I spent the day doing some upkeep on the bike and swapping my trashed bars out for some new ones. And I figured I'd take the opportunity to add my fist piece of crazyapple themed stuff. So I threw on some Scott lime green grips.

But things didn't go quite as smoothly as I was led to believe. I looked for some info and had a hard time finding it, other stuff I found but wasn't true. So I thought I'd report what I found here.

First off, counter sprocket nut is 27mm. That was fairly hard to find out so there it is.

And wile we're on the subject I'll come out and say; you need an impact gun. I figured I could make it work somehow, I've got a decent breaker bar (2ft), I can tug pretty hard when I need to. It'll work out.

WRONG! I gave it everything I had and it didn't budge. Maybe mine was overtightened in the factory or shop. But it's just not happening, so be prepared for that possibility.

And I saw videos of people slicing their grips and pulling them right off. WRONG!!! Left side came off just like that, easy as could be. Throttle side? Not happening! What I ended up doing was taking my box knife and just cutting the grip off in long strips, took some patience and care (sharp things near your hands require special attention) but I got it cleaned off enough to put the new one on.

I tried using hairspray to keep the grips in place, doesn't seem to be doing the job, but then I didn't use the cheap stuff as suggested.

I got the Fly allumi-steel bars, Kawa/Suzu bend. Pretty close to stock bend, a little higher and a little more sweep (I think? the stock bars have been bent in a million directions since I bought the bike). Not a bad feel though. They are a little bit wider which takes some getting used to. I like it though, I feel like I'm more in control of the bike now. If you turn to left lock it does rev very slightly, I can't see it ever being a problem, even in tight off road situations. The paint chips off of these bars VERY easily. And they come pre chipped slightly. The do look pretty good though, be careful and you've got a pretty good looking bar for around $20.

As for how they crash? We'll I'm sure I'll find out in no time.

Left mirror assembly does not come off as all the other bits, it must be slid off and slid on. Which makes not nicking the new bars nearly impossible. And only the blinker/ headlight assembly requires a hole to be drilled into the bars. The other side does not. And I didn't both with it, I cut the nub off and glued some grippy rubber into there. I wouldn't suggest it, drill a hole and be done with it.

Also I broke some switch off that's activated when the clutch is pulled. I'm not quite sure what it was, but I noticed that I can now start the bike in gear without the clutch pulled in. Obviously it doesn't start but lurches a bit. It wouldn't do that before so I'm guessing that's what the switch was?

 

haha jakethegarden snake rode your klx didn't he? or is this another crazyapple

 

My $0.02
Socket for CS nut 1 1/16" 6 point is close enough. Yes the nut is torqued on quite tight on some bikes. Mine took a 3/4" drive breaker bar with a MC fork leg cheater to break it loose. Buddy on the bike with both brakes locked, I didn't like the idea of getting the tranny in the mix so the bike was in neutral.
To others: Don't drill the replacement bar, trim the nubs off the control pods instead. Put a wrap of cloth tape around the bar and the control pod will snug onto the bar just fine.
Yes, you have defeated the clutch switch. Bikes got along for many decades without them. Now go further down the line and connect the wires on the frame side of the connector so it will never become a problem. Many of us on this forum have bypassed the clutch and sidestand switches on purpose (parts that aren't there can't become a problem at the least opportune moment). Just remember that the "lawyer" parts are gone, bike will start in gear, you can ride off with the sidestand down.
I got lucky and was able to get my grips off with compressed air.

 

when I did my sprocket im pretty sure I used my kit of impact sockets I got from harbor freight that has always worked on car lug nuts
I have a 13 piece set of large deep impact sockets
so may be more about having the right tools on hand to make some jobs easier to do
and of course an electric impact gun


ive learned a real cool trick with any grip
you can use rubbing alcohol drip it, or put in a squirt bottle and spray it inbetween the grips using a long thin flat screwdriver to spread the gap
alcohol will temp soften the rubber just twist, squirt, twist and pop it comes off

Ive also used windex the same way but alcohol was faster

gluing yes sometimes I have to use glue
sometimes they stick on there own
just depends


one FI bike I had brand new right when I got home disabled the clutch switch
after that almost every stop on that bike it would idle low and die
was in the shop brand new for 3 days no one could figure out why
then I remembered the switch I bypassed. Got it home soldered back the wires never died again. So for me no more bypassing switches, at least on FI bikes

carb bikes probably not a problem to do
and years ago I fell over on my dual sport on a mountain trail and broke the clutch safety switch, of course no kick starter so it would not start
had to run, roll it all over up hill until I got fast enough to bump start it.
What a nightmare I can see getting rid of that its not safe

side stand well thats up to you
I never had it kill the bike engine riding it

 

The C/S nut is infamous for being tight on these bikes, I'm surprised you didn't find numerous threads mentioning this. I put some aniti-sieze on mine after the first change and torqued it properly and have never had another problem. I seriously think they had something set wrong at the factory.

I'm Pretty sure that all the accoutrements on my "07" bars have two piece clamps. Is yours an 09 crazyapple? sounds like a pain.

 

On the '09 the clutch isn't a split clamp; front brake is.

 

=P There's only one CrazyApple! My bike has become a little less... well she's not quite as pretty as she was back then.

Hmm, my 27mm wasn't a perfectly snug fit, so who knows, maybe a 1 1/16 is just what the doctor ordered. I Finally got it off with a 3 foot cheater bar. What was making it so difficult is I was tugging on it so hard it was making the rear brake slip. I ended up wedging something between the swing arm and the spokes to hold it in place. I was REALLY worried about doing that, I didn't want to break a spoke. But they held. And after I got it loose the first time the rear brake would hold it just fine.


Well I didn't really look into the job, just the nut. It seemed so straight forward
a job that I didn't need to look it up.

I did however read that the nut was reverse threaded... read that in a couple places... IDIOTS!!! And I was dumb enough to spend about 30 min working under that assumption. Finally I looked down at the threads that were sticking out and said "wait a minute!" Not my smartest moment.

Yup, 09. Pain for sure. But man it feels like such a little beast now. I backed out the rear preload about 3/4 an inch from stock and went with the 13 tooth. Now this is what a bike should feel like!

 

I have the bike on my make shift stand (two jack stands and a 2X4) jumped on her, held the rear brake and used a breaker bar and pushed like hell!!! my rear brake wasn't holding it and I was slipping, so I have to use an impact gun, nope that didn't work either, then I just got back on and kicked the breaker bar and it fell off, well I guess it loosened of it's own free will

 

hey guys if you dont want to buy an expensive impact gun just for one mod on your bike
look into the cheap 12v one harbor freight sells
I got this to use on my scooter on long trips if I break a drive belt
under $25 its not too much investment

I did a video test with it, on truck tire lug nuts with a old uncharged motorcycle battery powering the impact
so thats as worse case scenario you could test

I think if it can handle truck lug nuts should be good to loosen your bike nut

 

I put a large bar between the sprocket hole and the swingarm to lock the rear wheel so I don't have to stand on the brakes or anything and use a long breaker bar. Don't do this with an aluminum sprocket.