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How To: Cycle Cat Bar Risers Installation w/ *PICS*

30K views 69 replies 33 participants last post by  ScottyT 
#1 ·
Here is my review of the CycleCat bar riser kit....hope it helps someone out
there.

I am 5' 11" in height 190 lbs with a 31" inseam, but the real problem for me is that I am also 40 years old and these bones of mine just don't forgive the way they used to. I got the D675 as my main street bike and want to be able to use it for everything from trips to the grocery to trips to my friends house 120 miles away and everything in between. I realize it aint a touring bike, but comfort is important and if I can get it to fit me better without ruining the looks and performance then why not try huh? So I decided to try raising the bars a bit and bringing them back towards me a hair to take some of the weight off the wrists for longer trips.

I started by searching the forums and the web for a riser system that would raise and sweep the bars just a scooch and ended up finding the CycleCat product. After a quick call to Chris and a plea for mercy to get em here right away. (had a 600 mile 3 day weekend planned the next day hahaha. More on that later) he got the very first shipped set out to me via FedEx Saturday delivery so I could try them on my trip. Chris even gave me his cell phone number and said to give him a ring (on Saturday no less) if I needed any help since they still did not have any printed instructions yet. To which I immediately replied "Instructions, yeah like I EVER read those things anyways" So below is my account of installing the bars on my D675. It took me right at about 2 hours going at a slow pace to stop and take pictures to share here. I think you could do it in 1 hour if you wanted to but like I said I'm getting old and I take my time with fun stuff like working on my bike, it's like therapy for me so why rush it.

Below is a picture of the stock OEM bars before I began. I love the looks and hope the new bars don't destroy the bikes obvious appeal. Say what you want but be honest, most of us DO care about the looks of our bikes even if you don't admit it outwardly. Cool is cool.....



This picture is also of the stock OEM bars to show the way they begin the
downward slant right from the attachment point on the shock tube. Look at your bike from the front with it on a spool stand and you will see what I
mean....right from the very first inch of outward travel she starts to dip
down....the new bars (as you will see) can be rotated to begin that
downward/forward/upward/rearward travel at the same point via a very slick and simple coupler that has a hole drilled off center. Don't worry I'll explain it in detail when we get there but just suffice to say that the OEM bars are very much a "Fixed bar" system with no adjustment. They are what they are. Downward slanting fixed rotation clip-ons.



This is what came in my FedEx package...just like Christmas I ripped open the box and fondled all the shiny new aluminum CNC machined bits of heaven. The quality of the components are top notch. They even go so far as to individually wrap each part to make sure everything arrives safe, unscratched and labled with stickers to let you know what each part is...(see who needs instructions right) Chris even put in a little package of mints with a thank-you note. I didn't even get mints when I bought my last automobile.....those bastards owe me some mints now.



Start the installation by removing the top plate of the tripple tree. This
can be done by removing the big ole nut (38mm) and then loosing up the 2 hex bolts on the corners of the clamp. But wait there's more.......



On the bottom side of the clamp, you will find 2 more hex bolts that bolt the clip-ons onto the top plate. Get under there and remove those puppies or nothing is coming off. These bolts also act as indexing bolts to keep the clip-ons from being able to rotate around the fork tube....that's why I said it's a totally fixed system with no adjustment...see



After removing the 2 hidden hex bolts you can pull the top plate off and lay it forward out of the way. Next loosen the 2 hex bolts that clamp the clip-ons to the fork tube and your ready to start stripping the controls and grips off.....



The OEM bar ends come off easy enough if you locate the 2 holes that retain the clip tabs that snap into place when the bar ends are pressed in.Use 2 thumb tacks taped onto the jaws of your big pliers and squeeze them together with release both sides of the clips at opnce...pull gently as you squeeze the tabs and the whole guts will slide out about 3/4" and look like so.



Stick a small pin punch through the hole in the brass sleeve and them unscrew the bolt/bar end slider as a unit.



Next remove the front brake fluid reservoire being careful not to spill any on your painted surfaces... Go ahead and remove the old mounting bracket too so we can install the new one that came with the kit after......set that sucker aside somewhere that you won't step on it or kick it.



Just to be safe let's plug the dangling tube left from the brake reservoire
with a bolt or something. I like my paint job the way it is and don't want to take any chances.



Slide the new bar clamps on the fork tubes and re-install the top plate. Make sure your clips look like my photo. Screws facing upward and bar holes forward of the tube. After we re-tighten the top plate we can slide the clamps up snug against the plate, but leave em loose until then.



Re-tighten the top plate to 90 nm (that's 66 lbs for us yanks). Then slide
your clamps up til they kiss the bottom of the plate, tighten just enough to keep them from moving but not real tight yet.



Put some grease (very light coat) on the bar bushing thingees so they will not bind. These babies are the reason this system is so adjustable and we'll need them to rotate inside the clamps freely to get the bars where we want em so our old tired bones can be comfy while touring the country on our sport bike that we just haaaaaad to have despite the wife telling us we are waaaay to old for a sport bike and the insurance agent laughing til he pee'd on himself when we.......oh sorry.



Slide the bar bushings into the clamps from the inside - out direction with the square cut located inboard. The square cut allows you to use a 3/8" rachet drive to rotate the bushing. This is great since we will have the bars inserted and all the controls re-installed on them and the bars can remain stationary while we rotate the bushing all around to find the "sweet spot" for our riding comfort. It's a slick design really.



Now you can see the bars inserted into the bushing which is inserted into the clamp. Notice in this picture I have the bars slanting UPWARD from the fork tube.....remember that the OEM bars only slant downward. Just this subtle change makes a difference of nearly 1.5 inches of travel as measured at the hand grip location. From rotated full down to full up positions. Like a broom handle stuck into the ground if you rotate it around in a circle at arms length (like stirring a kettle) The top of the broomstick moves in a wide arch but the tip is stuck into the ground and doesn't move much....that is the basic design of the CycleCat system. All the adjustment for up and down is built into the bushing thingees.



Notice that there is a Right and a Left handle bar (ask me how I know this hahahaha). When gripped side by side. The one with the hole highest up is the right side bar and the lower drilled hole goes on the left (opposite of my first guess)



This picture shows the length difference between the OEM bar and the new one. The new bar is shorter, but with the longer bar end slider included in the kit the net result is virtually identical.



Re-install all the controls on the new bars and rotate the bar so your
controls fall in a nomal orientation for your hands. Ie...switches are facing
back and slightly up etc... Don't worry about the bar height. Remember we do all that magic later with a ratchet drive on those fancy bushings.



Now install the new mounting bracket that came with the kit onto the brake fluid res and while we're at it also put that new piece of tubing on there so we have the length we'll need to relocate the res.



The new bracket screws into the end of the new bar after passing through the bushing thingee and screwing down to the bar itself. So before attaching the res, make sure you use your rachet and get the up/down set for the new bar whereever it's comfy for you.



Showing how dramatic the change "CAN" be if you want. You can move the bars so much up and forward that they will bump the faring (lots of adjustment) so make sure you rotate your wheel fully to the stops on the right and left before we tighten stuff down.





I found a good routing for all the tubes and stuff as shown below. Clean and neat. You need to rotate the braided metal brake line so it points forward and comes out under the brake/throttle cable bundle. Then bring the new brake fluid tube around the front of the bundle ina sweeping turn (not too tight or it may pinch) Measure and cut to fit. I had to remove only about 1/2 inch from the tube they sent in the kit.


There she be.......all set and ready to ride





**** Ride report: ****

Ok....so I left for my 3 day trip about 3 hours after installing the new bars and got to spend some quality time on the road with my lovely Red D675. I was smart enought to pack a set of allen key drive bits and a 3/8" ratchet so I could make adjustments on the road to find a comfortable position. Good thing I did too, because by the end of the trip I had these babies dialed in and locked.

I think because of the design of the bars they are very misleading in the amount of rise they offer. Unlike the convertibars (tried those already and hated em) these risers do not "look" like they are actually doing anything. But in fact as I showed in the above pictures they have about all the travel that you could get without cutting your faring. So even tho it doesn't look like they are raising the bar (sniker) they in fact REALLY WORK. I had them set near the top of the rotation on the first day with the apex of the circle toward the rear and the bars rotated forward more than the stock bars would have allowed. This gave a bar that was flater in rise and also nearly flat across (no sweep) This was ok and took "some" strain off the wrists but forced me to lean more forward due to the distance from the bars to the seat and actually gained me very little in comfort over the OEM's.......so time to break out the hex set hahaha.

Stopped along the route for a bite to eat at the crab shack and before resuming my travels I moved the bars even more up (pretty much top dead center of the rotation) and when swept the bars rearward about 2 inches. I used my thumbs as a guide to set the bars away from the tank (so they wouldn't impact the tank when turned to full stops) and measured from the tip of my thumb to the first knuckle (about 1.3 inches I would guess). Made the same adjustment on both bars and re-snugged everything down.

WOW baby....now we are talking. this decreased the distance from my seat to the bars so my reach was reduced. This allows my back to un-arch and puts me in a slightly more upright position. It reduced the weight on the bars/wrists by at LEAST 50%. The combination of 1.5 inches of upward travle and aprox 2 inches of rearward sweep was my magic number. Haven't moved em again since.

Even sitting at a stop light is more comfy now. Add to that the wind pressure at 60 mph (or above choke....cough) and the 50% reduction becomes basically a state of equalibrium with no noticeable pressure on the wrists or palms.

I have finished the trip and can report that I was not uncomfortable even at my ripe old age. May have to spring for the gel seat tho hahaha. The bike still dives into corners and handles like it did with the OEM bars (really didn't notice any difference in handling at all). they can be swept back forward and turned back down if I ever wanted to go back to the original set-up but that aint bloody likely.

No sore back or hands or wrists after 634 miles in 3 days.......but I am a bit hungry. Now where did I put those tasty mints??? :lol:
 
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#28 ·
ofcounsel said:
ShaneXman said:
ofcounsel said:
Just spoke to Chris at Oncycles, we confirmed that there was a minor mix up with the allen bolts in my packet that tighten the eccentric bushings (a little too long). :shock: As a result, the bolts were bumping up against the forks before they had a chance to tighten the claimp. In turn, the bushing couldn't tighten up. And as I kept on trying to tighten the bolt, it went nowhere, finally causing it to break. Chris was very helpful in diagnosing and solving the problem. He offered to overnight me replacement parts to get me out on the road. :D

I'll keep you all posted on the final install.
You would think someone installing something would notice a problem like this....but I guess not. "LAZY!!!" :wink: :lol:
Well, if you had been here like a true good friend should, this never would have happened. :shock: Its all your fault. :wink:
I suppose you are right.... :? ......... :lol:
 
#29 ·
toxidomask said:
easy install?? ive been holding out to buy this stuff...
On a scale of 1 to 5, I would call it a 2+, but a little more time consuming than I thought. The pictures posted above are helpful.. but keep in mind that the pictures show the clamps installed incorrectly. The measurement hashmarks go on the inside of the fork, not the outside. The Hardest thing for you may be finding the 38mm socket to get the steering head nut off.
 
#32 ·
ShaneXman said:
I want to order these....BADLY! I also want the CycleCat rear sets....but they are so damn expensive. :shock: 8)
I've got a few Cycle Cat bits on my Supersport, and yes they are pricey, but they are damn nice! But, I just don't see the need for 'other than stock' rearsets for the 675, they are perfectly placed for me and I like the spring loaded pegs. I've seen bikes dig in and flip when sliding down the track cause of rigid pegs...makes a seeemingly harmless lowside pretty ugly.
 
#33 ·
I got ahold of the Triumph service manual and it calls for a torque setting of 90nm (which is about 66 ft/lbs ) for the 38mm nut holding the top triple clamp on, not 40 as stated in the original post.

a 38mm socket is 4/100ths or so smaller than a 1&1/2" socket. I'll be trying the install tonight using a 3/4" drive 1&1/2......I'll post my results later, hopefully.
 
#34 ·
Here is a picture of the Triumph service manual for the 675..... section 13.3 if I remember correctly.



and a pic of the almost finished install. I'm waiting on new grips. While you're at it, you might as well....change the grips

 
#38 ·
Yamatr3 said:
If you want an easy way to get the stock grip off, use an air compressor and an air nozzle. Just blow air in between the grip and bar. Then wiggle while blowing the air and the grip will come off every time.
another thing you can do is get one of those little hoses from a aerosal can like the one on WD40. Spray(WD40) a little in there and twist it right off.
 
#40 ·
This is an incredible post, please make this a sticky.
(it took me two weeks to find this post, as I thought you were installing Helibars). And bye the way, since for some reason, I thought you installed Helibars, I purchased those, hope it works out, people really seem to like those also, but the adjustablity would be nice too.

Thanks again!

Michael
 
#41 ·
Wow.....this post (the first one in this thread) was my very first post ever on the forums, and now it's a sticky. My heart is filled, glad it did some good and thanks for the warm welcome. I'll celebrate by unwrapping my last mint. Been saving it for a special occasion hahaha. Take care gang. :lol:
 
#44 ·
Red 675 said:
ShaneXman said:
Red 675 said:
This is an incredible post, please make this a sticky.
Done! :twisted:
With a quickness too, thanks!

Michael
What benefits one is sure to benefit the community. It was my pleasure. :p
 
#46 ·
I feel like a bit of a twit asking this, but when you disconnected the brake fluid reservoir and hose, then reconnected them after the new bars were installed, did you have to bleed the brake system?
 
#49 ·
definately!!! you should... when I installed mine,,, pured some fluid and without putting the cap back on try and squeeze the handle.. you will notice bubbles comming out towards the resevoir.... i mean bunch of em... so probobly I recomend getting those bubbles out of the new hose system by squeezing constantly, then bleed the master cylinder, then bleed the left/right caliper. I did the caliper first then the master cylinder, for some reason I had an itch to scratch and did the calipers once again 3 days later, and found a bit of bubbles still,,, so i recomend doing the master then the caliper in the end. and the stiffness of the handles comparable before I touched the damn thing.
 
#50 ·
Well I finally got around to installing the Cycle Cat risers. They sure work as advertised. Great quality, well labeled, not terribly difficult to install (Thanks to this post!!!). The instructions Cycle Cat provided left a bit to be desired....almost no pictures, no help in getting the bar ends off, and no mention at all about having to disconnect the brake fluid reservoir. But with this post pulled up on the laptop, it was a relative breeze to install. I can't wait to try them out this weekend.
 
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