Bars to be narrowed
 

Just got my pro taper bars in cr high and looking to narrow them up. What is the best way to cut the bar?

Measure, tape, hacksaw! My recommendation is to be conservative when cutting. A little goes a long way, so to speak. I've seen friends cut up to 2 inches off each side and then they never could get comfortable on longer rides and had to scrap the bars.

I have used a small plumber's pipe cutter they'd use on copper and small steel pipe. I'll be using them again when I cut down the Renthals on the 250 shortly.

http://www.harborfreight.com/media/c...mage_18129.jpg

$4.99 at Harbor Freight.

+1 on going conservative. I cut some short, back in the day, and afterward there wasn't room for the grips , perches, and switches. I had to go buy a second set of bars. Wow did that suck! In any case, measure how much real estate your grips etc take up, then cut.
Dan

D

Dan, hard to believe you did that. I know you had to find a decent use for that short bar later.:D

TNC , I know you are just laughing AT me, but I'll humor you with a response. :D

Honestly , I don't remember what i did with the short bars. I think I gave them to a buddy that put them on a hill-climb bike he was building.

The bars I replaced the "too short" bars with were on my old "85" KLR, and when i got the KLX in 2008 I put them on it. They are Renthals, but I don't know what bend. I think I ended up taking an inch off each end way back when. When I started riding my Husqvarna I got last year, the bars felt really wide, and I had a harder time squeezing between some of the trees. I plan on cutting the huskies bars down.

Don't cut the bar just yet, ride the bike some with the bar full width for a while.

That little pipe cutter from harbor freight works great. I bought some protaper klx110 bars for my bw80 and they were too wide. The bar cutter is easy to use and makes perfect cuts.

I have the protaper wood low and I love them in tight woods! Those bars are 1" shorter, so only 1/2" less on each side, and I don't think I would go any shorter than that.

Atv bars usually have the rise more abrupt so the area for grips perches signal switches is greater.

I picked up the same pair of pro taper bars. Didn't cut them down at the time of install due to a lack of equipment.. (hacksaw is on the boat right now)

I had no issue with the width at first, maybe a bit slower to the lean... once I went up to a 120/70/17 tire from a 110/70/17, the wider bars felt "sluggish"

It is "easier" to turn the bars due to the increased leverage over stock, but the speed at which the tire responded was different. Imagine putting mx style bars on a sportbike... Or a steering wheel from a bus into a rally car..the response would be a nightmare. My steering is not a nightmare, but it is noticeably "slower"

I also now have to push or extend my arm further to accomplish the same turning, which for a normal person might be a problem, but my ape arms don't seem to mind. Perhaps I would enjoy less of a stretch, we'll see when I get my hacksaw back :D

Also be ready to reroute cables/ buy longer ones. I managed to route the throttle pull cable down the bar underneath and tucked behind the right fork. I removed the throttle return, it seemed too short with the new bars. Clutch cable barely fits, probably should consider getting the klx300 cable.

* If you put your bike on a center stand, and let the forks drop down, it will make your installation and placement of the front brake line difficult as the length is different with a load on the forks..... :P do that one with the bike sitting on the ground on the side stand.

with the grips that i got looks like the controls will barely bit on the bar as is. the klx300 clutch cable is that part number 54011?