I just bought some new Renthal bars since my old ones got mangled. I took them home and noticed they are like 3-4" shorter in width from end to end. They feel OK (actually better than my old ones). My question is how will this affect the handling of the bike? I'm guessing that turning will be easier but less stability on bumps and stuff. BTW they are Renthal 7/8" bars, they say they are for a 04 CR Windham bend. They guy at the shop said they were OK for my KX.
I looked at the Renthal site and couldn't find specs for a "Windham" set. I am surprised that they could be that much shorter...most of the full-size MX bars are pretty much the same width. You are exactly right on the handling differences.
At first I thought he sold me mini bars, but they are around the same size as my stock KX bars. I looked on Renthal's site also and can't figure out what I've got. I'll have to check the part #. My old bars are mangled, so is was hard to tell the difference, maybe it's not 3-4" but they are definetly noticably shorter.
Take a look at the ends of the bars and make sure they weren't cut down and then returned. 3 to 4" shorter than your stock bars is a whole lot (or did you mean 3/4"?).
thanks guys, i found the part # and looked it up on renthal's website. they are the RC/Windham bend. they are only like 7/8" shorter. I think they just looked a lot shorter b/c of the way my old one's were bent.
Thekid actually prefers using mini bars on his 250Fs. When we bought the last one the dealer accidently put in a set of renthal mini CR bends with it . I didn't notice and mounted them right away, as soon as thekid rode the bike he came back and told me about the bars but said he really liked how they felt. He is not broad shouldered and the narrower bars keep his hands more in line with his shoulders giving a more comfortable position. He also thinks it presents less chance of getting hung up going into the firt corner when the racing gets tight.
He liked them so much his old bike got changed over right away also
Interesting how a small change in bar width,height or position can make you feel more comfortable on your bike.
njkx, I got that info out of the rocky mountian mc catalog. They have a whole page of specs for bars.
There specs dont jive with the renthal specs however, renthal says windham bars are 32.08.