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TESTED! : Suburban Machinery vs Woodcraft bars


pgeldz

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Hey everyone!
 
So I was just curious...
 
Has anyone actually had one of these, and switched to the other?
 
I have the Suburban Machinery bars now, but I'm wondering if the Woodcraft bars with the 1.5" rise in the down position are lower...
 
Anyone?
 
- Paulie

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Hey everyone! 
So I was just curious...
 
Has anyone actually had one of these, and switched to the other?
 
I have the Suburban Machinery bars now, but I'm wondering if the Woodcraft bars with the 1.5" rise in the down position are lower...
 
Anyone?
 
- Paulie
 
 
From what ive seen regarding the woodcrafts you might want to get a new set of "risers" to replace the stock set. The woodcraft adapter mounts to the lower half of the the stock bar mounts.
If you could get an ultralow riser set, the suburban bars could go even lower.
As could the woodcraft if you went that route.
Something like these
http://m.ebay.com/itm/262044319092
 
Apologies in advance... this made sense in my head
 
 

ATGATT... ATTATT, two acronyms I live by.
 

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Don't get me wrong, I love the SM bars...just looking to get an even more aggressive riding position if possible :)

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  • 3 weeks later...
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Well,
 
Finally got around to trying the Woodcraft bars in the 1.5" down position, and although @jeffkisthename has an awesome thread going about this, I didn't think it would be appropriate to just start posting pics in his thread.
 
Figured I'd just update this one since it's more of a comparison to the Suburban Machinery bars in case anyone was on the fence between the two.
 
I had a hunch Woodcraft's offering in the 1.5" down position would be slightly lower than the Suburban Machinery bars...and I was right! They are in fact lower, about 1/2 inch to an inch lower, depending on how you have the Suburban Machinery bars rotated in the clamps.  The way I had my Suburban Machinery bars rotated in the clamps was such that they were in line with the seam of where the bar clamps meet the risers, as depicted by the Red arrows.  The Red line represents where the bars were.  You have some flexibility here but this was best for me.  Any lower, and the angle at the grips were flatter and higher...any higher, and the angle at the grips was too downward and would contact the tank plastic at full lock.  The Woodcrafts are not adjustable in this regard, but their location when mirroring the Suburban Machinery bars at the same angle is just about identical, just slightly lower, as you can see in this illustration. 
 
[attachment id=1139" thumbnail="1]
 
Either way, they are lower. and they don't interfere with anything at full lock in either direction, although when your gripping them your thumbs WILL contact the tank plastic at full lock. I don't see that being an issue at all though, since I'm never at full lock anyway when riding - maybe when I'm off the bike walking it around the garage, but in that case, I'll put my thumbs on top :)
 
[attachment id=1136" thumbnail="1] [attachment id=1137" thumbnail="1]
 
The Woodcrafts are way, way lighter than the Suburban Machinery bars, yet I don't feel any vibration coming through at all. They come with plastic bar ends, but I took them off and installed a set of Woodraft bar end sliders since they are a little beefier. I didn't really like the way the Woodcraft bars looked in pictures, but installed, look awesome in person. The Suburban Machinery bars being stainless steel looked great as they matched the forks nicely, but the all-Black Woodcrafts make the Green part of the Domino grips "pop" and look incredible.
 
[attachment id=1138" thumbnail="1]
 
As far as sweep, width, and angle, they are pretty much identical to the Suburban Machinery bars. If I closed my eyes and sat on identical bikes, one with the Suburban Machinery bars and one with the Woodcrafts, I wouldn't be able to tell a difference, provided you didn't rotate the Suburban Machinery bars in some weird unnatural position within the clamps. You WOULD be able to tell a difference in the lightness though. If I accelerate in first gear 'briskly', the front end will lift, where before if I wanted to wheelie on motor alone, I'd have to accelerate, chop the throttle to compress the front end and then open the throttle back up when the forks are decompressing. Not so now. Aggressive starts in first with no clutch send the front end skyward in a perfectly controlled lift. It feels like when I used to have a shorter wheelbase after my sprocket change, even though I added a link to increase my wheelbase for stability on the track. Keep in mind this also could be because of the tires, as the Pirelli's I switched to are noticeably lighter than the Dunlops I previously had. On the track, this combo of tires and bars makes the front end feel lighter, but not bothersome.
 
 
Hope the illustration clears up some of the positioning for those of you on the fence.  You can't really go wrong with either, but if you want the absolute lowest aggressive bar for your FZ-07, the Woodcrafts in the 1.5" down position is it at this time...
 
:)
 
- Paulie

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  • 1 year later...
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That was a GREAT article man ! Save a lot of money and time trying to find the best handlebar !
Glad you liked it! 
:)
 
- Paulie
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