I forgot to mention, I would not mind a setup similar to monkey bars

 

Dean,

I adjusted mine and it is very easy. There are 4 black round caps on the handlebar mounts that need to be removed. Just use a very small screwdriver to pry them off. I used a very small screwdriver that is used for eye glasses. Then there are 'hex' nuts that will need to be loosened. I think it is a 6mm hex wrench I used to loosen the hex nuts.

I would just loosen 3 of them first and then slowly loosen the 4th one. Make sure you put a towel, maybe even double it up, and place it over the tank. When you loosen the 4th hex nut the handle bars will come down fast and if you don't hold the handlebars it could fall hard enough to scratch your tank. So just be careful on that last hex nut.

I pushed mine up a bit and it made it a much more comfortable ride for me. I sit high in the seat so the added height of the bars was nice. It took me about 10 mins to do this. When you pry the black caps off be careful that you don't pry to hard. It will bend the caps just a little so just do it gently. When you are done just tighten the hex nuts and put the caps back on.

 

One other thing you will need to do if you adjust your bars is readjust your brake cylinder reservoir/brake handle assembly and clutch handle assembly(manual trans). These are easily done by loosening the 2 forward facing bolts on each assembly and retightening them after adjustment. Do not attempt to adjust the switch housing since these are pinned and cannot be adjusted.

 

i don't know where you live, and I'm aware that laws here in NYS are a bit silly some times, but legally speaking ape hangers are illegal. Handle bars can't be above shoulder height. Another reference I've seen is 15 inches above the seat.

 

Adjusting the handlebars on the CTX is easily done but should be done in small increments. It actually takes very little to achieve the desired benefits. A 1/2 to 1" adjustment goes a long way. The brake reservoir has to be adjusted since it has to sit level to function properly. Adjusting the bar will tilt it depending on how much you adjust the bars. The brake handle and mirrors will also tilt and may become uncomfortable for some.

 

If I only adjust the handlebars very slightly, like the .5 inch or 1 inch as you suggested, is there still a need at all to adjust the brake reservoir or brake handle? I am trying to tinker with this as little as possible in order to obtain the desired results

 

I know to some this might sound complicated but in practical terms its really not. You just loosen the bolts, turn the bracket so the reservoir is level and re tighten the bolts. Same with the other side. Takes about 5 minutes for both.

 

Thank you for the instructions and attached picture – they are very clear and extremely helpful

 

Dean,

I just adjusted my bars a little and did not move the levers. But If I ever decide to move the bars more I will need to adjust the levers. I thought I put a couple of pictures on the site but after doing a search I couldn't find them. But it is very easy, probably the easiest thing to do for this bike.

 

Ok will give it a shot. Thanks to all for the detailed instructions and recommendations

 

Just got new tires on my bike after 19,700km on the OEMs, and had it for a basic service as well. They found the clutch cable a bit loose so told me they tightened it. When I got on the bike I immediately felt a huge difference: they seem to have adjusted the tilt of the handle bars quite a bit. I had to pull the mirrors way down to be able to see in them. To reach the clutch, I have to stretch a lot further forward. Is there a standard reason why they might have done that? Or just the shop mechanic trying to guess where I had them before?

 

This is why I do all my own mechanical work. But I'm a mechanic. Still, buy the service manual and give it shot. You would be surprised what you can do if put your mind to it.

No, they should not have messed with the bars without your permission. Major red flag there.


I keep fiddling with the position of my bars. I'm trying to recreate the position of my old Shadow VLX. But the spread on them was 3 inches less. The CTX bars seem wide to me. I don't think I can easily make them narrower without losing the bar end weights. Which I doubt even do much.

 

There is a tiny white dot on the handlebars where they meet the bracket on the left side. The dot should line up with the gap between the upper and lower part of the mounting brackets. This is how I knew how to restore my handlebars to the correct position after removing the bolts to install my MRA windscreen.

 

If realigning handlebars still doesn't do the trick, search the site and you'll find instructions on adding Roxy Risers.

 

From that linked article:

The end bar weights are also equally balance at both the ends of the handle, this way the bike manages to hold its line at high speeds and not wobble.

Well, no. If you want equal balance you've got that with the bar weights left off, adding equal weights to the end of each bar won't change that.

Adding weight at the ends of the bars will increase the polar moment of inertia and make the steering somewhat harder to perturb which may be good at times, but it also makes it harder to stop the movement of the steered mass once it has been perturbed which may be bad at times.

Generally, reducing the polar moment of the steered mass is viewed as a positive thing to do. Move the instruments, mirrors and head light off the fork to frame mounts.

I would pay attention to balance for aerodynamic loads which may put an off-balance load into the steering. If you've got mirrors on the handlebars, run the same size mirror in the same location on both sides so the wind blast tends to be a balanced force into the steering.

cheers,
Michael

 

I get how the weights can reduce vibration/harmonics, but steering balance?

From that article

Consider that your bike is doing 80 kmph on a highway. At this speed, you can simply try out to let go off the handle bar and you can see that the bike holds its straight line. You then call yourself an amateur stuntman, but no, it is actually the weight balancers who are keeping it steady......


...ummm, no, it's the gyroscopic forces of the front wheel. One can ride a bike with no handle bars at all at higher speeds.



The bar end weights on my old VLX were removed and I never noticed any vibration that was bothersome. But I also did not ride at highway speeds very much.