Need to Raise Handlebars on XR-70

[Smit-Dog]

Our XR-70 is a good bike for the skill level of my 9 year old son, and for the type for woods riding we do. The problem is that he is getting tall and lanky, and when he stands up, he has to hunch over and forward quite a bit.

I'm really encouraging him to stand as much as possible, but his back hurts after several miles. Also, because he's hunched over forward, when he hits the deep sandy whoops, the front end digs in resulting is several spectacular crashes! :scream:

The XR-80 is too big of a bike for him right now, but next season it will be perfect. In the meantime, I'd like to find a fairly inexpensive way to raise the handlebars up so he can stand more comfortably.

I've checked out the BBR and Fast 50s web sites and their triple clamp mount that raises the bar up, but I'd really like to find just the clamps that would raise the bar up 1"-2".

Does anyone know of a higher bend bar plus clamp solution that would work in this case?

Thanks!

 

[flicklee]

pretty sure most bmx bicycle bars will fit. they are 7/8 diameter, the same as standard dirtbike bars.measure the diameter at the end(you may have to cut the grip or remove it). i run answer bmx bars on my xr50 and they work great. you may have to reroute the throttle cable and or brake cable to make them long enough for the increase in height. buy a cheap pair to test out for the right rise/width

 

[Smit-Dog]

Thanks Flicklee....

I hadn't thought of BMX bars for extra rise. I talked to a guy at Fast 50s after posting this, and he recommended the same thing. Only problem might be having to get longer cables. Off to the bike shop...

 

[Smit-Dog]

I did find out that Renthal makes some mini bars with extra rise.

Has anyone tried either the Mini High (#757-02) or the XR/TTR Mini Race Bar (#611-01)?

The XR/TTR bend gives you a 6" rise, but the bar width is 30" compared to the stock XR-70 width of 25". I know I could cut them down, but might have trouble with getting controls/bark busters back on to the end result.

 

[Senior KX Rider]

I have the Renthal TTR XR bars on my sons 70. Had to cut an inch off each side because the cable was not long enough.

 

[Smit-Dog]

Senior - So did the TTR/XR bend give your son enough increase in rise to make a difference? I measured rise on the stock XR-70 bars (which isn't an exact science), and it doesn't seem all that much different than the TTR/XR bend specs.

Cutting off the ends would be fine to get it back close to stock width.

Did you switch the bars out to get more rise, or for a different reason.

Thanks...

 

[Senior KX Rider]

I changed them because he bent the stock bars. Didn't get much of an increase over stock but they are the only ones I could find that were close to being as tall. My son is 8 and he didn't need as much rise as the BMX bars give. I think after this season its going to be time to look for a bigger bike though