My wife has a 2009 KLX 250S. She loves it and ordered the ACERBIS Rally III hand guards. Got to looking at them since they arrived, did some reading, and I'm seeing people having issues due to the ends of the stock handlebars. I'd like to hear some options for how some of you got around this. Any help is appreciated.

I don't want to replace the stock handlebars, but it may be required. *sigh* Will post pics once they're on (if they work out lol).

Trav-

 

Some people have tapped the end of the bars so they could thread a bolt in them.

Some people have simply cut or grinded off the weights so the ends were open.

I just bought a set of Renthal bars. There were cheap and twice as strong as the stockers. The stockers bend really easy.

 

Don't take this wrong, as your wife might be able to ride circles around me, but most women tend to drop their bikes as much or more than us when riding around in the dirt. BigSky is really correct on the flimsiness of the OEM bars. It's worth the investment and solves the issue of mounting any aftermarket handguards.

 

hey just had same problem i just drilled handle bar out to 9.5mm then put a M10 tap through then just got some 25mm M10 bolts and made some little spacers( else when you tighten up the bolts the edge of the hand gaurds squishes the handle as this over laps the atucal handle bars a bit.) as i looked at buying new handle bars but for a 20 buck tap and drill bit it works out way cheaper. and when i fall off and bend my bars ill invest then as dont have the spare cash now. but this works fine its strong as hell and cheap.

 

I used an air powered grinder and ground off the welds on my 06 stock bars, I couldnt get the plugs to come out for the life of me, so I used a chisel and knocked em inside the bars. Mounted up the hand guards, promptly went out to the trails and crashed, bent the bars and the hand guards. Bought a set of aftermarket bars and they were cake to install in the aftermarket bars.

 

Tusk T-10 Aluminum bars are $27.99 at ATV Parts, ATV Tires, Dirt Bike Parts, Motocross Gear, Motorcycle parts and Motorcycle Tires | Rocky Mountain ATV/MC

 

The problem with adding bark buster to the stock bars is that it creates a leverage point on an already weak set of bars. First time I dropped the bike with the bark busters the bars bent up 90 degrees. Have some pro tapers on now and they have taken some hard hits and they just laugh.

 

I used a used a rat tail file on the bar ends. Works great.

 

All of this is fantastic advice! Tapping seems quick and easy while bars seem inevitable. I'll check out some of the bars you recommend.

 

We're really not just trying to get you to spend more money, but it is just about inevitable that those stockers will tweak...fairly quickly depending on riding skill or bad luck. Cegusman points out quite correctly how the bark busters will only add to the leverage point on the stock bars. Think of it this way. Even if you just drive out to a place to go riding and take one spill that results in the bar bending, you've wasted a good deal of time and maybe money trying to save some money on handlebars. And trying to bend the OEM bar back into usable shape to continue the ride is risky. These bars don't just bend, they can crack easily. Frankly it's amazing how strong many of these aftermarket bars are. I don't see how they take some of the abuse I've seen mine take...even without any crossbar brace or such on my Renthal.

I was also wondering if your wife wouldn't appreciate a different bend/rise in a replacement bar that might suit her better. Most women are longer legged and shorter torso'd than men, and maybe she'd like a higher rise and/or different bend. This would be the time to take that into consideration.