clubman question....

[gerwintown]

I know there have been a ton of discussions about handlebar configurations, but i have a question anyway. Has anybody tried to use clubmans or clip-ons without also having rear sets? I have a GS550, and I really really want to get rid of the stock handlebars for something lower and tighter to neck. Im 6'5", so I think thats an issue to0. With the current bars Im so upright and if i position myself forward by bending my arms a ton....well it just isnt comfortable. I also love the look of clubmans/clip-ons on old bikes. I did a mock up on the bike today, as in, i sat on my bike and positioned my hands roughly where they would be with clipons. Wasnt so cool as it seemed like my shoulders were almost resting on my knees. I am not confident in my ability to aquire rear-sets as i dont know how to weld even if i could come up with the scratch.

blah blah blah, anybody done this? what just works, and what do you recommend?

[spyug]

For your size you are going to feel like a prezel with lowered bars and stock pegs. These bikes ar optimized for folks 5'8" to 6' ( or so I've read). I think you are going to need rearsets to get your torso into more of one plane ( i.e. straighten you out).

You might also want to think this through a bit more as clubmans or clip ons will put more pressure on your wrists and shoulders. If you're young enough you may not notice it too much but get older and you will feel it.

I was really into cafe style bikes when I was planning and building my XS650. When I had clubmans mounted I quickly realised it was not for me as the wrist arms and shoulders were quite uncomfortable even after 15 minutes or so ( Iwas 53 at the time). The bike got rebuilt as a street tracker and the upright position is more comfortable for my 5"11" 175 lb. frame allthough the board hard seat gave me Sciatic nerve damage....but that is another story.

Hope you can find something that works for you. Nothing worse than customizing a bike and not been able to ride it....just ask me

Good luck with it.
Cheers,
Spyug.

[mortation]

I agree with spyug. You are probably going to want rearsets if you want to pull your torso closer to the tank.

[Ease]

How about putting your clubmans on risers? Or mounting them "upside down" ?

There is really no direction with clubmans (upside down or otherwise I mean)... Lots of people run them either way.

[andrewclaycomb]

I was debating this myself. I'm also 6'5" (265 lbs) and really love the cafe look, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized that I enjoy riding more than looking at the bike. I went with Daytona bars as that's what a few other taller riders on here use and I'm very happy with them. They still keep the low bar look but are up a little higher. At the end of a seriously too long ride the other day, my back was sore. (involved a 1980 CB750 blowing half of it's fuses when we got pulled over by a cop, and the guy I was riding with not having proof of insurance.) I can't imagine what it would have been like after only after a few hours with Clubman bars.

[TheCafeKid]

HEYY! Ease brother! Good to see you postin!

I have to say, the clubmans look pretty bad arese either way you flip em. I had em "upsidedown" for a short time on my old cb550, and frankly they were pretty cool lookin. JMO/

[cvmgtwowheels]

I have clubmans on my 750 with no rear-sets, rode it from Toronto to Calgary like that. What I did was to use the rear pegs. But they are very the club-mans are uncomfortable as they get. The only reason I have them is because of the fairing.

[gerwintown]

yeah im 25 i really should have no problems. Im a little out of shape but i just dusted off my road bike so that will be taken care of post haste.

ease, thats interesting. I wish i had a set to try on. if i can get away with putting them upside down i will have them when i finally get the rear sets.

the whole thing is inspired by 1) the look of cafe racers and 2) the feel of the riding position on my roadbike (bicycle). You have to commit to the position but its a much more athletic riding position in my mind. Its like grabbin the machine by its neck and instilling your will upon it....seems like there is much more control, although ive never tried it on a motorcycle.

but i have been thinking about daytona bars or drag bars as a compromise. its like 30 bucks so if i ever get around to installing rear sets, its no biggie. might even look better with the stock gauges being as tall as they are. I also think the GS is a more natural fit for bars like that than super low and tight clubmans or clip-ons...especially with the stock seat and rear fairing. plus i can stop dicking around and just put them on with no further problems, its friggin riding season already for petes sake.

i dont know if im just being dumb but i cant figure out how rear sets are installed, im sure its like anything else where its over your head until you actually sit down and do it. i feel like a goon with the stock pegs.....actually anybody in the cincinnati area that could help me with a rear set install????

by the way, im doing some cool things to my bike right now involving an old skate board and some east indian rosewood veneers...ill leave the rest, until i get pictures up, to your imagination.

[TheCafeKid]

Well there are a couple options as rearsets go. You can either pick up a set of RAASK or Tarozzi rearsets ($$$ for what they are) ORRR fab a set up yourself using some modern sets off a sportbike and fabing some simple brackets. The only real problem you're going to run into is the kicker arm. You wont be able to use the kickstarter anymore. I am working on a fix for that myself...BTW, Im in Dayton, just a hop skip and a jump, here in a couple weeks, give me a shout, we'll see what we can do about those rearsets or whatever...


TCK

[gerwintown]

thanks for the offer cafekid. i may take you up on that.

you know what, since i posted i kinda just felt like a big loser about the whole thing. i have access to a milling machine so i could fab a bracket that wouldnt require welding (i hope). i think im gonna go make a trip down to skips and see what i can find.

[gerwintown]

actually just found a buddy that is sending me superbike bars, clubmans, and drag bars to try out, so i spose my dilemna will figure itself out!

[gerwintown]

oh and i just found dotheton.com, holy crap they got a whole forum section on rear sets...

[TheCafeKid]

HA! Welcome to the DTT...I'll see ya over there too

[Zooks]

actually just found a buddy that is sending me superbike bars, clubmans, and drag bars to try out, so i spose my dilemna will figure itself out!

These were going to be my 2 suggestions too. They tend to be a good '2nd' best (so to speak) if you are trying to get the 'sporty' look without discomfort.

[gerwintown]

yeah, cafekid, dunno if ill be posting there at all but i may eventually put pics of my bike once its completed, if only just to represent the gs550.

i had *somewhat* of a breakthrough last night while piddling around. while waiting around for my aircraft stipper to liquify the paint on my gas tank, i was examining the footpegs to see what could possibly be done...you know just studying all the connections and getting a sense of whats available. I dont know where i heard this suggestion, and it must have been a long time ago and im not sure if it was for a gs bike, but i got the idea, since the stock pegs are offset forward from its connection to the frame, what would happen if i swapped the footpegs from left to right? Well, basically, that offset reverses, essentially moving the peg back about 3 inches. they dont fit perfectly, as in i cannot line up both bolts to secure the peg to the frame, but they seem strong enough with just one bolt. There is a little bit more play when you step on the peg, mostly from the rubber dampner (or whatever it is), i think the only think i would be worried about is putting all my weight on one peg, but i really would have no business ever doing that....
...this all works perfectly for me, because not only does it allow me to set my feat back closer to the positioning of rear sets, but also keeping the stock controls in their stock positioning effectively increases the distance on the controls from the footpeg, which fits my size 13 foot waaaaaay better.

i dont know if i would recommend this to everybody, as this simply would not fit somebody with less than a size 12 shoe. I suppose its also pretty hackish to have a bolt missing on each side. It might make my kickstarter useless too....but hey im pretty pumped right now anyways.