Tight woods and the handle bars

[gjc32]

I have the standard 32" bars and everyone says they're too wide for woods. I just started woods enduring riding and was curious what's a good width. 30? 29", 28"? I know the shorter I go, the less stability I have on straight aways, but that is not the game in the woods.

Also, anyone add a FMF Rev pipe and not re-jet?

 

[Twiztid One]

i use cr bend bars but never really paid attention to the width of them but it is a must to have a good set of aluminum hanguards to protect your hand from them trees steping out in front of me .

 

[gjc32]

I just put on Moose hand guards and that's a blessing, b/c I bruised some knuckles already with the plastics. But my buddies keep telling me to cut the bars shorter, but want to do it right. One guys is 30" and another's is 29". With my hand guards its closer to 34" and I know that I barely fit through trees at 32". There's got to be a good number that maximizes stability and stealth through the trees.

 

[chris kuba]

If you put on bark busters check to see how thick they are where they attach to your bars. I cut just a little more off each side of the bars than that thickness. If you don't you'll end up with even wider bars by darn close to an inch. Use a good pipe cutter and a file to clean it up with. So I cut about 3/4 of an inch off each side. That makes them decent and you'll get used to the width easily. It really helps in the woods.

 

[WaltCMoto]

I took 1 inch off each end, but then the hand gaurds add about a 1/2 inch back on. You can always take more off, but putting it back on would be tough.

 

[gjc32]

The funny thing is I brought my bike into the shop for its first lookover/oil change etc, and told them to cut an inch off each end while its there. When all was said and done I spent $1,300 on a new pipe, air box, skid plate, bark busters, WER damper, etc and got the bike home and noticed they forgot to cut the bars. That was the number one reason I brought it in. Don't get me wrong, they did a great job with everything at a great price, but now I want to make sure I get the bars right when I bring it back to get the vforce reed cage.

 

[chris kuba]

Do yourself a favor and buy a good set of bark busters. Mine are from Enduro Engineering and are very adjustable at the inside where the cross bar is. When you cut the bars you end up with less room and some of the different models are very difficult to fit on with all the other stuff there....like the brake handle and master cylinder, cables....etc. Some don't have that extra adjustablility and don't always come out real nice. They don't always lay flat making them look like they point up or down too much. I'm sure someone else could point out a good set too.

 

[agitt73]

$1300 sounds like you bent over and held your ankles for $600 worth of parts

 

[gjc32]

Didn't get bent at all. I did the math before I bought. The steering stablizer and FMF rev pipe with turbine silencer is over $600 alone. If you can do better, then let me know. Plus they threw in goggles, lube, and a kryptonite chain and lock worth well over $150. I didn't mention a lot of other stuff. Add in aluminum throttle, snake lines, and other stuff. I was figuring $1,700 based on the cheapest prices I found for parts on the internet. No I didn't get bent. Labor was $320 which I will gladly pay this time of year when my garage is 5 degrees and I'd rather be snowmobiling.

 

[gjc32]

I appreciate the replies, but does anyone have a bar width suggestion?

 

[agitt73]

i guess i do get discounts i always cut my bars to 29" with my bark busters
my width is barely over 30" if they are the stock bars there is a steel rod welded in the center of the bar that can be a pain to get out

 

[RAH RAH]

you should have a good set of renthal fatbars, fork springs adn revalve, wave rotors, new tires, spark arrest, graphics kit, big bore kit, polished swingarm, black wheels, adn a scotts and a nice oring chain a skid plate, pipe guard, maybe even a high quality front sproket, kevlar brake pads, brake snakes, stainless lines, talon hubs, ims tank, adn finally a larger fanny pack. cus this man cant feel his rear!!!
1300 but the labor and the vforce are paid for, heck we might even jet it and give you some handle bars. (Maybe he wont know their bent in instead of cut.) but look at how good she'll run now.
$1300 still no bars or handguards. $320 for labor adn Id rejet it in the dang livin room.
Ill bet the salesman/partsman is the mechanic too.
we all understand, dealers are on this earth for a reason
heck hes your friend.
give me $1300 dollars and I might b happy too see you again next week 2

you should do some pushups on the floor adn see what the most comfortable distance is for you to do them. then measure from outside to outside and this is were your grips should be. comfort 1st, good handle bars second, enduro engineering or cycra makes those fatbars better.
you really dont want to know how weak those stock bars are.
better luck next time man

 

[gjc32]

29 " is what I'll do then.

To all mocking $1,300. My parts were only $908 and I have one heck of a great woods bike right now. Worth every penny. By the way the moose skid plate is sweet.

 

[agitt73]

ive got 1 of those also my 02cents the best ive seen

 

[agitt73]

best built that is

 

[jruggery]

I agree with what RAHRAH said (the bar width part anyway). Knock out some
pushups in a position that feels comfortable for you and have someone measure
the width from the outside of each hand. As long as you don't go shorter than
that with your bars (where your hands will be placed with the grips and
handguards installed) you'll be good. I'd be careful about just picking a
number based on what other guys are using. If you're 6-04 and broad
shouldered you don't want to run the same bar width as a 5-06 skinny guy.
My .02c

 

[gn83tm]

I'd generally go about as narrow as you can go with 29-30" being about the minimum. It seems like the trees keep growing closer together where I ride. I wouldn't waste my time narrowing the stock bars since if you tie the bike down on the trailer real good they'll probably be bent anyway. At least spend the $50 on a set of aluminum Moose's if you can't spring for the high dollar stuff. Check to make sure you have the length needed from the bend outward to mount the throttle housing and the levers. You don't want to cut the bars down a lot and then not have enough room for those parts.

Some of you guys could keep your keyboards a little more quiet. If this fine KDX rider is happy with the deals he's gotten, so be it. Hopefully the dealer can make a fair profit also and stay in business so he'll be there for a few years to come.

 

[Enduro_Nut]

I run 30", they work in all but the worst areas.

 

[gjc32]

gn83 and Enduro. Thanks, those were the answers I was looking for. I'll get the bars to 29 and with the bark busters it'll measure 30 and change. And yes, I did my homework first and got a great deal getting my stock '04 up to a loaded '04 in one shot. She's a beauty, which any KDX rider would admire. I also think some people underestimate the toughness of NJ woods where bar means a lot, more than horsepower.

 

[RAH RAH]

try to ride a buddys 29s to make sure you wouldnt want 30. youll know best in about 20 minutes of ridding.
sorry to give you so much grief. it was only a little fun.
you really didnt get ripped as bad as what I tried to make you feel.
The labor is the bad part, you should have saved those bucks adn done it in your living room. The more you work on your machine the more familiar you will be with it and soon youll be gripping at others spending bundles of money and not bringing their machine to you.
I really just enjoy working on bikes myself.
did all of that include the vforce too????
at least your happy with it no matter what we all say

 

[Zerotact]

I have a set of enduro engineering guards, and a set of genuine bark busters. The EE guards are longer, I was only able to cut my bars down about an inch on each side and be able to have the EE guards bolt up.. That might be one thing to concider. I justcut mine off as far as I Could and still bolt up the EE guards.

 

[moridin]

Originally posted by RAHRAH
The labor is the bad part, you should have saved those bucks adn done it in your living room.

Dream on! If my wife sees so much as a service manual break the threshhold to the house (ie not in the garage) - she goes balistic! I should role the bike in the den or living room and throw her up on the stand just for reaction's sake. Maybe I will tape it and post a compressed video;)

 

[gjc32]

Rahrah, having them forget to cut the bars is probably a blessing. One guy I ride with has his bars at 29 and another has 30's. I'll try both bikes and get the feel. The best part about this all is I won $1,800 in my fantasy football league a month ago and basically walked into Kawasaki and said "I want this, this, this, and this" and wasn't even concerned about price. Like I mentioned, I figured the total would have been $1,700 based on the best internet prices for parts. In a way it was free to me, like a parent giving his kid $20 and sending him to a candy store.

Thanks everyone

 

[KDXNick]

I've ridden bikes with narrowed bars, and haven't liked them. I put a standard Renthal, RC bend (when he rode the Kawi hi-bend, low sweep) on my '99 KDX right after I took it off of the showroom floor. I think that they are 31" in width. With a good set of brushguards, they have never been a problem; and I race PA HSs and few select GNCCs. I'm 190lbs, with fairly broad shoulders, and I've found that the wider bars provide a greater sense of control, which seems adventagous when compared to having a narrow bar that allows an extra 2" clearance. In those tight situations an extra 2" wouldn't give me any more confidence to blaze between two close trees than would a wider bar with a good set of brush guards. At teqnical riding speeds I can easily manuver my bars between tight trees by either turning them accordingly, or using the brushguards to reflect impacts with a finnesse riding style.
In my experience the wider bars are much better in those tight 1st gear rock picking or log-hopping situations, and they provide much better stability in faster rocky, rutted, or racing conditions.
-Nick

 

[John Harris]

When you cut off the stock bars, if the metal insert for vibration control does not come out you can still win. Tap the insert with 1/4" x 20 threads and then pick up a tapered allen head bolt to fit in the bark busters. This arrangement will work just as well as the expansion fit system used in the end of the bars by all the major manufacturers. I personally cut down to about 30" to compromise for witdth and control.