I just bought a new pair of MSR hand guards and was exited to put them on until I cut the caps of my grips. I had heard that Kawi put plugs on the inside of their bars, but I figured it would be easy to drill through. Well, lets just say I wasn't so exited any more when I saw the plug they put in there.
What is the easiest way to cut that out, or are new bars necessary? If I need to get new bars, I wouldn't mind something that is a little taller than stock. I'm 6'1" and the stock bars are a touch low for my liking. Does anyone have a recomendation on Bars to use, or is a seperate riser in order?

Why does Kawi put that stupid plug inside the bars? Just to **** me off?

 

I just installed Barkbusters VPS guards on my bike and my Dad's bike yesterday...

After trimming off the end of the grips, we used a die grinder and a carbide burr to make short work of the three tack welds (which are better welds than I would have imagined). Before cracking through the last weld entirely, we took a wire coat hanger and bent the end over slightly, inserting it into the hole in the end of the plug (it's longer than you would expect, about 2-2.5" in length). Then, we cracked through the last weld with the burr. A small punch and hammer were used to make sure the plug was free, then we cleaned up the rest of the weld off the inside of the handlebars, and used our wire coat hanger hook to extract the plug...

Simple enough - took us about 7-8 minutes per end to grind, clean up, and extract the plugs.

 

If you got the extra cash, I'd just get new bars as the stockers will bend the first time the bike falls good on them.

At the same time maybe some risers. I'm 6'1 too and needed risers to be able to stand without hunching over.

 

If you are going to use the stockers, the easiest way to deal with that plug is to drill and tap the center hole for the bolt that holds the bark buster on. That will give you a nice solid mount.
+1 on new bars, some of them are pretty inexpensive, I think the Tusk brand have gotten good reviews for the money.
Dan

 

Thanks every one. I'm thinking new bars will be the best/easist option.
Scobib, thanks for the info, but with my skills there will probably be lots of blood trying to bore that out.

 

The easiest thing is to use a hack saw and cut just past the welds, remove the plugs and there you go. I did this and still had enough bars for everything to fit. I installed Acerbis Rally Pro guards.

 

Does anyone know the dimensions of the stock bars? Height/rise/pullback?

 

I just used a plumbers pipe cutter to cut the bars about 1/4" from the end and pulled the plugs out. Wasn't a big deal.

 

My bars are very similar to the stockers except they're taller (I'm 6'0) and have a tad less sweep. Renthal 809 RC High bend. Renthal 'Jimmy Button" bend is almost the same.

 

Now I find out how to do this. I burned out two drill bits trying to get through to tap the plug. I got frustrated, pulled off the bars and installed new Renthals ($80) with a rise to them. This way I did not have to put in bar risers for $40. this was much easier than cutting of the ends of the bars and going with very narrow bars.