Inconsequential ramblings of an Old Git

[mangocrazy]

I've found (mainly through trial and error) that my upper body prefers bars that are angled down from the horizontal about 20 degrees, and also back towards me by about 20 degrees. I tried a pair of completely straight bars once and they were horrible. When I was young and flexible enough, clip-ons were fine; they all angle downwards by about 20 degrees and can be rotated round the fork leg to establish a comfortable position in that plane. But these days clip-ons for me increasingly feel like an instrument of torture.

While on this topic, I regularly watch Neevesy's Q&A sessions on Youtube and (more in hope than expectation) fired off a question about 'comfy sportsbikes'. Blow me if he didn't just reply to my question but completely agreed with me. Here's the YT clip...

[Mr. Dazzle]

Aren't things like the Streetfighter, Tuono V4, Speed Triple RS etc. essentially just full sportsbikes with mandelbars etc?

They're naffing expensive though!

[mangocrazy]

I'd say the Tuono V4 is about the closest thing to a comfy sportsbike that's available; the others are more super-nakeds I'd have thought. For me a comfy sportsbike should have all the attributes of a sports bike (low weight, fully faired, top kwoll brakes and fully adjustable suspenders) but with relaxed ergonomics. I don't see anything currently for sale that covers all those requirements.

[Mr. Dazzle]

Thats what made me think of the Streetfighter. Its basically a Panigale?

Lack of bodywork yeah OK.

[Skub]

It's way easier/cheaper to start with a sportsbike and make it comfortable,than to take most currently available naked bikes and try to make them perform like a sportsbike.

[Skub]

It's way easier/cheaper to start with a sportsbike and make it comfortable,than to take most currently available naked bikes and try to make them perform like a sportsbike.

I hesitate to disagree (just for a moment) but all you need for a touring bike to make it sporty is horsepower and suspension. To make a sports bike into a touring bike takes a fair bit more effort, not far off the dreaded "Streetfighter".

You'll probably want taller handlebars which is a feat of engineering by itself. Risers, bars, extended controls, weird angle brake reservoir etc. After that you almost inevitably fall foul of the fairing which will be fixed. Then after you've solved those issues, the seating position isn't quite right for the seat!

Plus you now have monster peaky sports power acting on a much higher centre of gravity. Wheelie city. You'll probably want to tweak the power delivery and let's be honest, for touring you'll probably want to change suspension too unless it happens to be hugely adjustable. Most bikes are massively improved by upgrading suspension anyway I suppose.

Having said all that, I found the early FireBlades were extremely comfortable as stock. Well the turn of the century versions were.
Christ that makes me feel old....

Yeah,there are more things to change than you'd think. A couple of things,going from the direction a tourer to a sportsbike,ground clearance and weight. It's hard to fix those two things cheaply.

But I take your point,making any bike into something else will never be a smooth road.

[mangocrazy]

But I take your point,making any bike into something else will never be a smooth road.

As I am personally finding out, first-hand...

Going from a tourer to a comfy sportsbike means basically re-engineering the whole bike - reduce weight (quite drastically in most cases), fit better suspension & brakes and change the appearance of the bike to look sportier, while retaining the relaxed ergos.

Going the other way (sports bike to comfy sports bike) is way easier, especially if you're a manufacturer. In fact you've probably already got all the bits you need to make the conversion in a sister model's parts bin.

[Yorick]

It's way easier/cheaper to start with a sportsbike and make it comfortable,than to take most currently available naked bikes and try to make them perform like a sportsbike.

If I was going on a long journey, I'd want...

Fairing.
Comfy seat.
Good riding position.
Bonkers engine.
Great suspension.

Hmmm

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[Le_Fromage_Grande]

Mine has Renthal fat bars as standard, I like em

Mine's got fat rider as standard

Blue Suzukis are like that

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

Since buying my Suzuki I've considered buying a GSXR750 and putting flat bars on it, but all my Suzuki needed was better suspension and a screen, so much easier to do.

[mangocrazy]

The top yoke and handlebars have (finally) come back from being Xylan coated and all the little bits and pieces that are required for a conversion like this have at last popped through the letterbox, so a couple of days ago I set about putting all the pieces together. The second top fairing is (unsurprisingly) still at the painters, albeit a different painter than last time. Having said that, they all seem to work to extremely relaxed timescales. At least this means you can get a decent view of the yoke, risers and bars, doesn't it?

Whether you'll enjoy that view remains to be seen...

So without further ado, here's the view as you walk into the shed:

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To recap, the top yoke is OE Aprilia, as fitted to the RSV and Falco, but with two triangular aluminium wedges JB Welded to the sloping top sections. To strengthen that bond, a steel insert was pressed in to mechanically join the two parts. The risers are off an MT-09 SP and the bars are home-brewed out of 1 1/8" (28.6 mm) section steel tube for the base and uprights and 7/8" (22.2mm) tube for the grips and controls. They're basically home-brewed 'fat bars'. Welding was done by professionals, not me (my welding is shit - really shit.) Here's a closer view of the risers and bars:

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I was pleasantly surprised how easily all the parts went together. No real gotchas were encountered and things like the throttle action is better than it's ever been, even from new. This is because the throttle routing is much more relaxed and there's no tightness or binding when going from lock to lock. Having the throttle cable exiting straight down from the grip helps, and the cables are custom ones from Venhill to their 'featherlight' specification which uses marine-grade stainless steel inner wire for maximum flexibility, and a 'teflon' liner, to reduce friction and give a lighter action. All I can say is they work. And this is the rider's view:

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The bike is still on the Skylift and will stay there until the bodywork has been fitted, but I did a test sit on it, and the riding position feels massively improved. I'm still leaning forward - it's not 'sit up and beg', but it no longer feels like the bars are an extension of the wheel spindle. I'm sure my back, elbows, shoulders and wrists will thank me.

[Taipan]

Wow! Thats quite a height from the top yoke! I hope you enjoy it Fonzie!

[mangocrazy]

In cas anyone's interested, the remote reservoir brackets came from Racetorx - they're on FB and the Web. The bracket I used for the clutch reservoir was their 'side angle perch':

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And the one for the brake reservoir was their 'Z perch':

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And here's a side shot of them both:

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[mangocrazy]

Perfect. Full lock to lock clearance without changing the lock stop positions. The risers just touch the tank harness, which is a loose-ish fit on the tank. I was really surprised at how well it all went together.

[mangocrazy]

Looks like you've sorted the cable runs too which is where a lot of these types of conversions go wrong.

Having the extra elevation afforded by the risers helps a lot with that. You're not trying to jam lots of cables into a small space. And thankfully Aprilia provided generous lengths of OE cables, which helped a lot. I needed new hydraulic clutch and brake lines made up, but that was to be expected. I even managed to incorporate a dry-break fitment into the front brake line, which means I can separate the master cylinder from the rest of the system if needs be.

[mangocrazy]

Back in April 2022, this was weeksy's reaction to my earlier attempt at raised bars...

Ummmm words, I can't find any.

At all

Anywhere!

It rather seems that is still the case...

[mangocrazy]

Well, it's been a while...

The top fairing finally came back from the painters in mid-August and I fitted it pretty much the next day. I was very relieved to find that all the mounting points lined up as they should, in marked contrast to the crash damaged and repaired one I'd tried previously.. This particular painter turned the work round in a little over two months, so much better than the previous guy. I was even more relieved that with the top fairing on there were no clearance issues to the screen. Clearance was tight, but we had clearance, Clarence. What's your vector, Victor?

Once everything was fitted and roadworthy it was MoT time. I always take the bikes to a little scooter emporium a stone's throw from the Sheffield Utd football ground, as they have absolutely no interest in doing any 'remedial' MoT work and I know I'll get a fair test. They are also very relaxed about exhaust noise... The bike passed with flying colours and as I was due to sail for France very soon, it was time to load the bike on the van and fit all the other stuff I needed to take around it. It always takes me 2-3 days to establish the optimum layout and make sure everything is secured and can't move around.

So the first time I actually rode the bike with its new bar layout was in France. And within 100 yards I knew that the new layout was just what I wanted/needed. Low speed manoeuvering was so much easier and the riding position just felt absolutely 'right'. I'd only gone a mile or so when I realised that I'd stopped thinking about the riding position and was just getting on with the business of riding the bike. If something is completely unobtrusive, it generally means that it's working correctly. Things only intrude when something is wrong.

There were a couple of niggles, but nothing serious. Because of the rush I'd been in I hadn't managed to fit the fancy (and very effective) anti-vibration system to the bars that is standard on the Falco (and probably all other V60 v-twin bikes in the Aprilia range). Instead I'd fitted a pair of generic eBay bar ends that rely on expanding a rubber sleeve inside the bars. Worse still, I hadn't torqued the LH one up enough and it promptly disappeared into the undergrowth somewhere. So vibes through the LH bar were very noticeable, vibes through the RH bar less so but still present. There was also the fact that I'd changed the bar material (steel vs. OE aluminium) and layout so was entering the realms of the unknown. So I need to re-work the bars to fit the OE 'mass damper' system, but that will have to wait for next year as the Falco is staying in France and the VFR is being repatriated, having served its tour of duty.

The other difference (and one I was expecting) was increased wind blast due to the screen being substantially shorter and lower than OE. This was an inevitable consequence of fitting bar risers and different bars. It wasn't excessive, but it's enough to make me try 'plan B' which is the fitment of a Bob Heath fairing screen extender. No end of TT racers use these, so they must give some benefit. Here's the link:

https://www.bobheathvisors.co.uk/produc ... extenders/

I've bought the larger of the two (go big or go home) and will be fitting it later on today. I've already fucked up the OE look of the bike by hacking the fairing and screen about, so I figure I might as well go all in.

So earlier today I made my way through some very pleasant French countryside to the seaside town of Mèze. Aside from being a very pretty and largely unspoilt town, it also has the draw of a Sunday open-air market, and one of the stalls there sells nothing but olives, tapenades and sun-dried tomato products. The olives there are piled high and you can buy as many or as few as you like. I availed myself of a couple of kilos of 'olives noires à la Grecque'. We'll probably work our way through that lot and need some more by the time we return next April/May. Here come the obligatory photos...

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[mangocrazy]

Today I have been mostly riding my bike, and in lovely sunny weather. I decided to head off on my 'local loop' which encompasses about 30 miles of some of the best roads in the region. The loop starts in Roujan, heads through Neffies and towards Cabrières on a section of road that can only have been designed by a motorcyclist; it's just plain bonkers. And the scenery (if you've got time to take it in) is pretty cool as well. Cabrières is also home to some of the best quality and best value red wine in the region. This pic was taken on the other side of the village heading out to Clermont-l'Hérault.

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The big rock in the picture is one of 'Les Deux Rocs' that dominate the skyline in the area. If you look closely there is a small building perched on top that I believe is a chapel. The French do like to do that sort of thing. it's not uncommon to see hang-gliders circulating around the rock, playing with the thermals, in the company of birds of various sizes. And of course, the vines. Lot of vines. And a close-up of the Falco.

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Not too shabby for a 15 year old bike, no? The road from Cabrières intersects with the D908 which runs from Clermont-l'Hérault to Bédarieux (and further) and which is a glorious biking road. it has a billard table smooth surface with recently laid grippy tarmac, fast sweeping bends and great views. One section has 70-80mph corners which flip flop between left and right handers for a couple of miles. No intervening straights, just pick the bike up and flip it on the other side of the tyre. Fabulous. A bit later on there are a couple of corners that feel like they cover more than 360 degrees. Obviously they don't but it feels like it. And when we get close to Bédarieux, this is what greets us:

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Yes, giant metal ants. Nothing out of the ordinary here, all perfectly normal. The roundabout is signed on the the map as 'Rond point avec des fourmies géantes', so that's all right. They've been there for 15 years that I know of, so they are officially part of the scenery. As I can only add 3 attachments to any of my posts (no idea why), I'll have to show a closer view of one of the ants on a following post.

[mangocrazy]

And here is a closer view of one of the local wildlife, with my Shoei helmet for scale. The creator of these ants has thoughtfully added a convenient seat for photo opportunities. How sweet.

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[Skub]

Howling wind,cold and heavy rain here. You can keep all that blue sky,lovely day rubbish.