them. clips or clubmans each have their own sets of issues to deal with. do keep in mind a 3 part clip gives you the option of using a longer bar. which can be key sometimes.
what the hell is a geeto anyway?
jc
aaron, send my wheel.
doh!
hehe
the tomasellis are unlike any of the other clubmans out there that ive seen. maybe dunstall made something like them at some point. they are worth looking for if youre going to use them. clips or clubmans each have their own sets of issues to deal with. do keep in mind a 3 part clip gives you the option of using a longer bar. which can be key sometimes.
what the hell is a geeto anyway?
jc
aaron, send my wheel.
Golly, What a bunch of egocentric fucktards!! ( I just wanted to use fucktard again too. plus I got to use a big word like egocentric) Yoe need to use what works for you on your particular bike for your particular application. I don't have clip-ons on my race bike because of the rules, bad shoulders and better leverage with a superbike bar. I have drag bars on one street 350 project cause they make the bar, peg, seat relationship right for me. In addition, they look good in this particular application. I have used clip ons on both race and street bikes again when I need too. Personally I like the stock clip ons that came on Honda Interceptors and the CBR Hurricane because they have some rise to them and I can actually mount them below the top triple clamp and have the grips at whatever height I want either above or below the triple clamp.
Now back to Timber's original question, Use whatever is going to work out best for you. One of the old tricks is to sit on your bike with your feet on the pegs, close your eyes and put your hands where it feels good. Then open your eyes and see what bend of bar would put your hands in that position. It might give you a better place to start.
Some beemers came with a nice low bend bar that was cool like the R90s.
Ken
PS. Clubman bars are gay unless they work for you. Then Geeto is gay.
K
AHRMA 412
Vintage racing - old guys on old bikes
Now back to Timber's original question, Use whatever is going to work out best for you. One of the old tricks is to sit on your bike with your feet on the pegs, close your eyes and put your hands where it feels good. Then open your eyes and see what bend of bar would put your hands in that position. It might give you a better place to start.
Some beemers came with a nice low bend bar that was cool like the R90s.
Ken
PS. Clubman bars are gay unless they work for you. Then Geeto is gay.
K
AHRMA 412
Vintage racing - old guys on old bikes
yeah but clubmans seem to attrack the stupid. I think it is because they are visible where as the morons just look at clipons and think they attach by magic.
as far as what is a Geeto? well in '66 and '67 pontiac started calling the GTO the GeeTO Tiger (pronounced Gee Toe). They even had a song (that sucked - the chorus was "Geeto Tiger Go" ). It was not very successful so for 68 the got Paul Reiver and the Radiers to do the Song (after doing the SS396 song for chevy in '66, and then doing the Judge song in '69). It was fairly obsucre but I liked the name (my old car buddies used to call me Geeto Kerry or Goat Kerry in real life).
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2,837 Posts
The above photo looks right to me. Thats my vote.
of course it does. because your norton fits into the "correct time period" for clip ons. unfortunately, since bmw hasnt changed a god damned thing since the 1930's, maybe it should have board track bars. is that another norton streamliner in the back? i like the pipe hanging out of the fairing.
jc
aaron, send my wheel.
jc
aaron, send my wheel.
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2,837 Posts
There have been a number of BMWs road raced over the years. A blown BMW won the 1939 Isle of Man TT. But they seemed to have created a "sedate tourer" image that has permeated our pschye to the point that I, for one, can't picture a BMW cafe racer.
The bike in the background is a good example of gettig the air off you smoothly. I'm not 100% certain but I believe its a 750 Triumph.
Aaron send his wheel
The bike in the background is a good example of gettig the air off you smoothly. I'm not 100% certain but I believe its a 750 Triumph.
Aaron send his wheel
Can anyone tell me where I can get a set of clubman bars with no downturn, with the U shaped yoke, but flat? I saw a couple bikes at the moto giro with them, but never got to talk to the owners. My old wrists can't take the angle of the bars on my CB350, and I would also like a set on my Monza Jr. simply because they would look cool.
Thanks
Thanks
bmw's have raced very successfully in just about every club. at every vintage id say. the sidecar championships are usually held by bmw's. tim courts was always a front runner on his in 500 solo and he and zman just dominated pn their sidecar. bucky sexton ran bmw's chris and tom have a very fast rig. tom verville ran solos and sidecars. then mark mitchell did great on his. then there is always nate kern. for being the same basic engine, they are very well engineered, well build durable machines. i for one would love one. i was offered to ride chris' r100 out to chicago last summer. i made it to pitt before i got a little nervous about how it was running. weird electrical gremlin which i think still hasnt been found. but the thing ran like a raped ape. and i power wheelies no problem in 1st gear. just whack it open and the front comes up. and its a 20 year old bike. im one of the only guys at the race shop who doesnt have one. tom has 5 i think. r75, r100, r69, and i dont know what else. and his /2 is just gorgeous. it has like a 10 gal heinrich unpainted unfinished alum tank. very very cool.
jc
aaron, send my wheel.
jc
aaron, send my wheel.
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