Euro Style Cafe Racer Handlebars & Go Cruise 2 Throttle Lock

[weazsel]

Hey guys. I decided to try out a different set of bars today. I was going to go the clip-on route or the Renthal route or whatever but I decided my beloved baby is NOT going on the track. She's going to be ridden around town on one wheel, all shiny and new forever and ever bringing huge smiles of joy & abundant gleeful laughter. 
 
So after seeing Matt's video (see link below) it definitely piqued my interest and for $33 how could I go wrong? This post is some before and after pictures, install notes and a little cruise control experimentation.
 
I found out about them from this video: 

 
So many people started asking him about them, he made a video specifically about the bars: 

 
Link to the bars here: Super Silly Sleek Satin Handlebars
 
So the install was pretty straight forward. Take pictures of everything before you take shet apart! It make it a lot easier for me. From memory, remove the bar ends and use an air compressor to pop off the grips. (Never doing grips the hard way again by the way, the compressor was a delight.) Loosen all the controls. Remove the two screws to get the speedo loose. Loosen all four clamp bolts and voila! Everything is falling all over the place, take care not to scratch your things. Slide the bar over to one side, remove the controls on the opposite. Do the same for the other side.
 
Now that everything is hanging all over the place go grab your new silly handlebars. ACTUALLY BEFORE YOU DO THAT. You need to drop the headlight to loosen everything up. I had to unclip the front brake lines from their couplers. Same for the wires that go to the starter/kill switch and signals/horn etc... these bars are higher up and honestly use ALL the amount of slack left for the wires, brake line and clutch cable. Nothing is stressed otherwise I wouldn't have finished the install and would have put the stock bars back on. Everything is maxed out though in terms of the minimum amount of slack that is left over.
 
Okay now go grab your silly handlebars. Refer to that picture you took earlier. (You did take a picture right?!) Slide the bars to the left and slide your front brake and throttle assembly on (throttle cables go OVER brake lever). Do the reverse for the clutch. Be easy because you can scratch your new shiny handlebars. Your baby is starting to look like a motorcycle again huh?! 
 
I mocked everything up just to get an idea and popped the handlebar clamp back on loosely so I can start lining everything up. This is the part I don't really like about this whole thing. It seems the bars are just a tick too narrow. The clamp is not PERFECTLY flush but I don't remember how it was with the stock bars. You'll see if you get to this part. I'm not TOO worried about it. The bars are real tight and I don't think I'm going to have an issue.
 
Okay, so. New bars clamped down. I sat on the bike to get a feel for the angle I liked. Next the grips were shot back on with the compressor. Leaving the signal/horn/light switch and starter/kill switch loose but in their respective positions I set the clutch and brake levers where I wanted them. In my seated position, slightly aggressive I have them almost parallel with my straight wrists. Since I've been riding them in the stock position for over a year now I feel a little disappointed with myself I hadn't adjusted them sooner.
 
Now that the grips are on, levers are set (with enough slack!) and tightened down the signal and kill switch had to be secured. I took a pair of sharp, small dykes to cleanly snip off the little nub that used to lock into the old handlebars. Got those in position and tightened them down. Both feel tight and secure even without the nubby.
 
Lastly the speedo and the two speedo bolts. With this bar it's not perfect. I need to get two rubber grommets/spacers to angle the speedo back to the original position.
 
Finished! Let's ride.
 
Initial low speed parking lot reaction: WHOA, my arms are really relaxed. This feels weird. Do I like this? I don't know if I like this. Give it a chance jesus christ it's been 3 1/2 seconds... okay, this actually feels pretty good. Low speed maneuvering honestly seemed to get easier. I buzzed around a small parking lot to get a feel for them and make sure I didn't miss anything and nothing fell off. Did a couple smidsys and pulled back in to double check my work.
 
First ride: Man these things are pretty cool. I'm definitely set back a little in the seat. Wheelies ARE a lot easier like Matt said in his video. (Not like they were hard in the first place!) I did a nice mix of back roads and highway driving. I was very comfortable the whole time. I can say that I liked them. They weren't life altering but I liked them. I'll post some more of my experience and some media this weekend after I ride with them some more.
 
NOTE: Stock bar ends do not work. I purchased these little junkboxes a few months ago and today finally got the chance to put them on. They don't fit. Even sliding off the bigger universal compression sleeve for the smaller one it still didn't fit. Well the sleeve fit but the actual compression collet doesn't fit inside the bars. I can drill the bars a little but F@[HASH]K that, I don't want to do that. I'm probably going to order some different bar ends/mirrors tomorrow. 
 
Go Cruise 2 Throttle Lock - After getting a feel for the new bars I slipped on the included rubber band on the inside of my throttle grip and slid on the Go Cruise 2. This thing is AWESOME. A little pricey at $31 for a piece of metal but I'm very happy with my purchase. For a second it felt a little crowded on on my R6 throttle tube but I got used to it after a minute. Read the reviews on amazon, it seems I'm not the only one who loves this thing. I've used it for 5 f@#%ing minutes and I love it already! I felt like Rose on the front of the ship on the Titanic flying down the highway! No really! Minus Lenoard DiCaprio's hands around my waist. Seriously though it was a feeling of future relief on longer trips when I can give my throttle hand a break. I have some longer trips planned for this year and I can tell it's going to pay dividends.
 
See it on amazon here: Go Cruise 2
 
Anyway, that's that. Any questions feel free to ask. Any help you need don't hesitate to PM. Ride safe ladies and gents!

[docjohn85]

I actually saw that video some time ago and couldn't find it again! I've been wanting to change out the bars and this is so helpful! Unfortunately the bars are sold out there so I'm gonna try for a similar set. Hopefully no problems!

[weazsel]

Hopefully the similar ones you found fit better. The ones I purchased didn't fit so great in the clamps.
 
I've actually swapped that guy out for this one: Suburban Machinery M1 Handlebar
 
It's a lot lower than stock but not as low as a full clip on set. For me it's a happy medium for street use and track use.
 
Glad my post could help in any way!