Bike Info

Tuesday, September 19, 2017

Old age

So apparently I'm getting old.  Well, at least that is what one other Concours owner (who may or may not live in Ashhurst) said when I told him I'd made the purchase described below...

While I may be getting old (although I don't appear to be catching up to a certain Ashhurst Connie pilot), I am also getting used to the comfort of the Tenere's riding position.  It is slightly more roomy and also has a more upright riding position.

I can't do much about the legroom.  There are people out there that have lowered their foot pegs but that is not an option as I have been known to give them the occasional shine up on the road and I do not want to be doing this on every second corner.

Oops...
So that leaves me with playing with the handlebar area.  To give me a slightly more upright riding position and to hopefully offer more comfort to my arms, back and shoulders I decided to try a set of bar risers.


There were plenty of options on E-Bay and I had a bit of a hunt around before settling on a set of 50mm jobbies.


As you can see they came with some longer bolts but I also have my GPS mount bolted to the handle bar mounts so I bought another 4 slightly longer bolts just in case.


On my initial attempt at installing I decided that I didn't like how much pressure they were placing on the brake and clutch lines so I found someone with some engineering skill how was able to take 10mm of each riser.

Once that was done it was time to fit.  This was a pretty simple job and the risers even had a thread tapped into them to allow the repositioning of the brake/clutch lines so that there was enough slack in them.  Shaving off that 10mm also meant that I didn't need those flash stainless bolts I bought either.


40mm!



So they're on now and I've only really ridden the bike around 50km with them on so no decent distance to test comfort but I can say that they haven't had any detrimental effect on comfort or handling.  Swapping from the Connie to the Tenere (just with the bikes on their main stands) demonstrated a pretty similar feel with the only really noticeable difference being the width of the bars - the S10 having the wider jobbies.

I'd better plan in a decent pootle...

15 comments:

  1. You know you are officially OLD when you have to buy bar risers....

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    Replies
    1. I knew I could rely on you for some kind, caring support....





      Incidentally, the 2nd comment to this post was from a spammer pushing a certain little pill...

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  2. Old age my left buttock....ergonomics are ergonomics and anything that aids during the longer rides, is a good thing.

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  3. I am with Dom, comfort is king and I have risers on my TW200. How much of a rise did you go for?

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    Replies
    1. 40mm total. Looking forward to testing them soon...

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    2. That isn't bad. I think the Rok risers I have on the TW are 50 mm.

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    3. Well, I 'spose it's a little bike eh? Might need a little more lift to make it seem bigger...


      ;)

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  4. Man up you people

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    Replies
    1. Hey, we read your blog too man...I guess we'll never see you opting for comfort related farkles or even a bike with a seat?

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    2. I'm here all day if you need some friendly advice....

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  5. Risers are one of my first modifications. Old or not, comfort is critical - but I am old.

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    Replies
    1. Too right, but it can be a bit tricky deciding what exactly you need eh?

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