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Ape hangers?

9K views 33 replies 10 participants last post by  Mario Torchio 
#1 ·
Hello,
I'm considering switching to 8" ape hangers on my 86' VT1100C. I'm concerned about loosing handling or getting numb hands. Anyone have any experience with these?
 
#2 ·
Some people are affected by just a difference in hand height of an inch (like myself), while some can ride all day with a foot of difference in hand height. It all comes down to the individual, his age, his joints, shoulders, rotator cuffs, posture, etc. So the only way you will ever know for sure is to try them out for yourself, since none of us are built exactly alike. It's a lot like asking people their opinions on how they like their red bikes because you are thinking of painting it that color.
 
#3 ·
I dont know if you've considered this and I dont know how tall/short the OEM bars are on your 86, but swapping the bars may require at best just a small amount of rerouting some wires/cables, or at worst replacing some to add length. It may not be a simple swap out.
 
#4 ·
Ive personally never liked ape hangers, the higher you hang your hands the more you stretch out your upper body creating a bigger wind sail meaning the faster you go the harder you have to hang on as the wind tries to push you off the bike resulting in more fatigue. I suppose a windshield would help that but in my mind a windshield and ape hangers is an oxymoron.
 
#9 ·
A nite and day difference. You'll really like them. If you seen the pic @ J&P you'll notice that the grip area is parallel with the bridge area.

https://www.hondashadow.net/forum/72-technical-discussion/171466-vt1100c-handlebars-good-bad-buckhorn-pain.html

That's exactly what I'm looking for. Slow speed maneuvering doesn't give me the problem. At riding speed, ever since I've had this bike, I am not able to countersteer it like every other bike I've ever had.


I've always counter steered by pushing the hand grip down to the ground like I was making the bike lean. It's natural, and intuitive. With these damn buckhorns, I can push down all day (more like a pull down) all day and the bike wont steer. For me, it's an accident waiting to happen as I've never had buckhorns on any bike I've ever had, and I've had plenty.


I'm going to order them on your recommendation. Thanks!
 
#10 ·

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#11 ·
Also in addition of the J&P handle bars was the Kuryakyn Premium floorboards which this combo made my riding the last 10,000mi. of ownership a real pleasure on the ole' Spirit. As you see in the pic I stripped the ole girl before selling her. Sold all the piece's to you folks or transferred to the Valk. That's the way she looked when she left.
 
#22 · (Edited)
My 11 yrs. here, not that I know of. If the step down measures 22mm/7/8" you might look in a 7/8" size bars but that would involve changing risers/clamps to fit also. Look at wiring diagram's and compare? I look on Flea Bay for a set of used late model (06' Spirit) controls or order new @ apprx. $185 for switch assembly's and new throttle grip spool. I don't think cable setup would be an issue. Probably a lot of different model of newer Shadows will work as Honda don't really create new parts for each model.
 
#24 ·
So I'm still having problems finding bars. The OEM are 1" bars that step down to 7/8 for the controls - thanks to h13man for posting the diagram(which I confirmed in real life). Even looking on sites like DennisKirk and JPcycles I'm still not seeing anything... I don't want to have to change out all my controls. Has anyone had any luck changing the bars on this bike?
 
#27 ·
Just finished installation of 18" apes two weekends ago, if you're of appropriate height I don't think you'll find much issue with your hands, it's all about being comfortable. Went from stock Spirit "drag bars" to 18" rise apes.

18" Drag Specialties Narrow Apes
Chubby's 100mm metric conversion risers(2" rise, allows conversion of Metric 100mm top clamp spacing to use modified Harley style single piece top clamp)
Venhill 54" brake line.
Venhill universal set clutch and dual throttle cables cut and soldered to length.
About 6hrs of work extending the three dozen wires from the bar controls + clutch and throttle line length fab and you get the attached photo...

After all of it, I've never been happier. For reference, I'm 6'3" and the bars are about 1" above my shoulders. I can now see everything behind me, even after two hour+ rides my hands are totally fine, no numbness or loss of blood and personally I feel I have more control of the steering rather than less. The effort involved in leaning and steering at low speeds is like going from manual steering to power steering.
 

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#28 ·
I went from 12" chrome ape hangers to 8" black chumps. I will be honest, the riding position of the 12" apes was slightly more comfortable, but when it comes to navigating the 8" chumps are much better. I think they look better too considering the setup I'm working on. It's all based on how you feel - and unfortunately until you get them on and adjusted you're not going to be 100% sure that setup's going to work for you.
 

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#29 ·
Follow up:

So I decided to order the Black powder coated mini-apes from TC Brothers in 7/8" diameter. They also had the shims needed to mate the handlebars with the stock 1" risers. I love the way they look, and they are very comfortable and the bike handles great(with one exception I will cover below). Also the bike feels like a real hot rod. But it's been challenging doing the install, and I'm still not fully in the clear. Here is what I did and what I still have to do.

I had to drill a small hole on each side of the bars where the switch gear mounts. This is what keeps the switch gear switches from turning on the bars. It was not a simple task. I had to put the bars in place and estimate the position of the holes. Then compare the length of the new after-market "Vans" grips with the oem grips. Then make allowances for both the grip length difference as well as the handlebar length difference(TC bros bars are much shorter in the grip area). I was measuring to the 32nd of an inch and miraculously I got it right. Everything barely fit.

Next I found that the throttle didn't twist freely due to the width of the powder coating making the bar wider than 7/8th of an inch. so I had to grind all the powder coating off of the area under the throttle and replace it with one thin coat of black spray paint.

I was able to get everything together and operational, so I took it for a test ride. Unfortunately, when decelerating and taking my hands off the bars the front end of the bike began to vibrate. It would go into an uncontrollable wobble if not corrected by placing my hands back on the bars. THIS WAS A REAL DISAPPOINTMENT TO ME AS i PERSONALLY CAN'T STAND BIKES THAT DO THIS. It did not do this with the stock bars, and I noticed the stock bars have end weights on them as well as something of a dampener in the end of the bars.

What I still have to do:

So I'm surmising that I will need to add bar end weights. I'm really hoping that this stops the problem or I will have to take the bars off and I love the way that they look, and obviously can't return them now.

Another issue is that the angle of the rear view mirror have radically changed. It just doesn't look right with the mirrors pointing almost to the center of the bike. So I will have to find some after-market mirrors that work. That was a bummer and I could not have predicted that happening.

So here is a pic. Let me know what you think! I new Vans grips look great. I'll post a pic at a later date.
 

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#31 ·
Handlebar end weights/dampers spoil the tuning fork effect on handlebars to reduce the 'humm' of the engine running up to your hands and feeling like your lawn mower, but should have nothing to do with front end "shimmy" when you take your hands off.

something else in the front end, bearings, clamps, tire balance, fork dampers & oil, did you work on anything else in the front end besides the handlebar clamps?
 
#33 ·
also check your front tire, low air pressure or nearly bald can widen the contact patch with the road and a minor difference in grip across the width can initiate a shimmy. My rebel 250 has that shimmy and is due for a new front tire, I'm hoping that takes care of mine.
 
#34 ·
No play in the steering neck bearings. The front tire is showing slight wear and cupping. But the real change is the bars. The stock bars have heavy weights welded into the ends as well as small bar end weights screwed in the end. It also appears to have some vibration dampening mechanism affixed inside the bar itself as I can feel it move when I shake the bars. I'm sure that the shimmy is due to the lighter bars. I've got bar end weights on order.
 
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