'85 GS700ES: can fork tubes be moved up in triple clamps?

[Anonymous]

I tried to mount a set of clip-ons to the bike. Not so good. I moved the tubes up in the triple clamps about 2" to mount the clipons above the top clamp. Looks great and the riding position is really nice. Only problem is there appears to be some sort of seal between the tube and top clamp, and it's leaking like a sieve. So in short, what is this seal, can it be blocked off, and is it possible to move the tubes within the clamps without messing up this seal? Also, it looks to be a crossover between left/right, so I'm not really sure why it's needed. I'd really like to make this work, especially after riding it a few miles. I stopped when I noticed fork oil all over my left knee!

Please don't yell at me, this is my first GS and I'dn like it to be a pleasant experience.

[Anonymous]

That is the crossover tube for the pressurized air for the forks. You can move the tubes up in the triples a bit, but not so much as the hole for the air pressure is exposed.

I would suggest that you forget the clip ons and get some other style of bars - superbike or ??

I'm sure someone will have a suggestion.

[joe.d]

Mount drag bars ....or if you have room mount the clip ons Under the top tripple clamp

[Anonymous]

You can only move the forks up about 1/2 inch before you get the air pressure holes out of the mounts. If you need to keep the forks up that far you'll have to weld up the air hole and drill new ones 2 inches lower.

Personally, I would look at a different bar setup. Dropping the front end that far will affect the steering/stability of a bike that is already pretty quick steering due to the 16 inch wheel.

[Anonymous]

thanks...maybe bars from another GS would work?

This bike has non-standard bars...they are actually a perch mounted to the top clamp with short 7/8" bars clamped into them. It's pretty much stock or clipons. I can't mount between the clipons because the headlight bracket shrouds the tubes leaving no clearance (unless I ditch the headlight!). In my description I mistakenly said I moved them 2"...I probably only moved them 1", enough to make 2" stick out the top clamp.

I guess since it's the air system it's pretty much gotta be there. Might just have to remount the stock.

Now I'm wondering if any similar year GS has bars which mount the same, but are lower and swept back more?

[QuaiChangKane]

I've got an '83 750E, which should be the same setup as your bike. There should be enough room to clamp clip-ons to the fork tubes above the top triple without sliding the forks up. If you remove your factory clip-ons, you've got about an inch of exposed tube - look for aftermarket clip-ons (37mm, I think?) with a single-bolt clamp. The double-bolt clamps are too tall for the amount of tube you have to work with, but the singles should work. And if all ese fails, you've still got 1/2" of play if you do need to adjust the tubes.

As was mentioned earlier, they do make clip ons with two-piece clamps, so you can clamp them to the fork tube below the triple without taking your top triple off to get them on (but you run the risk of the bars being so low that they hit the tank when you try to make tight turns).

Or, just take your stock clip-on risers to a machine shop, and have them cut the 3" vertical piece out, then weld the two pieces back together...


-Q!

[Anonymous]

okay, gonna get to work now...

QCK- thanks. I already shelled out $150 for some fancy Vortex clipons (yes, 37mm...not a common size). There's no way to mount between the clamps because of the aforementioned headlight bracket clearance. Although the vortex units are 3- bolt, I will see if I can get enough meat onto the tubes with them back down into normal range. Might work, might not.

p.s. risers are cast ltwt steel or maybe aluminum...don't think they are weldable even with TIG. Good idea though...I'm not adverse to cutting and welding.

[QuaiChangKane]

Let me know how it works out - I'm eyeballing an aftermarket fairing that would require lower bars. If you cut and reweld the stockers, I'd like to know how it goes.


Maybe you can cut down the clamps on the clip-ons that you bought? I know they're pricey - someone said that the stockers from a CBR600F2 would work (and they're cheap on Ebay), but they're 41mm... - Dunno?


-Q!

[Anonymous]

Take the time to check out the Honda bars. I've got a set of the 600F2 bars on mine. According to several clip-on sites, the CBR600's have 37mm forks. The 1000F2's have 41mm. The year Honda you want to look at is 87-90.

[Anonymous]

problem solved...first idea was the right one

Okay, problem solved. First, much kudos to all who helped. This comes down to a matter of 1/2". To all who try, there is no way to mount between clamps on a '85 GS700ES. The headlight bracket shrouds the tubes within about 1/4" leaving no clearance for clip-ons. I moved the tubes back down to about 1/4" above stock position and there was plenty of room to mount the clip-ons. I just moved them a little too much.

I love all the replies about possible other bikes bars which might work. Twenty trips to swapmeets makes one realize what will work regardless of which japanese maker the part came from. If I hadn't already bought the clip-ons and made them work, I would have researched this further.

Short story: clip-ons work just don't move the bars up much. I'm tellin' ya, the position's not for everyone, but those 6" risers really made me sit up too tall.

[Anonymous]

I agree. Leaning forward a bit does feel better. Glad everything worked out.