Ergos question...

[MarkGable]

...well after a year or so I'm back on the gasser...wicked knee injury.. I didn't get to ride my 300 very long before I hurt my knee so I never got to fiddle with the bike much. I can't seem to get comfortable standing on the bike. I always feel like my center of gravity is "on my heels" so to speak. Especially while accelerating while standing I feel like I have no leverage to keep myself over the bars or weight forward. It's hard to explain, I've ridden many other bikes over the years and never had this problem, but I just can't get comfortable on the GasGas and this leads to timid riding and more potential for injury. I'm hoping one of you guys will know the "feeling or position" I'm talking about and can offer some help. By the way I'm 5'11" and 190lbs.
thanks!

 

[widebear]

get those bars way forward

 

[MarkGable]

I was thinking that was the problem and I've been looking a bit online for a solution. LTR has some clamps that look like they would work. It's a 1999 300xc. Could you suggest some other triple clamps, and or mounts that could help me with this....and where to find them. thanks for the relpy!

 

[roostafish]

Do you have the stock pegs? If so, cut the spacer and move it to the other side of the peg. You could go with the Fastway pegs, they have high and low settings. The low setting is slightly rearward, and about a 13mm lower. They made a bid difference for me. I have the fastways now, and had cut and rewelded the spacer on the stock pegs on my old gasser. It worked the same. I also have an under bar scotts damper which raises the bars quite a bit, and use the Pro Taper Enduro High bend. It opens the cockpit quite a bit, and the balance point is better for me.

 

[MarkGable]

I do have the stock pegs, I will try that with the spacers. Also, I have protapers in the universal mounts so the bars are higher but they are not forward adjustable. So far I have not found any universal mounts that are either adjustable forward or back or just hard mounted further forward...do you know of any??

 

[MattR]

BRP has mounts that increase height and offer an offset. They mount asymmetrically, so depending upon the attachment, they offset the bars forward or rearward. These work with the stock triple clamp.

 

[jostby]

Do you have the stock pegs? If so, cut the spacer and move it to the other side of the peg.

BRP has mounts that increase height and offer an offset.

I'm 6'1" and did both of these mods and it made all the differance. You'll love it.

 

[Eric K]

Mark,

I struggled with the same thing you have experienced.

What I really wanted was to move the bars forward, with minimal increase in height to achieve the horizontal distance between the pegs and bags. Installing the bars in the forward position and rotating the bars forward helped some, but it was still insufficient with my 6’ height and long arms. Raising the bars moves them rearward, due to the angle of the triple clamp, which was the wrong direction for me.

I made extensions that bolted in the stock bar mount holes in the triple clamps. The extensions had a forward hole in which I installed the bar mounts. The extensions were made of aluminum bar stock 0.5 inch thick by 1.2 inch width. They are very stout.

The extensions moved the bars forward 1.5 inches and up 0.8 inches net relative to the forward bar mount position. The motorcycle is so much more comfortable to ride with the improved ergos. They provide me a much better balanced forward attack position.

 

[sierrarider]

Eric, that sounds like what I need to do. Do you have any pics? Are you able to run a damper with that configuration? It sure would be nice to have to reach forward for the bars a little bit. I run Flexx bars and they are not supposed to be "rolled forward" to increase the distance from the seat. It would lessen the effectiveness of the damping.

 

[reiterrider]

The Hottest Ergo Setup

I've spent tons of time figuring this out!
I'm 6'1" and 195lbs and ride a 2003 EC350

You want a BRP triple, it will move you forward, about an inch and up an inch.
Bar selection is also critical, I bought mine direct from Sunline, for some reason they discount their bars online to $50 which is about half of retail.
These bars are filled with elastomer, so it also acts as a dampener. And it comes with a trick pad. Jimmy Lewis gave it a good review.
You will also notice that I have a Scotts dampener, and I'm using the Cycra Pro bend bark busters with the Bonz bar clamps that allow me to connect direct to my bark busters.

The triple is also rubber mounted to the sub mount that also cuts down on vibration. I use super fat silicone grips from Progrip.
This setup is comfortable, allows me to stand for longer periods of time and cuts vibration down to zero.
I almost bought a flexx bar, but with this setup I don't need one.

Here's a pic of my ergos.

 

[SpeedyManiac]

If you go with a BRP triple clamp, be wary. Some of them have the holes farther back than others (older ones were the same as the stock triple clamps on pre '05 bikes while newer triple clamps have the holes in the forward position of the 05-present triple clamps).

I found the BRP SUB clamp to high and too far back for my tastes (I'm 6' tall). I'm a mechanical engineer and my dad is a machinist, so I designed a new SUB mount that puts the bars even farther forward than the forward mounting position on the stock triple clamp, and at about stock height (works better for cornering). Compared to the BRP SUB mount, it's 7mm farther forward and 17mm lower (the damper is as low as possible now).

 

[MarkGable]

Would you be interested in selling a set???

 

[sierrarider]

I'm running a BRP rubber mounted triple clamp with a top mount damper setup. I don't know about the configuration of the holes on the top clamp (forward or back). I just know I'd like to have the bars more forward and a sub mount damper would be nice also. Speedy, if you have another setup available, I'd be interested also.

 

[SpeedyManiac]

It's doubtful I can get another sub mount made easily, but if you're interested I could sell you a drawing that you could take to a local machine shop to get one made. I'll post photos of my prototype sometime this week.

 

[Eric K]

I've spent tons of time figuring this out!
I'm 6'1" and 195lbs and ride a 2003 EC350

You want a BRP triple, it will move you forward, about an inch and up an inch.
Bar selection is also critical, I bought mine direct from Sunline, for some reason they discount their bars online to $50 which is about half of retail.
These bars are filled with elastomer, so it also acts as a dampener. And it comes with a trick pad. Jimmy Lewis gave it a good review.
You will also notice that I have a Scotts dampener, and I'm using the Cycra Pro bend bark busters with the Bonz bar clamps that allow me to connect direct to my bark busters.

The triple is also rubber mounted to the sub mount that also cuts down on vibration. I use super fat silicone grips from Progrip.
This setup is comfortable, allows me to stand for longer periods of time and cuts vibration down to zero.
I almost bought a flexx bar, but with this setup I don't need one.

Here's a pic of my ergos.

That is a nice setup.

It is difficult to actually see a full perspective from a picture. It is clear that you have moved the bars up.

Have you really moved the bars forward? The reference I use is the stock bar mount centerline is just above the top center of the fork adjuster knob. Your bar mount centerline does not appear to be forward of the fork adjuster knob. However, it is diffcult to tell from the picture.

 

[Eric K]

Eric, that sounds like what I need to do. Do you have any pics? Are you able to run a damper with that configuration? It sure would be nice to have to reach forward for the bars a little bit. I run Flexx bars and they are not supposed to be "rolled forward" to increase the distance from the seat. It would lessen the effectiveness of the damping.

I can get some pics - stay tuned.

I do not run a damper.

 

[SpeedyManiac]

This one is probably pretty close to the stock forward mounting position. I'm going to try to measure my stock triple clamp and bar mounts tomorrow to compare to this one. There was originally a screw up so that's why this one is made in 2 pieces. I don't know how it compares to stock, but it works out to put the center of the bars at 50mm above the triple clamp, and 4mm ahead of the bolt holes on my BRP triple clamp. Compared to a BRP SUB mount, it's about 7mm farther forward and 17mm lower.

I have a basic design that is easily modified. If anyone wants to get one made, let me know the distance from your steering stem (center) to the bar mount mounting holes on the triple clamp (center of holes) and where you'd like your bars (higher, farther forward, etc) and I can make you a drawing that you can take to any machine shop and get yourself a SUB mount. Cost for an engineering drawing is $50.

 

[Eric K]

Mark,

I struggled with the same thing you have experienced.

What I really wanted was to move the bars forward, with minimal increase in height to achieve the horizontal distance between the pegs and bags. Installing the bars in the forward position and rotating the bars forward helped some, but it was still insufficient with my 6’ height and long arms. Raising the bars moves them rearward, due to the angle of the triple clamp, which was the wrong direction for me.

I made extensions that bolted in the stock bar mount holes in the triple clamps. The extensions had a forward hole in which I installed the bar mounts. The extensions were made of aluminum bar stock 0.5 inch thick by 1.2 inch width. They are very stout.

The extensions moved the bars forward 1.5 inches and up 0.8 inches net relative to the forward bar mount position. The motorcycle is so much more comfortable to ride with the improved ergos. They provide me a much better balanced forward attack position.

Here are the pictures...

 

[reiterrider]

The BRP Triple I have is a new model.
It has a 15mm forward RTS Relative to Steering Stem.
I beleive it has up to a 15mm to 21mm RTS with just the bar clamps and no sub-mount.
(You could swap the clamps around)

Information regarding Handlebar Positions and RTS from BRP.
http://www.brpmoto.com/product_pages/bar_pos_info.html

The actual triple and submount I used is on this page.
http://www.brpmoto.com/product_info.php?cPath=79_1382&products_id=609

Personally...I wouldn't recommend a garage built/designed setup.
I would purchase from a company like BRP because you know you are getting a highly engineered product that has been rigorously tested for safety and fit issues.

Any setup regarding your handlebars that are not properly designed, machined and stress tested could result in failure.

I probably don't need to tell you what would happen if any one element of your ergos failed.

 

[PEB]

"Personally...I wouldn't recommend a garage built/designed setup.
I would purchase from a company like BRP because you know you are getting a highly engineered product that has been rigorously tested for safety and fit issues.

Any setup regarding your handlebars that are not properly designed, machined and stress tested could result in failure.

I probably don't need to tell you what would happen if any one element of your ergos failed."


Are you implying the bar risers I made from a plastic cutting board are not a good idea? I could make another set for cheap if anyone wants some.