Are EMGO bars any good?

[Guest]

I am trying to de-L my L a bit and have been searching first for bars. It's hard to find good clean 40 year old chrome, so I am considering buying aftermarket bars. Are EMGO any good? If not, what brands should I be considering?

While I'm on the subject, should I consider a bar snake when installing aftermarket bars?

[Rich82GS750TZ]

Huh. Never heard of the Bar Snake before. Interesting

[Guest]

Huh. Never heard of the Bar Snake before. Interesting

Makes sense, though, doesn't it? I have never found factory bars on any bike I have owned to feel buzzy, but I could see how the factory might have spent a few hundred thousand dollars (however many Yen that might be) to eliminate NVH, and installing non-OE bars could undo some of that work.

[Rich82GS750TZ]

Seems legit. I'd be curious to read what anyone on the forum has to say about it if they've tried it. Seems like maybe more of a Cruiser/Harley thing, maybe?

[Guest]

Seems legit. I'd be curious to read what anyone on the forum has to say about it if they've tried it. Seems like maybe more of a Cruiser/Harley thing, maybe?

So you're saying that you think that an odd fire two cylinder radial engine that hasn't changed significantly in 80 years is prone to vibration?

[Rich82GS750TZ]

So you're saying that you think that an odd fire two cylinder radial engine that hasn't changed significantly in 80 years is prone to vibration?

Yeah, just a tad maybe. haha. No, just have no experience with cruisers, And I've never seen the bar snake mentioned here. That's not to say that my bike couldn't do with a little vibration dampening. But the image in my mirrors is pretty steady, and I don't even have the rubber dampers where the mirror threads into the bracket on the bars.

[Nessism]

Aftermarket bars like those Emgo's won't have the holes for the hand control anti rotation tabs, but you can drill some. As far as anti vibration control is concerned, I've seen some OEM bars with metal slugs welded into the ends to add mass and reduce vibration. Not sure about L bars though. Pull a grip and take a look.

[Guest]

Drilling holes shouldn't be too big a problem. Getting the holes clocked properly would be the trick.

[sam000lee]

I have Emgo superbike bars on my GS750. In the price range at the time, those were the shape/style/position that worked best. They've been fine and I rode across the country twice on them. Recently, I've been wishing I had bars with a slightly higher rise to them that looked more like the stock bars but not quite with as much pull back. Again, haven't been able to find exactly what I wanted so far. I did recently see some aftermarket replacement bars for an XS650 on Z1/Dime City Cycles that I thought looked pretty good...

[Grimly]

Makes sense, though, doesn't it? I have never found factory bars on any bike I have owned to feel buzzy, but I could see how the factory might have spent a few hundred thousand dollars (however many Yen that might be) to eliminate NVH, and installing non-OE bars could undo some of that work.

The ST1100 bars I mentioned in the other thread had substantial weights in the end straights. Took some shifting, trying to get them out, but I needed to remove them to install my internal bar heaters. I've no doubt the weights worked well as buzz-killers on the ST1100 and I would have liked to have tried them as they were, but needs must.

[GS1150Pilot]

The buzz from certain 4 cylinder bikes is in some ways far worse than that from some v-twins.

[Steve]

Drilling holes shouldn't be too big a problem. Getting the holes clocked properly would be the trick.

It's not as hard as you might imagine.

Assemble the housings lightly on the bar to see the approximate locations. Once you have those, outline the area with some tape, then spray some black paint in the area. When the paint has dried for a bit, put the housings back in place. Move them around to find "THE" position, then rotate them on the bars and then slide them in and out a bit to make cross-hairs on the paint. Drill accordingly.

.

[chuck hahn]

Or maybe just eliminate the pin on the housing.

[Nessism]

Or maybe just eliminate the pin on the housing.

I did that on one bike and the control rotated at the most inopportune moment. Never again.

[Guest]

It's not as hard as you might imagine.

Assemble the housings lightly on the bar to see the approximate locations. Once you have those, outline the area with some tape, then spray some black paint in the area. When the paint has dried for a bit, put the housings back in place. Move them around to find "THE" position, then rotate them on the bars and then slide them in and out a bit to make cross-hairs on the paint. Drill accordingly.

.

Clever idea. Thanks again.