In the thread "250 two stroke in to a woods bike?”, a discussion has been on-going about turning a '97 CR250R into a woods bike. I made a statement that a fellow member may want to do something about bar vibration he is sure to incur in that bike. (I have a '99 and also suffer from the vibrations). I suggested the silicone or expanding foam treatment and/or possibly the Faastco bar dampers. I haven’t tried the Fasstcos yet and have had only minor success with expanding foam and silicone. Spanky correctly noted that you can't use the bar dampers with the “must have” Bark Busters needed for woods riding. Well, Spanky got my wheels turning and I found a $2.00 solution that works with or without bark busters.
If someone has posted something of this nature in the past or this isn’t fairly original (at least for cost savings), I apologize in advance.
I tried this without the Bark Busters first:
1. Buy two ½” x 3 ½” lag bolts and ten inches of 3/8” ID X ½” OD clear hose.
2. File or grind off the sharp point of the lag bolts, but not the entire tapered area. (For safety only.)
3. Cut the hose in half.
4. Insert the tip of the lag bolt into the tubing about ¾".
5. Coat the outside of the tubing with silicone spray, WD-40 or even hand cleaner. This will help the tubing slide inside the bars.
6. Insert the tubing/bolt into the end of the bar. The end of the tubing (bolt end) should be flush with the end of the bar. It should be necessary to lightly tap the bolt with a hammer to seat the portion of the tubing that has the bolt in it, due to the interference fit.
7. Now simply screw in the lag bolt until it seats against the bar end. Watch the hose to insure that it’s pulled up to the bolt head as well. I needed to trim off some (1/8”) of the hose just prior to the head seating against the bar.
8. On the right bar end it is necessary to round off some of the hex on the bolt head to prevent having a sticky throttle. Test it by sliding on the throttle tube and turning the throttle until it operates smoothly!
9. Reassemble the bars as normal. This modification adds approximately 3/8” to each end of the bar, so you can fine-tune bar length as needed.
Dampers with Bark Busters (THANKS SPANKY!):
1. Same procedure as above until step seven. Leave about ¼” gap between the bar end and bolt head.
2. Make sure that you have coated the outside of the tubing very well!
3. Either grind or cut off the bolt head. (At this point there is no turning back without some work.)
4. Take a large punch and drive the bolt/hose into the bar about an 1 ½”. This will give you the needed clearance for your Bark Buster mounts. If you have coated the tubing well enough, this shouldn’t be hard. If it is hard to drive it in, you may need to decrease the tubing size.
5. Reassemble the bars as normal.
Notes:
1. Any hose with these dimensions will work, at least on regular Renthal bars.
2. The longer the lag bolt, the heavier. You can use the length to fine-tune your setup.
I started my bike and could feel a difference (I may have wanted to). Then I rode for 30 minutes or so, this made me a believer. No more numb hands! I'm riding about 50 miles today and will post a follow-up on the dampers.
There’s no doubt the Faastco dampers must work, but if you want your Bark Busters, well…. Let me know what you guys think.
Scott
If someone has posted something of this nature in the past or this isn’t fairly original (at least for cost savings), I apologize in advance.
I tried this without the Bark Busters first:
1. Buy two ½” x 3 ½” lag bolts and ten inches of 3/8” ID X ½” OD clear hose.
2. File or grind off the sharp point of the lag bolts, but not the entire tapered area. (For safety only.)
3. Cut the hose in half.
4. Insert the tip of the lag bolt into the tubing about ¾".
5. Coat the outside of the tubing with silicone spray, WD-40 or even hand cleaner. This will help the tubing slide inside the bars.
6. Insert the tubing/bolt into the end of the bar. The end of the tubing (bolt end) should be flush with the end of the bar. It should be necessary to lightly tap the bolt with a hammer to seat the portion of the tubing that has the bolt in it, due to the interference fit.
7. Now simply screw in the lag bolt until it seats against the bar end. Watch the hose to insure that it’s pulled up to the bolt head as well. I needed to trim off some (1/8”) of the hose just prior to the head seating against the bar.
8. On the right bar end it is necessary to round off some of the hex on the bolt head to prevent having a sticky throttle. Test it by sliding on the throttle tube and turning the throttle until it operates smoothly!
9. Reassemble the bars as normal. This modification adds approximately 3/8” to each end of the bar, so you can fine-tune bar length as needed.
Dampers with Bark Busters (THANKS SPANKY!):
1. Same procedure as above until step seven. Leave about ¼” gap between the bar end and bolt head.
2. Make sure that you have coated the outside of the tubing very well!
3. Either grind or cut off the bolt head. (At this point there is no turning back without some work.)
4. Take a large punch and drive the bolt/hose into the bar about an 1 ½”. This will give you the needed clearance for your Bark Buster mounts. If you have coated the tubing well enough, this shouldn’t be hard. If it is hard to drive it in, you may need to decrease the tubing size.
5. Reassemble the bars as normal.
Notes:
1. Any hose with these dimensions will work, at least on regular Renthal bars.
2. The longer the lag bolt, the heavier. You can use the length to fine-tune your setup.
I started my bike and could feel a difference (I may have wanted to). Then I rode for 30 minutes or so, this made me a believer. No more numb hands! I'm riding about 50 miles today and will post a follow-up on the dampers.
There’s no doubt the Faastco dampers must work, but if you want your Bark Busters, well…. Let me know what you guys think.
Scott