The New Heli-bars are ready! Thanks to Adam P.

Well it appears that Heli-bars and VFR World have colaborated to reintroduce the heli-bar for 3rd and 4th gen VFR750 owners!

Thanks to Adam P on behalf of all the 3rd and 4th gen owners out there!


http://helibars.createsend1.com/t/ViewEmail/j/5B45DA4C23F89E4E/36E7AF62DEC24062F6A1C87C670A6B9F

 

You are welcome. I didn't think it would be done that fast. I actually don't pick up my bike until the 14th. But when I do, I'll have about a 4 hour ride home to test them out.

 

Whoa that WAS fast! Thank you again. Will be ordering mine soon.

 

Short long story: Bike tipped over caused by The Oregon Vortex, Commie tweakers and evil spirits in HD Tshirts.. Not being one who has never ever gonna drop a bike.

Bent one bar from Heli back in the day I bought for the mach 1 91. No luck in talking to the chicas who answer the phones for buying one or a replacement set. Many chicas and fey dudes I think who on the other end of the phone think themselves ordained to be a buffer between the HMFIC and we, the great unwashed..

Finally got through to the bossman and he made me up a set even though "official" production had ceased..

Quality stuff? Yep and then some.

 

So, on Friday 9/14, my wife and I drove up to ME from CT to pick up my bike from HeliBars. It’s about a 4 hour drive (220 miles) each way. I called to make sure the bike was ready, and as promised, all was good. I arrived just after 4 pm and was met by Cindy (VP - Finance) who introduced me to Harry (Owner). Harry took my wife and I around for a tour of the place. I was very impressed that pretty much everything is done on site, and nothing is outsourced oversees. He showed us where they cut all the stock that comes in, make the pieces, final machining, then welding, and finally the powdercoat, final assembly, and shipping areas. The company is small, but as Harry explained to me, they don’t need to be a huge company, he has a nice little family and he’s happy with his production.
After the “penny tour” as Harry called it, he brought me outside to my bike. Immediately I noticed that there was a huge difference in how the bars looked. When he said they were 2” taller and 1” rearward it didn’t click in my mind until I saw them on the bike. I got on and put my hands in their normal position and immediately noticed that they did what they claim to do. I was sitting more upright, and it felt good.
So, after the casual chit-chat my wife and I thanked Harry for everything and started on the trip home. We decided that we were going to stop in Kittery to get something to eat before continuing on, so we headed that way. There was about 45 miles of back roads with a few twisties. Every new corner was an opportunity to explore my new riding position. It took a few corners to get used to, but as I did, my wife had a little bit of a hard time keeping up following in the cage. The new bars felt good and the new riding position didn’t affect my ability to navigate corners. Once onto the highway, that was a different story. I have a stock windscreen, and I’m 5’4” tall. Usually the wind hits me in my shoulders and higher while riding. With the new bars, the wind was hitting me in the chest. I noticed it the most as I was cruising at highway speeds and passing 18-wheelers. The wind shear coming off of the big trucks tossed me around a little more than I was used to. Once I noticed it, I did not spend much time next to the big trucks. We stopped in Kittery for dinner and I had a chance to do a little slow speed maneuvers around the parking lot of the restaurant. There was a huge difference in my ability to control the bike at slow speeds, it felt more manageable. I was able to easily maneuver the bike in and around obstacles.
After dinner we hit the road again for the final leg of the trip home. This time we weren’t stopping so that meant that I had a good, solid 160 miles in the saddle ahead of me. Back on the highway, same issue with wind, however, I got used to it and was able to compensate pretty easily. I tried tucking in a few times, but that position wasn’t comfortable for me. Other than the comfort of the new riding position, one thing I did notice was that there was a small amount of vibration reduction in the bars. I have the HVMP bar ends, the heavy ones, and with the stock bars there was a little bit of vibration. My hands were starting to tingle around the 45 minute mark with my stock set. With the new bars I didn’t notice my hands until about 1-1/2 hours into the ride. Definitely a noticeable improvement. When I finally made it home, the only part of me that was sore was my rear end, most likely due to my stock seat (I now know one of my next mods).
Bottom line, if you are looking to make your bike more “touring” than “sport”, then I highly recommend HeliBars for that purpose.

 

Excellent detailed review! Glad they are working out for you so far.

 

I went to order these, apparently they are making some tweaks and will have them back up by Oct 3rd, if anyone is interested.

 

Harry made me up some new bars when the 91 mach 1 decided to fall over one day. IMO it was not my fault but caused by the Oregon Vortex.

I did nave to wade thoroough some chicas who were telling me that what I wanted wasn't available. Some chicas have uber mommy genes and are protective of the boss at any cost. In my case it was about $250.00 in Harry's till, and happy camping on both ends.

Seems like a lot of miles were used up getting the bars on the OP's bike when the Heli folks have shipping down pat..

Still got the set that is bent (the left one) fits 90-93's and maybe later models. The bent bar might could be fixed on a power bender. $25.00 the pair and you pay the shipping. One is bent and I am not gonna do a photo essay or any back and forth shit like used camel salesman.

 

Amen to that brother. Most people won't get of the couch for $25.

 

Horny dude in the Foreign Legion asks his sarge about getting some. The sarge tells him about the camel hitched behind the barracks. The dude thinks the sarge is sick and spends another year going without.

Once again he inquires of the sarge. getting the same answer. He is at his wits end and the next night he and the camel are getting it on.

The old sarge comes upon this scene and it's WTF time bigtime. The dude tells the sarge he was only doing what was suggested.

The sarge tells him that what was suggested was that he ride the camel down the road two miles to the local house of ill repute.

 

The drift I'm pretty sure is that some vendors step up to the plate. Had a tankbag once that the magnets were going flakey. Called and got ahold of "da man". Granted he's had one of those three mojito lunches but. he told me to send it in and he'd not only fix it but put in double magnets..

Here's another.. I hope the guys at HONDA USA are reading this and maybe it will catch on. I know I have about $600.00+ in R/R's. which is more than all the other repair parts costs in the 21 years I've had the mach 1 91.


Triumph recalls more than 10000 Street Triple, Daytona motorcycles
Dealer News
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Triumph Motorcycles America Ltd. is recalling certain model-year 2006-09 Street Triple, Street Triple R and Daytona 675 motorcycles to fix a problem with the regulator/rectifier, the National Highway Transportation Safety ...
See all stories on this topic »


Got this just now from an editor friend who got it from Google Alerts.