Trophy handlebar adjustment & cable routing?

[Stever3]

My new (March '13) Trophy SE was fitted with heated grips - but at the supplying dealer, not, unfortunately, whilst the bike was being built (they should be a standard fit on the SE in my opinion). I was not too happy with the routing of the cables, and noticed that the clutch hose was popping out of the clip which forms part of the ignition switch surround when the 'bars were turned to full left hand lock. Decided that the only way to improve things was to undo the switchgear and levers from the handlebars, and with a certain amount of re-threading of the cables, managed to get a much better routing for everything. The clutch hose needs to run underneath the cables running from the audio switch etc. to ensure it remains located in the retaining clip / guide.

Whilst doing this I wondered about altering the angle of the handlebars themselves, as I felt they were too horizontal for my liking - having recently completed a 1000 weekend in Scotland, where my wrists just didn't feel at the right angle.

My experiment was to temporarily fit a washer, approx. 4mm thick, under the handlebar fixing screw adjacent to the ignition switch. Result: much more comfortable! So, next thing would be to machine a thin wedge shaped spacer to fit underneath each 'bar. This should then give a nice face for the bar to sit upon, and allow the screws to be torqued correctly without the risk of cracking the 'bar forging. Has anybody else tried this? Cheers, Steve

[Berber]

Hi Steve

Do you have any photos as to what you have done? I too feel the bars are not quite in the right position (my right wrist feels wrong).

I assume you have placed washers under all 6 holes where the bar bolts fit.

[Stever3]

Hi Robin,

No, I just placed one washer under the 'bar fixing bolt which is adjacent to the ignition switch.

Having loosened all three allen bolts on each 'bar, placing one washer under the inner bolt tilts the 'bar into a more comfortable angle. However, i am aware that the 'bar needs to be bolted up against a flat face, hence my desire to make a proper thin wedge shaped spacer to fit between the 'bar and the 'bar mounting plate. (I would imagine that one of the accessory manufacturers will eventually come up with something like this). There is sufficient clearance between the inside diameter of the hole in the 'bar forging and the outer diameter of the fixing allen bolt to give a reasonable amount of adjustability of the 'bar angle. In my opinion, they just need to slope downwards a little more at the grip end to give a more comfortable riding position. I don't have a photo, as there isn't much to see, but a little change to the angle does certainly improve the comfort for me.

Cheers, Steve

[w8d4it]

Stever3, first welcome to the Forum. Second although I am perfectly fine with the handlebars I'm sure others may share your feelings. You might get greater input by posting this in e modification section or one of the other more technical sub forums.