Alternative handlebars

My hands have been suffering with vibration (see Flexx handlebars thread).
FasstCo said they don't absorb much in horizontal direction though very good for road impacts - suspension vibration.
I looked at some carbon fibre anti vibration bars but at $300 (plus delivery, plus import duty) I wasn't too keen to experiment.
I've used Rox anti vibe risers on a Yamaha 900-4 to great effect but found an angle that's comfortable to use on the BMW had no effect on BMW vibration. They need to be upright so using standard bars and mounts will raise the grips by 2 inches.
I made some rubber mounts using bolt on bonded rubber blocks (similar to the GS crash plate mounts). They absorbed vibration but were too soft so made the steering feel mushy.
I've never been happy with the BMW handlebar shape - too much backwards sweep angle for me. I've found some low rise Renthals that have a more normal sweep angle - McGrath bend. Used with Rox risers and short mounting blocks, gives me a lower overall grip height with less sweep angle.
The Rox are now closer to upright so better at absorbing the boxer vibration.
A long run will prove the benefit but the vibration certainly feels less harsh. If that's the word. It never was crashing harsh like an old Brit bike.







The mounting blocks were originally made to fit the Rox risers well forwards so they would lie back at a shallow angle. I didn't want the additional rise. I've used them the other way around so now have unused bolt holes at the front end.
The risers are coupled with some 28mm 10g aluminium tube that's handily 22mm bore. This (hopefully) stops the risers twisting in the mounts.

Filling the bars is usually quite effective - you can choose what to fill them with, I found expanding foam to be very effective but messy to use. On a previous bike I filled the bars with black silicone sealant and it was great - just take all components off the bike, squeeze silicone in with a caulk gun and it'll be easy.

If you don't mind putting the money in tough, you can fill them with metal ball bearings or buy a designed product such as a "bar snake".

Those bars you've bought look great!

I just changed my bars for flatter, straighter, Renthals. I refitted the original bar ends and the vibration is about the same as before, and it wasn't a problem then. I drilled out the ends of the Renthals to 15mm and screwed in threaded inserts so the bar end fixing is the same as on the original bars. I don't need bar risers so can't comment on how they might affect vibration but the straighter bar is a much more natural hand position for me.

@BigDan Thanks I nearly went for silver finish but black was available and I really like them. The reach and bend angle is far nicer (for me) than the OEM bars.

I needed to change the hand position so the Renthals solved that easily enough. I'd have been happy with 22mm bars but I couldn't find anything with a low enough rise. Totally flat bars might have worked with the Rox risers and OEM mounts but the bars are all too short/narrow.

The bar ends are fixed with M10 (12mm OD) sleeve anchors. I could not find any M12/14mm OD which would suit better. I wrapped some thin aluminium sheet around the expansion area to allow the M10 anchor to grip inside the tube.

Fitting some 15mm inserts sounds interesting. @Greenman14 what type did you use? You can now fill the bars with lead shot and know its gone to the very ends. In mine the anchors go down about 3" reducing any benefit.

FasstCo sell tuned mass dampers that fit inside the OEM bars. They are a metal rod rubber mounted at one end. As he bar shakes one way the weight gets left behind. As the bar moves back, the weight is catching up so damps the vibration. However, Renthals with a 14mm bore don't really allow very much weight and/or movement in the damper rod so I'm uncertain how well they can work. Maybe something could be mounted under the bar end. More stuff to experiment with.

I used something like this: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/18mm-Male...aded-Insert-/301707847601?hash=item463f3067b1

The bar inside diameter is about 13mm so filling with lead might not add enough weight. The BMW design is unusual and seems to be aimed at maximising the weight of the bar end. The bars I bought were Renthal KTM items and did have an orange silicone bung about 75mm from the end. This may be a complete silicone filling of the bar, it's hard to tell.

The threaded inserts are just screwed in, slotted end first, using a bolt and nut screwed into the insert, but only as far as the start of the slot.

Just found the UK supplier and the website I used: http://www.memfast.co.uk/shop/Vprod2.asp?cat=2250004326