Bar riser Report

[Black Widow]

I installed some 30mm(1.2) inch bar risers on the FZ8 yesterday. When i was riding it felt as though i had to input more effort to steer corners and gave me the feeling of uncertainty. When accelerating hard i felt too upright, and when leaning forward to keep from the drafts from pasing semi trucks i felt cramped. Needless to say i pulled in shop when i got home and took them off. i am NOT an expert rider, this is my first road bike(5000kms now) so maybe i am being overly sensitive to the lack of handling feel the risers gave me. Anyone with more experience than me with risers got any input for me. I suspect just that little bit of lean in body position translates into a lot different handling feel?? I love this bike, just thought a rise in the bar height might give me a more upright, comfortable position when cruiseing longer distances, actually felt less comfortable, seems Yamaha dialed the seat height, peg position,bar height just right on this bike. I am 5' 10" FWIW.

 

[Coolslice]

I'd say you did the right thing by removing them. Anything that makes you uncomfortable or is a distraction to your riding should be removed asap. A lot of people would have left them on and just dealt with it, but I think you did what was wise.

 

[Black Widow]

I agree, it made me feel the bike needed a little more effort to lean, maybe slightly ,but enough to know it handled better and felt better at stock height. Again, i am a rookie, so i can't say for sure how a person with more experience might like the position. I haven't even been over enough to scrape the peg feelers

 

[Bighitmatt]

I actually had a very similar experience with a bar change on my FZ-8. I went with some Renthal 1/8" high-rise bars. After having them installed I drove out of the dealership immediately regretting my decision. The bars felt very unstable at high speeds and extremely hard to maneuver at slow speeds. I went straight from my dealer to the nearest cycle gear and picked up the protaper universal risers and the protaper Carmichael 1/2" bars. They are a little more pulled back than stock, but a little lower. This makes the bars less of a reach forward, but still maintains the "sporty" feel of an upright bike. I have had ZERO issues with my new bars and they are extremely better than stock.

 

[Hoover]

I have never been a fan of higher bars, or ones pulled back.
I think it's a bit like tennis shoes, chop sticks or hand grenades. What ever you are comfortable with, go for it.

I do love my Renthal Streetfighter bars though. I like to ride wide, I have a wide spread across my arms so these bars feel great, if I was a little narrower, perhaps not.

Smart move bud.

 

[Bighitmatt]

I have never been a fan of higher bars, or ones pulled back.
I think it's a bit like tennis shoes, chop sticks or hand grenades. What ever you are comfortable with, go for it.

I do love my Renthal Streetfighter bars though. I like to ride wide, I have a wide spread across my arms so these bars feel great, if I was a little narrower, perhaps not.

Smart move bud.

I agree 100%. My Protapers are wide! Gives the bike a real MX feel. The Renthals i had on before were the Streetfighter bars, but my dealer chopped about 1in off each end so he wouldn't have any cable fitment issues. If i had of know he was doing that I would have stopped him. The loss of 2" off the bars were enough to make them entirely too narrow! Lesson learned was never let a dealer do your own work. Since, I have installed EVERYTHING myself.lol

 

[DownhomeMoto]

I too am running a MX style bar. I have the fly with I think the KTM bend. They were the widest, lowest bar they had. I think they were 810 mm wide. They also are not swept back like the stickers. I really like them.

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