[drainyoo]

Just got them and Im planning on install them this week. Any advice? Do's and don'ts? My bike has the wires for the starter and turn signals inside the handles bar so I have to route them outside some how.

Would love to get some info on those who have already installed them.



Edited by - drainyoo on May 08 2006 3:38:43 PM

 

[Chikor]

you will need to route them outside the bars now and you will probably want to make a small notch in the switch cases to acomidate the wires....

Ride Fast and Take Chances

 

[SilverTone]

If you want to do it right and keep the internal routing, slotting is the only way to go. Fear not the "compromised" integrity of the bars with holes/slots cut (in a crash, your wrists would shatter before the bars fail...if done right).

Mock up the bars on your bike. Set them exactly where you want them. Using a permanent marker, mark off the location of the control mounts and the location of the holes to be cut. Put the bars in a vice and take out the angle grinder. Put on your saftey glasses then patiently and gingerly approach your cutting locations with the edge of the grinder perpindicular (90 degrees) to the bar and grind away until you have slots cut into the bars. They should be about 1 to 1.5 inches long and a bout 3/4 the width of the bar. Keep in mind there will be four slots to cut, right and left side entry and exits. Be sure to file or burnish off the interior edges as they will be rather sharp threatening to cut your wires.

It sounds complicated, but is rather straight forward. Trust in yourself and just do it. If you don't have an angle grinder go buy one. They are cheap (as far as tools go) and they are indespensible in any shop. You'd be amazed at the many applications they have.

Edited by - SilverTone on May 09 2006 01:20:35 AM

Edited by - SilverTone on May 09 2006 01:26:51 AM

 

[Chikor]

nicely done.....i would opt to run them to the center od the bars but that is probably real tricky with the angle of the clubman....

Ride Fast and Take Chances

 

[drainyoo]

Interesting but at the point why even bother running them through the bars if its only for a couple of inches? The point of running them through the bars is so they come out the center and are out of sight. Good job anyways. I think Im just going to keep them outside the bar but Im not 100% yet. Thanks for the images, they help.

As for taking the stop bar off, do I need to disconnect any wires going to the throttle and switches or do I just unmount them from the handles bars and thats it? What about the tank, do I need to remove it?


Edited by - drainyoo on May 09 2006 10:38:58 AM

 

[SilverTone]

Your point about running them to center is valid, but a pain in the ass. To boot, you can achieve much cleaner routing by exiting the bars in the location I've shown above. The thing about clubmans is that they hide the exit very well at the end of the bar. The wiring falls right into place much cleaner than center. You're able to hide the cables under the dash so that you see nothing but nice chrome bars.

Have a look and you'll see my point. I've gone both ways and I far prefer this method. Notice how clean the install is with all wiring and control cables under the dash gauges.

and

Regarding the other controls (throttle, clutch. etc.) you can get away w/o having to disconnect them from their source with some patient fenaggling. If you work one side (throttle first) and then the other (clutch)for removal, you should be able to get everything off and then reassemble in reverse order. Tank removal doesn't facilitate anything unless you are going to remove the cables from thier source. In the latter case, tank removal is neccessary to access the throttle body on the carbs and the clutch cable at the primary.

If your going that far, you may as well be comprehensive and make sure your cables are lubed and in good shape, clean, etc. Let us know how its goin'.

What are you installing these on anyway?



Edited by - SilverTone on May 10 2006 01:09:41 AM

 

[drainyoo]

Thanks Tone. Im installing them on a 1975 CB200T.

Now looking at the pics, it does seem a lot cleaner and I might go that route.

As for the controls if I do disconnect them do they have to be soldered back on or do the wires have easy connections to the control?

 

[Tom W.]

Since you guys are discussing handlebars... Recently, I noticed my handlebars are a little loose. I took a quick look and I think it's the rubber isolators between the handlebar clevis and the triple clamp. The nut seemed tight so I'm guessing the rubber has shrunk. Is this something you can fix by adding some washers or is there some other trick?



Tom W.
'70 CL350

 

[SilverTone]

Tom, that rubber does fail over time. The general rule of thumb (as is my understanding) is to replace rubber every 15 - 20 years if it hasn't been meticulously maintained. Most cases with these older bikes is that they've spent a season or two outside causing oxidation, eating the rubber.

And your right, don't crank on the nuts as they're likely to strip. Ther is a proper torque setting up there anyway (check your manual). Try to find some replacement grommets on ebay or go the rubber washer route you've mentioned with some creativity. I find that that particular system always leaves a little play anyway. I have yet to find a solution that satisfies my whims.

 

[SilverTone]

As for Drainy. STOP right there. I think were miscommunicating. DO NOT cut away your ferruls (the solder cylinders at the ends of your cables). Is that what you are thinking or am I misunderstanding you? Those ferruls themselves ARE a version of solder and will only melt away with re-application. While crimpping on new ones may be fine for a bicycle, motor cycles have more considerable consequences for failing controls.

Your removal sequence should be that of mechanical dissasembly, not fabrication/modification.

Can you clarify what you are thinking about doing? Again, what bike are you working on? I'm too lazy to search through your other posts to see.

Usually, backing off the tension adjustments at either end of the cables should give you enough room to remove these systems in tact. This is a case where you may need to remove the tank for access to the throttle body an primary area. Removing the tank, though, is probably the simplest part to remove on the bike.

Let me know what your working on before you do any cuting.



Edited by - SilverTone on May 10 2006 11:31:05 AM

 

[drainyoo]

Tone, I have a 1975 CB200T. I don't want to cut anything, thats what I was asking. Can I replace the handles bars without disconnecting anything? Can I just unmount the throttle, levers and controls without disconnecting them from the wires and cables?

 

[SilverTone]

Yes, brother. No cutting neccessary, just patience. Go to town, go slow and let your mechanically inclined side take over. The learning curve dictates that you'll probably f-up and have to pull things apart 1, 2, 3 times before you get it right. But each time you gain a better understanding of how it all fits together and the order in which things need be done.

Once the old bars are free from their clamps, you should be able to push them to the left side of the bike to get enough slack in the cables to slide the throttle off, then the right side to slide the clutch cable off. Reverse order for the reassembly.

Let us know...

 

[drainyoo]

Awesome! Thanks bro.

I think Im going to try to install them tonight since its going to rain this weekend and I have no freaking garage. Ill post pics when done.

 

[drainyoo]

Actually I just thought of something. The wires do have to be disconnected from the switches so that they can be routed through the bars. Do the wires just easily disconnect from the switches and controls?

 

[SilverTone]

Yes, wiring must be disconnected and they do disconnect easily (in most cases). I've never tried to disconnect at the swithches and would advise against that as you'll have to solder them back in. Instead, you should disconnect at the wiring harness leads inside the headlamp bucket. Remove the lamp from the bucket and just follow the leads from the bars and be sure to label everthing well on either end. Do one side, then the other to keep clutter and confusion to a minimum. Grab some painter's or masking tape and a fine tipped permanent marker and label each side of each wire that you disconnect (right red (on both the wiring harness side and the wires through the bar side), left green, etc.) It is time consuming, but it is neccessary to get everything back together. Again, just be patient. Don't rely on wiring diagrams due to the fact that these bikes have been assemble and disassembeld god only knows how many times in the past. Sometimes different colored wires are in play with each other becasue of replacements, etc. Labal, label, label. Sometimes pictures help too, if you have that option.

In this picture, you can see the bits of blue tape inside the bucket that serve as the labels:

Edited by - SilverTone on May 10 2006 5:37:00 PM

 

[drainyoo]

quote:
Yes, wiring must be disconnected and they do disconnect easily (in most cases). I've never tried to disconnect at the swithches and would advise against that as you'll have to solder them back in. Instead, you should disconnect and the wiring harness leads inside the headlamp bucket. Remove the lamp from the bucket and just follow the leads from the bars and be sure to label everthing well on either end. Do one side, then the other to keep clutter and confusion to a minimum. Grab some painter's or masking tape and a fine tipped permanent marker and label each side of each wire that you disconnect (right red (on both the wiring harness side and the wires through the bar side), left green, etc.) It is time consuming, but it is neccessary to get everything back together. Again, just be patient. Don't rely on wiring diagrams due to the fact that these bikes have been assemble and disassembeld god only knows how many times in the past. Sometimes different colored wires are in play with each other becasue of replacements, etc. Labal, label, label. Sometimes pictures help too, if you have that option.

In this picture, you can see the bits of blue tape inside the bucket that serve as the labels:

Edited by - SilverTone on May 10 2006 12:27:28 PM

Thanks again so much!

 

[drainyoo]

Tone, I got the bars on and the wires routed and all connected, but I have a problem. When I press the starter button, the bike doesnt start, it turns the headlight off. I marked all the wires like you said and reconnected them back so I dont know why this would happen. Would you know whats up?

This is so damn frustrating. I guess the good news is that the headlight is working again.

Edited by - drainyoo on May 10 2006 11:14:47 PM

 

[drainyoo]

Well I figured out the damn problem. A wire disconnected for some reason. All is fine now. Bars are on and everything works. Man does the bike look so sweet with these bars on, I even love the riding position. The only problem now is I cant see a damn thing out of the mirrors. I cant turn the mirror so that I can see behind me, I just see the floor. Any aftermarket mirrors that would remedy this?

Thanks for all the help Silver also thanks to Corey as well.

Here are some crappy quality pics I took with my camera phone. Better than nothing I guess.

Edited by - drainyoo on May 11 2006 4:06:10 PM

 

[ROSKO]

Looks sweet!
Get a bar-end mirror, should do the trick.

BORN TO LURK, FORCED TO WORK.

 

[drainyoo]

quote:
Looks sweet!
Get a bar-end mirror, should do the trick.

BORN TO LURK, FORCED TO WORK.

Yeah I was looking into those but Im not sure I like them.