This article was written by Beck Mercado and he has graciously allowed me to post it here. I found it to an exciting modification that I'd like to try.
As Beck was say ... I finally did it! I installed VTR1000 bars on my bike. I've asked a couple of times if anybody on the list has done this to a '95 but the responses I got were all from VFR800 owners who seemed to have done it with some slight fairing clearance problems. I've dreaded the possibility of me dismantling the existing bars and finding out that there would be bigger problems installing it on a VFR750 like mine. The good news is they fit without hitting anything or pinching my hands on the tank when turned lock to lock.
- Close-up Left Full Lock
- Close-up Right Full Lock
- Both Bars Looking Over the Tank
- Left Side Bike View
- Right Side Bike View
One thing that I didn't notice was the bar end weights from the VFR 750 is different from the VTRs and will not work with the bar. I might take the bars off again to paint them a satin black color. The silver paint on the bars seems lost on the bike. All I need now is to get those VTR bar ends, Pro Grip diamond pattern gel grips and I'm in business.
In a subsequent email, Beck added these thoughts. The pictures also show how there is still room between the tank and the bars at full lock for gloved hands. I decided to paint them black because the original finish was a bit scratched up. You might also notice that the forks are pulled up on my triple clamp by about 13mm. This together with the shimmed up rear shock improved the handling of the bike on twisty roads. The modification gave the bike a more nose down attitude with a shift of the weight forward and the steering angle steeper than stock. The understeer is minimized and the bike can be steered with the shift of body weight instead of the deliberate hard inputs I had to give to the bars before my modifications. I haven't taken her out yet with the new bars. I'm sure the bike will feel even better now. The lower bars make it feel more like I'm sitting in the bike, more attached to it instead of the feeling that I had before with the stock bars in which it felt like I'm on top of the bike amplifying the top heavy nature of the VFR.
It was a very easy and cheap modification. The bars cost me $58.00 at eBay. They pop up once in a while and the bidding is usually sparse. The only thing that took time was the final adjustment of the bars radially, the adjustment of the brake lever angle and the moving around of some control cables to make sure everything clears at full lock.
Winter Project almost done!
