Handlebar movement issue

maverick2076

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So, the other day I was riding and it felt like my handlebars were off. My right hand was farther forward than my left. I was able to stop, put the wheel between my legs and twist them back to true, but I can see them flex and twist slightly at the place where the bars mount to the upper triple tree. The bolts underneath are tight. Is it possible that the rubber is worn out in the mounts? My wife’s Tenere does not have this flex at all.
 

holligl

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So, the other day I was riding and it felt like my handlebars were off. My right hand was farther forward than my left. I was able to stop, put the wheel between my legs and twist them back to true, but I can see them flex and twist slightly at the place where the bars mount to the upper triple tree. The bolts underneath are tight. Is it possible that the rubber is worn out in the mounts? My wife’s Tenere does not have this flex at all.
After a drop I had an issue with the alignment of the bar mounts (initially I thought I had bent the bars). Upon closer inspection, I could see the left one wasn't setting square. Removed the bars and tapped it back into place. It's been fine since.

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Squibb

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If it's not the bar mounts, It could be the forks have moved in the yokes/triple clamps very slightly. Sometimes happens after even a minor drop but easy enough to adjust if necessary.
 

maverick2076

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I saw the threads about the forks moving in the clamps, but I don’t think that is it. If I put the bike on the center stand, stand in front of the bike holding the wheel between my knees, and grab and move the bars, I can see them flexing and twisting at the risers.

I do have Rox risers and ProTaper bars, but I don’t see how that could affect this.
 

maverick2076

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Hmm. Looks like the issue is with the riser/bar combo. Either I can’t get the Rox risers tight enough in the regular risers to keep them from twisting, or that combo of riser and bar provides too much leverage to be held by the riser clamps. I swapped the Rox risers out for the 30mm risers I had and the movement is gone.

I never ran the ProTaper bar with these risers, so I’ll try it for a few days and see if it works. If not, I’ll go back and reinstall the Rox risers and add a thin strip of aluminum to the riser clamps to give them a little more bite.
 

Cycledude

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I don’t have any risers but just looking at the ROX Risers had me wondering about the possible effects of flex, the more expensive Helibar risers don’t appear like they would have that issue.
 
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Don in Lodi

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There is a fix out there for tightening up those flex bushings using a couple large washers.
 

steve68steve

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I think the bar risers are rubber mounted. A certain amount of flex is by design.

People who don't like the flex remove the rubber. I think they're just washers or bungs in the fastener stack.

Adding risers creates additional leverage which will exacerbate the movement issue.
 

Nig5

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Worth checking the centre nut on the yoke (triple tree) is torqued correctly, mine wasn`t from new, hit a bump and the bars twisted!
Took it back to supplying dealer and he supposedly torqued it up? next service elsewhere and still not tight enough!
 

dmulk

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There is a fix out there for tightening up those flex bushings using a couple large washers.
This. The washers should take most of the flex out.
Also make sure that the Rox risers you have are not rubber isolated. If they are, then you have double rubber isolation and that's going to be a problem.
 

EricV

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Gen II bikes have rubber bushings in the riser mounting. Gen I do not.

Worth noting is that ROX makes a different version of riser for the Gen I and II, so make sure you have the correct version. Gen I risers on a Gen II bike are not as secure as they should be.
 

EricV

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I believe it's for fixturing during manufacture.
 

Cycledude

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Well I sent email to ROX asking about the hole and this was the reply.
“That hole was simply there for accessories. It was threaded for an M8 bolt. Many of the risers do not come with that anymore.”
 
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