Slipping down the cafe hill...

[T99Ford]

I have long been hating the side and front profiles of my bike. So I finally broke down and installed clubman bars on the special. That one simple change made the bike SO much more fun to ride. It is uncomfortable as hell on long rides, but the benefits negate that for now! Handling is incredible; the only problem is that cornering is so good, I have been dragging kickstand, footpegs, and can way too regularly! Any wobbles while cornering from 95mph on up are minimized, too. The chicken strips are gone!
I will post pics soon...when I can let up from riding. The cafe bug has taken hold!

[danteinien]

Cool!

Cafe style is the way to go!

[Silent]

Once you go Café, you won't want to go back

[Elevener]

Yes, post pictures. I am going to go this route also. Where did you get them? Im thinking about here http://www.mikesxs.net/products-58.html#products

They dont hit the tank? Maybe the special is different than the G.

[danteinien]

The ones on MikesXS look like they are upside down to me....

My cafe bars hit the tank (standard). I have a big dent on each side from when I laid it down and the bars smacked the tank!

[Korr]

I am seriously considering clubman bars also! The only thing that is stopping me is that i am short enough to already be reaching for the stock bars. I also wonder how the mirrors and Front master cylinder would mount to them. When you get the time to post pictures, could you also post one with you in your riding position

[danteinien]

Here is mine, I'm 5'11" and I moved the rear foot pegs back some...

I'm kind of leaning to one side and a titch more back, my elbows are normally more bent

[Korr]

Darn that is quite a reach! I'd probably fall alseep on the tank if i switched to the clubman bars. Maybe i could go with drag bars with about 4-5" of pullback.

Thanks for the picture Dan!

Almost done!!!

[XScafe]

I have clubmans on my xs1100. You dont reach any farther foward than a standard Ninja or GSXR. If you ride where you lean into the bars yes your hands will go numb but if you "go with the flow" they are fairly comfortable. I rode 280 miles rnd trip last weekend and never had a problem.

The mirrors & master cylinder mount fine except the clutch lever sticks out farther than normal. The master cylinder hits my cafe fairing but then I haven't trimmed it yet also. I have gone to bar end mirrors instead of the factory ones as they kinda spoil the whole true "cafe" look I'm going for. I am going to grind the thread areas off the brackets so I can slide the levers farther up the bars where they need to be. I'm mounting my seat this weekend. I'll post pics. Here in Wyoming bikes are only required to have a headlight and a stop/tail light so I dont have turn signals on my bike and only 1 mirror.

[T99Ford]

pictures

I got some pics of the new bars:







My bars are installed pretty extreme. From about 90 mph on, I am pretty much laying down, sometimes even using the passenger pegs. My main goal was to lower the profile of the bike. So when I put the bars on, I also re-mounted the gauges to the bottom side of the plate which they mount on. The stock gauges almost touch the headlamp now. Mirrors are not a problem, as you can see. That end mirror works better than any stalk mirror, and does not vibrate. ($4 ebay). The brake reservoir sits almost level. The bars do not even come close to touching the Special tank. Long rides wear on your arms and back, but so do the stock bars and all the stock stuff. But like I said earlier, handling is improved tenfold. XSCafe has the comfor stuff down correctly. The clubman bars are set to a natural postion, just that position is 45 degrees out of plane!

Danteinen: what did you use for you side covers? I do not really like the looks of the stock covers, but have not found suitable replacement yet. I like the looks of yours from other posts.

clubmans equal a big Thumbs Up!

[Silent]

Nice looking scoot ya got there

[Ken Talbot]

Sweet! That last photo sure looks like a calendar entry to me. What do you think, Kat?

[MeatTooth]

Hey there's someone on here that won't hate me for changing my bike now. haha Here's mine It's still in the works it was going to be a sweet cafe then I got laid off so i'm on a budget so the bike will probably be a cafe rat bike.

So far I've removed all the side panels and all brackets so the center will be completely open. I've relocated all electronics and battery under seat and rear cowl. Put on 14.5 rear shocks to get better clearance, and once it's up an running I'm going to put a custom x pipe exhaust on it. I also removed the alum brackets on the sides where the rear brake pedal is located and I'm making my own brake pedal and using a katana 750 master cylinder located inside the main frame. However no clubmans for me 2 back surgeries dictate supersport bars is as low as I'm going.





Very nice looking bikes guys! Hey Dan do you like the jacket you're wearing I was looking at the same one? Is it nice for warm weather 85F plus?

[Korr]

Great job on your ride t71ford! Holy crap MeatTooth that is brilliant how you moved the battery and cdi like that

Looks like it's time to put that clear coat onto the side panels eheheheh.

I am also trying to make side panels like danteinien's , but so far i have only been able to measure and draw the markings onto this big flat 4mm thick shelf i had laying around. I have not figured out how to mount it once i cut them out. It's two upside down triangles eheheh

[T99Ford]

MeatTooth-- That is a nice job on the relocation! I originally wanted to do the same thing, but my wife likes to ride along from time to time, so I need a place for her to sit. I am thinking now about removing th original seat, and go with two separate seats, the main one and then a pad on the rear. Your bike will look really clean without the battery down there.