ctdyno

Damn Yankees
Member
Feb 10, 2007
85
0
any tips on bending handlebars back? should i just stick a pipe on the end and pull it or should i heat it up, will heating it weaken it? and id prefer not to heat it too cause they are chrome and i dont care too much about the finish but they are brand new and dont barely have like one ride on them so id prefer not to have blistered chrome on my bars ,just looking for some suggestions, thanks
 

Okiewan

Admin
Dec 31, 1969
29,555
2,237
Texas
Don't do it. They are weakened and will only get weaker.
Unless you want them to snap and love face-plants, get new bars.
 

76GMC1500

Uhhh...
Oct 19, 2006
2,142
1
I don't recommend it, but I have bent my bars back on a few occasions. If you do bend them, I suggest you use heat and cool as slowly as possible after straightening them.

If you ride with the bent bars for a while, you'll just get used to it. It feels weird when you get back on a bike with straight bars. The best part when your friends ride your bike and wonder how you do it because it's so uncomfortable for them.
 

thebleakness

Member
Sep 19, 2006
254
0
76GMC1500 said:
If you ride with the bent bars for a while, you'll just get used to it. It feels weird when you get back on a bike with straight bars. The best part when your friends ride your bike and wonder how you do it because it's so uncomfortable for them.
Hehe, so true. My left side is bent slightly and I'm used to it but I try I can notice it. I hopped on a friends bike today that I hadnt ridden before and low and behold his bars were so bent I laughed. Just looking down the bike you could see the offset from the front tire, it made turning right really easy...
 

Octane250F

Uhhh...
Oct 21, 2006
174
0
Okiewan said:
Don't do it. They are weakened and will only get weaker.
Unless you want them to snap and love face-plants, get new bars.
^I agree 100%. Trying to bend them back is just not a good idea, because the are likely to break at the most unopertune time (such as when you are landing a big jump).
 

RM_guy

Moderator
Damn Yankees
LIFETIME SPONSOR
Nov 21, 2000
7,045
208
North East USA
Back before alum bars were even made I used to bend back the steel ones all the time. If they were so bad that they couldn't be bent back they got scrapped but not until I could afford new ones. Now that I am older and wis...OK, older, I was lucky I didn't kill myself.

You are lucky you have a place you can ask these kind of questions and learn from our mistakes and/or knowledge. Now that bikes are faster and jump higher I wouldn't even remotely suggest you ever bend back bars.
 

ctdyno

Damn Yankees
Member
Feb 10, 2007
85
0
i mean i get that they can break if you bend em back but ive never seen bars break before, are they really that easy to break? im just doing light riding and trails no jumps or tracks, just wonering, and as they are right now are they still weak? could i just ride it like it is cause the ones that came with the bike when i bought it were bent and i rode with those for awhile
just wondering, way too broke to buy new bars at this point
 

mtk

Member
Jun 9, 2004
1,409
0
Yes, they can break if you bend them back and more importantly, why would you chance it?

Laying in the hospital because you were "too broke" to fix it properly isn't going to be much of a consolation, particularly if some of your injuries result in permanent damage. Trust me, I've seen the inner workings of a Trauma Unit as a patient and it is NOT something I'd recommend trying out in person.

Besides, if you're that broke, how do you afford gas to ride anyway? A cheap set of steel bars is less than $20. Yeah, they'll bend the first time you drop the bike, but you get what you pay for and all that.

You can ride with them bent as they are now, but bending them back will work-harden the steel at the point of the bend. Ever bent a paper clip back and forth? It gets harder to bend (work-hardening) and then if stops bending and snaps. The steel in your handlebars behaves the same way.
 

2-Strokes 4-ever

~SPONSOR~
Feb 9, 2005
1,842
4
Missouri
If too broke for new bars.........then, too broke to ride. Hard pill to swollow, I know.
 

Mickmoto

Member
Mar 29, 2007
16
0
76GMC1500 said:
Definately can't bend aluminum back.
you can bend em back if you really need to, like the folks here say, you want to use heat to bend the aluminum ones back, not a great idea but you def can.

and yeah, like you said Ctdyno, you will want a nice straight set when you can swing it. =)
 

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