Drilling into handlebars

[teebrunz]

Went with the popular renthal ultra low bars for my fz 07 after having drag bars for a year and my back and wrists killing me.  I set them up how I thought I would like them, drilled out the holes for the throttle, start button and turn signals. After taking a quick ride I realized I set them up a lot more upright than I would have liked.  So my question is do you guys think I can drill another 3 holes for the controls or will I be compromising the strength of the bars? Cause if I rotate the bars to where I think they should be everything is going to be all out of whack if i reuse the holes i already drilled. I did notice the renthals are a lot thicker than the drag bars I had, haven't compared them to the stocks.

[topazsparrow]

Just sand down the plastic nubs on the controls man.

It's honestly not worth the hassle and it'll drive you bonkers if you permanently set the controls in a slightly awkward way.

 

Ask me how I know...

[shinyribs]

I cut the nubs of a set of controls one time and seriously regretted it. It was a constant battle from there on to keep them in place. You can wrap a piece of masking tape around the bars where the controls go to locate the hole you need to drill. Lay the switch where you want it and adjust it til comfy. Once in position you can press and wiggle the switch in to the tape and the nub will leave a little depression for you. 

 

Hard to say if your additional holes would weaken the bar to a dangerous level without seeing what you are working with. I have drilled extra holes to move controls in the past with no issues. Handlebars aren't as stressed as some people seem to think. They aren't frame rails!lol  If you can't grab the bars in your hands and fold them up then they will be strong enough. We only put light pressure on the bars when we ride. We never haveto push or pull them with all our might. Just food for thought, but of course, use your own judgement.

[teebrunz]

22 minutes ago, shinyribs said:

I cut the nubs of a set of controls one time and seriously regretted it. It was a constant battle from there on to keep them in place. You can wrap a piece of masking tape around the bars where the controls go to locate the hole you need to drill. Lay the switch where you want it and adjust it til comfy. Once in position you can press and wiggle the switch in to the tape and the nub will leave a little depression for you. 

 

Hard to say if your additional holes would weaken the bar to a dangerous level without seeing what you are working with. I have drilled extra holes to move controls in the past with no issues. Handlebars aren't as stressed as some people seem to think. They aren't frame rails!lol  If you can't grab the bars in your hands and fold them up then they will be strong enough. We only put light pressure on the bars when we ride. We never haveto push or pull them with all our might. Just food for thought, but of course, use your own judgement.

Yea thanks, that's what i figured. I drilled an extra hole in my drag bars on one side where I screwed up and never had an issue, and they were a lot thinner.  And yea I've heard of people having problems if they sand the nubs down so I never wanted to go that route. Just takes a little patience to get it right.

[kylerhsm]

Also, because you're drilling the holes right out near the end of the bar, the forces there are far lower than up at the clamps. Re-drill and you'll be fine. I'd only start to get worried if you ended up removing half of the bar in the one spot. In any case, you'd notice it starting to bend slightly before it actually snapped off.

[Zephyr]

jb weld steelstik them holes up..   That's probably what I'd do, but I agree.  Unless you're hogging out some large holes stacked right beside one another, then it would be difficult to cause enough stress for failure.

[Beemer]

@teebrunz 

When I first saw this something didn't settle right with me. I could be wrong and I almost hate to ask this but if your wrists and back are hurting because you're leaning forward shouldn't you be going to a more upright riding position to alleviate the pressures on your wrist and back? Just trying to help.

[dmaster9494]

I also have the renthal ultralows and I did the dremel the nubs flush method. Used electrical tape for everything and works fine. Made it much easier to adjust and I have no problems with anything being loose. 

[teebrunz]

9 hours ago, Beemer said:

@teebrunz 

When I first saw this something didn't settle right with me. I could be wrong and I almost hate to ask this but if your wrists and back are hurting because you're leaning forward shouldn't you be going to a more upright riding position to alleviate the pressures on your wrist and back? Just trying to help.

Yea good point. I wanted to try something inbetween the drag bars and the stock bars, and if these were no good I would have just gone back to stock. I havent gone on a long ride yet but the way i set up the renthals it took the weight off of my wrists, which is mostly what was killing me. Even with the slight rise and my weight shifted back more I can feel the front tire lift up so much easier when hammering 2nd. 

[Beemer]

12 hours ago, teebrunz said:

Yea good point. I wanted to try something inbetween the drag bars and the stock bars, and if these were no good I would have just gone back to stock. I havent gone on a long ride yet but the way i set up the renthals it took the weight off of my wrists, which is mostly what was killing me. Even with the slight rise and my weight shifted back more I can feel the front tire lift up so much easier when hammering 2nd. 

Cool! For some reason I thought you were lowering your bars, good to see you're happy with them now!