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Handlebars vibration: Possibles fixes

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https://www.barsnake.com/ - These do work but not as well as very heavy bar end weights in my experience.

I meant BB shot - it's easy to get here. You could also use round fishing weights. I filled the whole bar once but I also inserted a cork then silicon & then filled just the end 3-4 inches on another bike.

If I was going to try this again... I'd just buy some silicon or caulk & pump it into the bars till they were full and then let it go off for a week or so. :) The downside with that is you're probably never getting it out again if you don't like it!
 
Rather than trying to absorb the vibration, how about killing it BEFORE it gets to the handlebars?

Have you adjusted your valves and done a vacuum sync on the carbs? Those go a LONG way to a smoother engine.
 
Valve adjustment is the first thing on my list when I get back home from uni next weekend. Basically My 3 main jobs for May and June are:
1-Valve adjustment.
2-Dynojet kit installation and tuning(including vacuum sync).
3-Handlebars vibration.
After that Its maybe a disk job and some cosmetic stuff.
 
Just replaced the nasty old pitted windshield on my bike last week with an NOS one. The old windshield kinda fluttered around a bit at top at highway speeds and the NOS replacement doesn't. Believe it or not it made a huge difference in the vibration of my bars. Something to consider there, aerodynamics.
 
Get some Oakum from Home Depot, fill the handlebar ends around 2 inches so that when the Oakum is wet and swells, it will leave 2 inches deep of the inside of the bars ends empty. Stand the handlebar on end, and fill with molten lead. Do the same thing with the other side. The Oakum will stay inside the handlebar and affect nothing, and the lead you can get from fishing weights and melt down) will absorb the vibration. No one will know you have anything in there. Pack the Oakum tight, get it real wet, it will expand exponentially, then push it down the desired depth. ;)
 
Suzukian said:
Get some Oakum from Home Depot, fill the handlebar ends around 2 inches so that when the Oakum is wet and swells, it will leave 2 inches deep of the inside of the bars ends empty. Stand the handlebar on end, and fill with molten lead. Do the same thing with the other side. The Oakum will stay inside the handlebar and affect nothing, and the lead you can get from fishing weights and melt down) will absorb the vibration. No one will know you have anything in there. Pack the Oakum tight, get it real wet, it will expand exponentially, then push it down the desired depth. ;)
Click to expand...

Have you actually done this? I'm curious about corrosion of the bars with trapping moisture inside of the bar with a fiber material.
 
That's not an issue because Oakum absorbs all the moisture. I learned from making tube safety bars, you spray the inside with a coat of mineral oil, that will take care of any moisture problems after you weld them tubes shut. I've used Oakum for years on plumbing problems, especially when you head to change diameters of cast iron pipes for modern toilets.. You could use Heavy Duty aluminum foil to make a pocket at each end. When it cools down, you pull out the plug, and hit the top sides with a punch so that you have to hammer the plug back in. Spray in the mineral oil, and you should be good to go. The first way, making a wad of Oakum, will give you the best fit though. Any other way might vibrate loose eventually. I'd just ended up getting in the bar end weights. I don't notice them, to be honest. Mine are black. :).
 
If you take the bars off, fill then ends with fishing weight lead, fabricate a plug to block the lead (like a freeze out plug for the block of a car, which could be easily made with some thin sheet metal and a ball peen hammer), you cold just take a propane torch heat the handlebar ends and lead and melt the weights into the ends. :)
 
Grimly said:
I fitted a set of Honda ST1100 bars on mine and found the ends contained about 4" long steel inserts as anti-vibe weights.
I had to remove them to fit my internal bar heaters, though.
Click to expand...

You see a lot of old suzukis that have the bar tip weights removed. I've always wondered if its a perverse aesthetic penchant a la no front fender or rear shock delete or just one fell out so the other got removed.

mine buzzes painfully at about 4-5k rpm. And to ride it would make a masochist think you mad.
 
They're not prone to falling out, that I've ever heard of.
 
Last edited:
Cipher said:
You see a lot of old suzukis that have the bar tip weights removed. I've always wondered if its a perverse aesthetic penchant a la no front fender or rear shock delete or just one fell out so the other got removed.

mine buzzes painfully at about 4-5k rpm. And to ride it would make a masochist think you mad.
Click to expand...

The majority of late 70s (and later) UJMs were mentioned in all the UK press tests as having the handlebar buzz in the 4-5K range, but mine never had bar weights. Not sure whether the in-bar weight of the heaters is helping or not, plus the presence of totally different bars and fixings from standard will skew that anyway. All I can say is that yes, there is some vibe patch, but it's not too difficult to vary speed a bit.

Conversely, the XJ's bar end weights have a tendency to loosen themselves and disappear. Without them, the bar vibes are really quite objectionable on a longer run, so I've taken to replacing them with lumps of steel or even just a stack of washers.
 
The Bar end weights on my '83 GS750ES are the stock, original ones. I've removed them to put on new grips, but once tightened up, they stay put. :)
 
Was there bar end weights on the GS650? Im not sure since I got it with aftermarket handlebars.

Quick update on where i am on my projects:
1) Dynojet kit is installed and she purrs! Really satisfied with the results.
2) Valve are adjusted but #4EX is making a bit of noise. Will have to open it again anyway since the gasket I got was of shitty quality anyway, so its leaking around the valve plugs. Got a new gasket and some new plugs and will install it shortly.
3)Still waiting on my friend for the carb synch.
4) I will measure and check if the bar inserts from the Honda that we talked in this tread could fit. If they do. I think it would be a quick and easy fix without having to pour molten lead in my handlebars. Will keep everyone posted
 
Your first post stated you didn't want handlebar end weights. Al 7/8th inch handlebar weights will work, some are heavier than others. Before the weights, people used lead, done that many times by using lead. I thought you were caught up on some aesthetic thing. Why didn't you just go the bar end weights to begin with. Not a question. ;/
 
Suzukian said:
Your first post stated you didn't want handlebar end weights. Al 7/8th inch handlebar weights will work, some are heavier than others. Before the weights, people used lead, done that many times by using lead. I thought you were caught up on some aesthetic thing. Why didn't you just go the bar end weights to begin with. Not a question. ;/
Click to expand...

Probably wasn't clear enough. Yes its an asthetic problem. I have no problem installing some bar end inserts, which you put the grip on top of it. What I dont want are bar en weight that add 2 inches of length to your handlebars. My handgrips are leather brown and I like them like that. I dont want to have to pierce them in order to fit a bar end weight at the end. If I put something on my bike it has to be completely inside the handlebars. no additionnal bar length
 
Do you have some installed? How to they look (if you can see them at all). Ill have to measure my handlebar ID cuz im not sure what I have
 
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