Handlebar Vibration Cure Experiment

[Patrick Bateman]

So, I've been thinking about increasing the weight of the handlebars to change their resonance point - Evotech bar ends have been installed but I wanted to see if I could improve upon this. After checking out all the available silicon products, none of them seemed to be heavy enough to make a difference so I had a light bulb moment and thought filling it with ball bearings might be a better idea...

... turns out I'm not the first person on the planet to think of this but I take heart in knowing that it was an independent thought.

Anyhow, I bought a 3 bags of 750 x 4mm ball bearings from ebay - I figured 4mm balls would fit into the 8mm thread easily and pack in tight to ensure as much air was consumed as possible. Each bag weighed 205 grams.

I carefully started pouring them into the left side of the bar using a funnel, but then I noticed they did not come out the other side...Turns out that even though the bars are hollow, the hole through the middle is not as big as I assumed. I unbolted the bar mounts to I could raise the handlebars vertically and shake them around so see if I could rattle them through but to no avail.

The left side quickly filled up and I had to remove a few so that the bolt would still screw in fully slightly compress the bb's (so they don't rattle around), then filled on the other side.
So after all that stuffing around, the bag now weighs 165 grams - 20 grams have been added to each side of the handlebars. I'm not expecting any noticeable change with this much weight so it was hardly worth the effort.

Thats the thing about experimenting - sometime you win and sometimes you get stuck with a fuckload of ball bearings that you'll never use.
I just hope that if anyone else is thinking of doing the same, will find this post and think twice.

PB

[Cranky1]

You could go with lead shot if you wanted more weight.

[Patrick Bateman]

Yeah i did the maths on that one a few minutes ago and given the weight of lead, it would still only equate to 28 grams per side.
Sure its 40% heavier but I'm still not convinced it would make any noticeable difference

[Low-Brau]

The worst part of your effort is the clearly reduced gas efficiency due to the extra weight.

I'm sorry about that.  The planet is crying.

[Waynexr1000]

Is it just me that the vibes don’t bother 

[Bree]

Originally Posted by Waynexr1000

Is it just me that the vibes don’t bother 

Nah No worse than almost every bike ive had. Apart from the farm machinery called a Harley,

[Low-Brau]

Originally Posted by Waynexr1000

Is it just me that the vibes don’t bother 

My previous motorcycle was a ST1300/Pan European.  Compared to that, the 'XR felt alarmingly buzzy.

But, after several long rides, I've grown to accept it.  It's still there when I think about it, but the XR was never built to be a smooth cruiser, either.  The engine is built to have enormous balls.  Even BMW can't smooth out a monster like that... much.

The vibes don't bother me.  I do question people who believe a 1000CC racing engine on an adventure bike is supposed to be Gold Wing smooth though. 

[Patrick Bateman]

Doh!

Now I've just come the the realisation that BMW handlebars are not assembled like any other... the grips and switchblocks are bolted through the handlebar tube, so its most likely this is whats stopping the ball bearings from passing through and filling up the hollow centre. I had all the handlebar attachments still in place during the experiment. 

Looks like I'm gonna have to strip them down this evening and try again.

[Patrick Bateman]

Originally Posted by Waynexr1000

Is it just me that the vibes don’t bother 

As far as I can tell, every XR is a little different. I did 150km on the freeway last week and my hands were buzzing and painfully numb for about an hour afterwards. My previous XR had no bar buzz whatsoever.

Pending the success of this little experiment, I might try re-torquing all the major fasteners on the bike.

[Toolman_57]

Originally Posted by Patrick Bateman

As far as I can tell, every XR is a little different. I did 150km on the freeway last week and my hands were buzzing and painfully numb for about an hour afterwards. My previous XR had no bar buzz whatsoever.

Pending the success of this little experiment, I might try re-torquing all the major fasteners on the bike.

How many miles/kilometers are on your new XR? I've noticed a steady decrease as the miles have accumulated. My first ride (160 miles on the odometer last August) was really buzzy and hard to see out of the mirrors. I installed new bushing/bar end weights around 600 miles (better). Re-torqued on the steering head bearing at about 1,000 miles (much better). Added another 2,500 miles since then. Mirrors are clear at all RPMs, a little bit of buzzing if you touch the hand-guards, and I can still feel some buzzing at the back of the tank and on the footpads, but only if I'm paying close attention.