The 1988 RS I purchased recently had bar risers installed with the stock bars. It was better than the stock seating position, but because the bars had to be rotated just-so to miss the tank and the fairing, the resulting angle wasn't optimal for my wrists over long periods.
On a whim I purchased a set of aluminum Krator brand "window" handlebars currently being offered on Ebay and Amazon for ~$21 with free shipping. They are basically the same flat RS bar, but with a unique built-in riser.
I trimmed 1-3/4 inches off each end, and then sanded off the paint, taking the bar from 7/8" (0.875") to 22mm (0.866"). The installed effect is that you get far more setback without much rise, allowing this rider to sit comfortably erect. The lack of any great rise means the brake m/c clears the fairing with ease. And maybe best of all, since the main part of the bar matches the RS "drag bar" design, the stock RS center cushion can be fitted to hide the riser section.
The welds, paint and overall quality are excellent. These bars are aluminum so the sanding to reduce diameter goes really fast, however the tubing wall thickness is about triple that of a typical steel handlebar, so wiring for grip heaters can be accommodated. However, items like bar-end mirrors are not going to work.
So for about half the price of BMW bar risers you might want to try these.
Owning an old Airhead is easy.
Keeping an old Airhead running great is the true test.
Pictures of this??
You can click on the Amazon link for a photo of the bars being discussed. Sorry, no photos of them installed.
I've since removed these type "fixed" bars to focus on using 3-piece "adjustable" handlebars. The rise isn't any greater, but I get micro-adjustment on the wrist angles which I've found very helpful.
Owning an old Airhead is easy.
Keeping an old Airhead running great is the true test.
Can you provide info on this adjustable bars you installed?
Thanks.
1512
Thems chopper bars that’s kinda weird
Hey if it good by you enjoy the ride
I have used K75S bars and knocked a bit off the ends to fit that was comfy
Got a 77RS now it’s a 1/2 hr ride to uncomfortable
Can you provide info on this adjustable bars you installed?
The bars I now use are the 3-piece Honda bars from the early 1980's models.
The center section is too long, so I cut out 21mm from the center, press in a steel slug in for strength and alignment, then push them back together and weld. Here's a photo before welding.
Center section shortened and ready for welding
Once the center section is narrowed to fit the BMW, then the Left and Right sections (which are nothing more than L-shaped pieces) can be trimmed for correct length. The "rise" (most of which I use for "set back") ends up being about 3 times what the K75 bars allow. Here's a photo of them installed....
The total rise ends up being about 3X that of the K75. The problem with the K75 bars is that by the time the wrist angle is correct for me, the clutch cable is routed straight into the gauges. The 3-piece design allows infinite adjust-ability for the wrist angle... when the bars are pulled back to ANY angular position in the handlebar mounting clamps. You can't get that with one-piece bars.
If you buy may sets of bars, you'll soon figure out that comfortable handlebars are a spacial geometry problem that's not easily conquered with one-piece bars.
Owning an old Airhead is easy.
Keeping an old Airhead running great is the true test.
Thank you! Wobbly
Them's chopper bars. That’s kinda weird.
'Yes' it's weird, but sometimes it pays to be creative and "think out of the box". The oem RS bars are really nothing more than what Americans call "drag bars". And these "chopper bars" are nothing more than drag bars with a built-in riser.
Since the original question was "how do we get RS bars to come up and back so that the rider doesn't need to bend over as far" it's a pretty good solution. BMW risers now go for $125 a set. Since these bars actually have greater set-back and are less than $20, it was certainly worth a try !
Owning an old Airhead is easy.
Keeping an old Airhead running great is the true test.
I'm running a set of K75 Bars, w/ bar-back risers, heated grips, dash, on my R90SRS
with these bar-backs the hand grips DO NOT even enter the fairing inside .
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