Reply With QuoteNot familiar with that particular product, but regardless of what you try the benefit is mostly from weight near the bar ends. Soft lead (even fishing weights) can make a big difference...
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Hey all. So the Wife came to me today and told me that we are going to take the motorcycles on our trip to Nova Scotia at the end of the month!!! Woo hoo!!! I am stoked, but then I remembered one small problem. My Wife is constantly complaining that the vibration in her handlebars makes her hands numb. She rides a 1996 Yamaha Virago with cobra pipes and the bars do vibrate enough that long trips become uncomfortable. I was looking at a product called "Bar Snake" which is basically a long piece of solid rubber that gets inserted into the handlbars and the excess is trimmed off. Seems like an easy to install product and the reviews on the website are good, but I wanted to check on here to see if anyone has used one. So let me know your thoughts ASAP as I only have a few weeks to get this done.
Cheers.
"Who's to say the way a man should spend his days?" - J.M.
Not familiar with that particular product, but regardless of what you try the benefit is mostly from weight near the bar ends. Soft lead (even fishing weights) can make a big difference...
Like ska said, adding any weight to the end of the bars will serve to dampen the vibrations and possible change the resonant frequency of the bars. My old XS400 had 6" long cylindrical weights at each end of the bars (at the grip area). They each weighed maybe half a pound.
Instead of buying a product (not sure how much this is), you could try adding some metal stock inside the handlebars. Wrap it in tape or heat-shrink tubing (or just put rubber caps on each end) first, and see if that does the trick. If not, then you could try the bar snake.
Moderator
Spray expanding foam inside the handlebars ... this works too.
Soar # 21
Originally Posted by meme
Lead shotgun shot fixes vibrations right up. Fill the handlebars with the pellets and put the bar ends back on again. All there is to it. 20kg of shot is about $35. Enough for about 5-8 sets of bars.
Before you do anything, first find out the speed and rpm that you guys intend to ride at. That is the rpm range of vibration that will be your goal to quell. This is because playing with weights and snakes and lead shot, in rare cases, transforms vibrating bars into smooth enough to live with in a huge rpm range. More common though, is that you are lucky to just be able to address one rpm range of vibration. The weights and snakes and lead shot stuff simply moves the vibes around...moving them to a different rpm range.
Try the easiest first, like I say, pick the ONE primary speed/rpm in top gear, that you want to address. Then borrow some weights from a bike wreckers or friend's bikes, and either size up or size down in weight. This will help tell you what next step to take.
I have also heard that silicone pumped into the bars works, but just like the snake and shot etc, all these measures are easier said than done. There are ramifications and complications no matter which route you try. The silicone can go where you don't want it before it cures (takes a long time to cure because air can't get to the inside part, but slowly) etc etc. If you find a suitably sized bar end weight, that will be your easiest solution. Keep in mind that manufacturers do give this a lot of thought. They do not slap any old weight on thinking..that one looks cool. They are sized/weighted with respect to the anticipated cruising speed of that particular bike, gearing, purchaser demographic etc etc.
Also try some gel type grips, (and gloves) I hear good things about them. Sometimes you have to layer your efforts. And sometimes nothing works well enough to make the bike ridable. I personally have gotten rid of a bike due to the vibration putting my hands to sleep. You only make that mistake once though. I will never again buy a bike that I can't spend a good 30 to 45+ min of sustained cruising at a few different speeds to determine if it's suitable or not. Good luck, I sympathize with her (and you) if nothing works.
I wish I shared your optimism. I'm sure it worked for you, at least once, but you got lucky. I know of more unsuccessful attempts than successful. Usually the lead shot just changes the rpm range to a different speed when it vibrates. If you're lucky, it changes it to the speed you like to do the most.
I used the spray foam insulation and cheapo $5 foam Shimano bicycle grips from Canadian Tire and it seems to have helped reduce vibrations.
Well-weathered leather
Hot metal and oil
The scented country air
Sunlight on chrome
The blur of the landscape
Every nerve aware
Rush - Red Barchetta
I installed heavier bar end on my ex500 to elminate the vibriation, worked like a charm
Silent but deadly!!!
It's not quite as bad as you suggest.
There are two issues and it is worth separating them --- resonant frequencies and general vibration (well two sides of the same issue really)
If you bars have a strong resonant frequency with the engine (or some harmonic) it is going to be very frequency dependent by definition. It also may be very difficult to get rid of without isolating the bars better, weights might not do much but shift it around. This effect dumps a lot of energy into the bars and feels terrible.
However, bars also always carry vibration from the bike, and often this is more than you'd like. Adding mass at the end will tend to lower the frequency of these vibrations which is often more comfortable.
To OP: your wife may be putting more weight on the bar or holding too strongly, too. The combination of pressure and vibration can cause your hands to feel numb (or worse).
Well-weathered leather
Hot metal and oil
The scented country air
Sunlight on chrome
The blur of the landscape
Every nerve aware
Rush - Red Barchetta
I use one on my bike, works great.
Barrie and area riders.
http://www.gtamotorcycle.com/vbforum...d.php?t=123778
Amsoil Oil? PM me
Most motorcycle problems are caused by the nut that connects the handlebars to the saddle.
Faster, faster, faster, until the thrill of speed overcomes the fear of death.
I had numb hands quite badly on my BMW F800ST, more an issue with me than the bike I think. Tired different bar risers, throttle lock helped and grip puppies also helped. I bought liquid bar snake since the holes in the ends of the bars are too small to install the solid type bar snake.
Very tricky to get into the bar, I had it completely stripped and on it's end in a vice...still took me over an hour to pour it in.
Seemed to help quite a bit but to be honest the best thing was taking a bike school in California where they taught me to grip the tank more with my knees and relax the grip on the bars... that being said I have since converted my ST bars to a lower S clip on style and will most likely install the liquid bar snake in those as well.
Well the good folks at Bar Snake got back to me and kindly told me that my Wife's Virago will need the liquid bar snake and that it is currently out of stock.
Guess we'll have to put my old throttle rocker back on this weekend and let her see how she likes that.
"Who's to say the way a man should spend his days?" - J.M.
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