Bending handlebars

Has anyone ever tried to deliberately bend handlebars for a better fit
in the hands? I have a bike that causes me wrist and elbow pain because
my wrist is bent at an awkward angle when I ride. I've tried moving the
bars forward and backward but that doesn't change the wrist angle
enough. I figure if I can just bend the bars so the handgrip section is
angled out from the bike a few more degrees, I can get the position I
need.

Are bars tempered steel or something or are can I heat them up a bit and
apply some brute force (after removing all the controls and grips of
course.)

Tia,
Ken in Albuquerque

 

Do you want to try an experiment? The worst that could happen is you
may have to buy a new handlebar...

You could look around for a "smitty" that an electrician would use to
bend electrical conduit.

Motorcycle handlebars are either 7/8th's or 1 inch in diameter. The
"smitty" has a mandrel to keep the tubing from collapsing as you bend
it.

If the handlebars are chrome plated, the chrome might peel off at the
bend.

Handlebars do come in different widths, center widths, rise, and
pullback, as well as
having the name of a specific style, like "western", "low euro", etc.

If you can find an online catalog that gives the dimensions of various
models of handlebar you can get a better idea what you really need by
sitting on the motorcycle and placing your hands where you think they
should go and figuring out what the pullback and width and angle of the
ideal bar for you would be.

 

We used to do this with bars which were much thinner walled than current
ones. I think it'd depend on the amount of bend you want. Too much and
you'd weaken the bars. Ditto if you use heat.

There are hundreds of after market bars out there. I doubt you will save
much after taking your bars to a place which MAY be able to bend them.
Why not look around for a set of already bent bars to your liking first?

-paul in albuquerque

 

FB suggested the same thing. Problem is I don't know what I need to buy.
I can sit on the bike and see exactly where my current bars need to be
to straighten out my wrist but I can't seem to figure out the actual
dimensions and angles to accomplish the same thing in an aftermarket
bar.

F.Y.I., the bar I want to bend is on an '83 Honda GL650. I think it's
the original stock bar.

Thanks,
Ken

 

I don't think I'd try bending the bars. I'd be worried about
either screwing them up or having one of the bent spots
break or bend again if I dropped the bike.

Locally there are some good aftermarket shops. If I were
having this problem, I'd probably ride the bike over to one
or more shops, see if I could get some suggestions and
buy if their suggestions made sense.

Besides new bars, you could also play around with barbacks
or risers and rotating the controls on the bars to get your wrists
straight. Are you short, tall, medium or what ? Are your wrists
bent too far up or down, or are they rotated at an uncomfortable
angle ?

 

I've tried this, but I wound up not using them because I found it's hard to
get them symetrical, ymmv.

A trick is to fill them completely with sand and cork the ends to keep them
from kinking, and heat evenly around with steady pressure and bend slowly.
It only works for a bend, if you try twisting them this doesn't work. The
plan was to paint them black after.

If they are steel, weakening them is probably not a problem, they're
probably just mild steel. Aluminum is different, it gets soft before
changing color and some alloys will reharden themselves after a while
(precipitaion hardening I think they call it) and some won't. I don't know
what they make Al bars out of.

To hold the bars in a vice, I drilled 7/8" holes in a couple af Al blocks
and then cut them thru the middle, worked pretty well.

I gave up, decided it was easier just to buy different bars. You can get
steel "superbike" and such bars for a reasonable price, they want way too
much for the Al ones I figure.

P.

 

There are thousands of choices for dirtbikes but selection is much more
limited for a streetbike. Still I think your best option is to shop for
replacement bars. Steel dirtbike bars are under $20 as they are such a
common replacement item and so broadly generic. H-D shops and "custom"
shop sell a lot of aftermarket bars. Most H-D's are 1". A few Hondas
have a 1" clamp but 7/8" at the grips.

IIRC the GL650 bars are fairly high and the handgrips are severely
angled back. I don't blame you for wanting to replace them.

Would start by removing them completely from the bike and measuring. If
you find an aftermarket reference for replacement bars you should have a
guide as to how to measure. Shop the measurements for something better.

You say that you want only a few degrees of change. Find a strong pipe
that fits over your bar ends with handgrips removed. Buy/borrow two at
least 4' or 5' long. Stand one one side of the bike with one of the
cheater pipes and a friend with the other side with the other. Plan in
advance how far you wish to bend, then both bend at the same time. Done
right there won't be much stress on the bike, just the bars.

Might temporarily change the position in the clamps so both you and your
friend bend in a plane horizontal with the ground. Its easier that way
for both to make the same bend.

For small changes heating the bars, filling with sand, and mandrel
bending tools are excessive. I've straightened a number of dirtbike
steel bars with a very heavy hammer, some 2x4 blocks used for padding,
and a flat concrete sidewalk or driveway. When you want to make a bend
or straighten one its done the same way one straitens a bent nail. Can
not hit on the high end, must rotate so the undesired bend is up and hit
it in the middle. The flat concrete also serves as your reference. The
clamp section of the bars should lie flat on the concrete as both ends
of the bars make simultaneous contact else you need to work on symmetry.
Even so you may not be symmetric. Also measure from center of clamp
section to each bar end.

 

As a number of other people have suggested, I'd start by looking for
more suitable bars. While it's more expensive, it's also more reliable.

I'd actually recommend bending cold rather than hot. I've found it
easier to be precise about the bending. If you're worried about
weakening the bars, you can anneal them afterwards. Of course, not
knowing whether or not you need to anneal, and then wondering how to do
it is one reason why store-bought bars are easier.

Yeah, usually it's mild steel, AFAIK.

I would recommend against attempting _any_ bending of Aluminum bars
(heat or no) unless you know exactly what you're doing and what alloy
you're dealing with. In this case (the OP has added that these are bars
off of an '83 Honda GL 650) I'm pretty sure they're not Aluminum (but I
could be wrong!).

Yes, it's precipitation hardening, and some alloys do it more than
others; it's also dependent on both time and temperature for a given
alloy.

--
Later,
John



'indiana' is a 'nolnn' and 'hoosier' is a 'solkk'. Indiana doesn't solkk.

 

Go down to one of MANY bike shops we have in town and have a guy from
parts look at what you want as you sit on the bike. He'll measure and
then make a recommendation.

 

Thanks to everyone for all the comments and suggestions. I think I'll
ask around at the local bike shops to see if there's anyone in town who
can look at the bike and make some suggestions. I'm not against paying
$100 for a new bar...if it will straighten my wrist. Anyone know of a
local shop (Albuquerque) that has someone knowledgable?

In case anyone is curious about this, I took some pics of my bent wrist
on the bar and posted them here:

http://home.comcast.net/~kenglong/GL650BAR/GL650BAR.htm

Thanks,
Ken in Albuquerque

 

http://www.thegsresources.com/gs_ergonomics.htm

 

I would suggest Honda West (or is it West Honda?) in the north part of
town. They are good folks. Terry West is an old friend who had my
business when he ran Texarkana Honda before getting his own shop in
Albuquerque (and before we opened our shop). Angie Polston, Cliff
Polston's (from rmd) wife, works the parts/accessories counter.

They should be able to help you.

Bikemaster (Tucker Rocky house brand) has the largest selection of low
cost steel chromed bars. Very reasonable.

Jim Cook
Smackover Racing
Gas Gas DE300
Team LAGNAF
www.smackovermotorsports.com

 

Motorsports and see Nick. There are many others too.

 

Lovely town. Got friends there. Been there twice, for the Balloon
Fiesta.