Thank you so much for this incredible video. Ive been scouring RU-vid for months seeking this information out. Every other video is either "Hi Im McSpugeon we got Renthals, red, blue, and green!" Or, "hey.... got the new Renthal.... thought id talk about it...had to extend this cable and..." Even though Im slapping one of these on an SV650 im sure it all applies. Awesome man.
6’3” guy here running Renthal 822 with 5mm risers. Recently ran no spacers and felt better sitting but worse standing, going to try some 5mm down pegs with no risers next. Something for the tall guys to remember, your arms are longer too so no need for ape hangers also if you have your bars in the correct roll the higher the bar the closer grip to peg distance becomes which can also feel cramped.
Wow, I've just finished watching this and your suspension alignment video, such great detail for relatively overlooked things, probably the best videos on YT regarding these subjects.I can appreciate the amount of work you had to put in to make these. My hat tipped to you sir for your obvious talent and effort
This was really insightful. I’ve realized that my discomfort while standing wasn’t actually a bar bend/height issue, but that my bars are rolled too far back from neutral from the forks. 😂 I feel the ease of weighting the front tire cut down by half once I tweaked it, thank you.
Dude you’re for real make Ig me scratch my head from all the information in this video. I’ve been racing competitively for 8 years and I’ve NEVER heard anyone explain bar bends and the cockpit triangle this well!
I went through 3 different bends and brands before I found a bend I am comfortable with on my bike. I am using the Pro Taper Fuzion Henry/Reed bend in the unlocked position. I have never gone through that many bars before I found a good fit for myself. Thank GOD for MX Locker.
mate, thanks so much for sharing your knowledge on this topic! I literally just changed my stock bars to the 827 fatbar. It’s unbelievable the difference it makes. To me they feel really wide compared to the stock bars. I was struggling at first on my oval track to get used to them and then I went on the motocross track and was like, oh yeah! now I get it. They felt so much more stable in corners and easier to initiate the lean.
In regards to handlebar roll: If you leave the clamps loose and grip the bar while in your riding position the bars will rotate to match the angle of your grip. Changing the roll has an effect similar to moving the clamp forward/reverse. I don’t know the proper terminology, but I call it ark/swing. For example, a bmx bike has a different ark/swing than a dirt bike, and that’s different than a standard street bike. I like the back of my bar to align with the back of the stem and I set the roll as described above. I’ve found this is really nice if you have more that one dirt bike. With the same bar bend and install parameters it makes it easier to change bikes. Just remember: The Good Book says you can only have one wife. It doesn’t say anything about how many motorcycles you can have.
Best content in our sport, thank you for what you are doing. These tips and tricks and educational aspects from your experience have greatly helped our decisions and purchases. Switching to Renthal going forward. Thank you!
Great production value and information! Can't help but to want to see the rest of your garage... Can you take us on a tour and show some of the key aspects of your workspace?
Love the content, man. Bought a 2023.5 450 FE in February of 2023, took alot of your advice on proper bike setup. Always looking forward to your videos and advice
As a woods/enduro guy, I run mini style bends like the schoolboy low bend…. A few mm narrower makes a huge difference in the enduro and woods world… big game changer 🤙🏻
Since I started riding and racing in late 1989 I found that the WORST bend is the stock Yamaha "YZ" bend. Back then I rode a friend's CR125 and found that the Honda (CR High) bent felt a LOT better. My first Renthals (7/8ths) that I put on my 1990 YZ125 felt great. I run them rolled back towards me a bit, and they have never let me down. My current ride that I got from my buddy last year is a 2006 YZ125 with a 2008 YZ250f front end on it, it had ProTaper Carmichael bend bars (IIRC, it is snowing out as I type this so I'm not keen on going to the shed to check) and they were ok, but still felt odd to me. I switched to Renthal Fat Bars in CR Hi and the difference was amazing. I am 5'9", average build, average arm length and 32" inseam. The trick I use to set up how far to roll the bars is simple, and has worked well for other riders I suggested it to. It is as follows: With the bike on a stand, sit on the bike in the neutral seating position, feet on the pegs. Hold both arms out horizontal, palms down and fingers open. With eyes closed, drop you arms down without bending your elbows. Your hands should land on the grips with your palms centered without needing to shift your palms to close around the grip. Adjust the bars forwards or back to get them lined up that way and it will work great. Of course, everyone is different so that initial setup may not work the best for you, but it does give a good starting point. Tweak the roll to suit what feels best to you. Proper bar setup, including bend choice, width, and roll will result in more comfort, better control and less arm pump (assuming you also grip mainly with your legs and not your hands, and ride "loose" , not all tensed up. )
@@lexprue Yeah the stock bars and the YZ bend are not comfortable at all. For all the years I've been around racing, I could count on one hand the number of YZ/YZF owners who kept the YZ bend beyond one or two rides. Virtually everyone changed the bars before the first ride. Maybe Yamaha should get the hint on the YZ/YZF series bikes and provide a voucher or coupon for new owners to buy the bars of their choice, and send the bikes with no bars at all lol.
Jeff. I’m digging these videos bud. . You’re covering a ton of info and putting it in terms that are easy to comprehend. These are a huge help for the beginners and even for the guys who’ve been at it a while. 🤘
Let’s go it’s finally here 😊 Question: with you being a taller/lanky rider has the new bar bend you’ve been using helped with preventing elbow tuck/drop?
Thank you for a great video! I´m quite short guy around 175 cm (5ft 9in) but I have long lower parts of my legs (from ankle to knee) and short thighs for my height. Then my upper body is also "from a longer body" so my reach is longer vs. my total height. Long hands etc. So I have +30 mm taller and hard seats in my bikes so it´s easier for me to switch between standing and sitting position without the need to "squat" as much. This is very good setup for me. I have now Renthal Twinwall 999 low handlebar in mx bike Husqvarna TC 250 2018 and same bend but a taller Renthal Twinwall 997 in my enduro bike Husqvarna TE 250 2015. 999 is also a bit wider than 997. It also depends of the bike how tall handlebar mounting position it is originally in that bike. I had these handlebars swithed like this and it´s now much better for both bikes. Before I had the taller 997 in TC 250 and the lower 999 in TE 250. It felt like 997 in TC 250 was too high and 999 in TE 250 was too low. But now it´s perfect for me. It´s also very important for me to have Pro Grip 788 narrow grips as I have short fingers.
Awesome and helpful video. Hope your recovery is going well. Had a similar procedure 3 weeks ago.... its soooo slow... ready to see some riding vids soon
Thanks for pointing out how a few bars tip upward on the renthal tool. Currently have a 672 bend on my bike dropping them from neutral to +1 makes it harder for me to keep elbows up. Thinking of trying a 999 mcgrath bend since the bar has an upward tilt.
I am a shorter rider at 5'6 and I have experimented with a couple different bends some tall some short and I have found that the Mgrath 827 bend is definitely my favorite, I ride an MC 250F
I’m 6’1 and just started running reed/windham bend from pro taper. I was under same impression taller guy taller bars but it made me for more unstable. My seat is about 5-10 mm lower than stock that made a huge difference for myself for my urge to wanting to feel always in the motorcycle and part of it. So in a sense puts me lower in the bike and makes me feel more stable and less of a teeter totter.
Hey jeff…what about width? Back in the 70s our bars were 34” wide and quite high, the advantage was being able to get your bike significantly lower in the corners….also wider bars helped for guys with wider shoulders. Love your videos
Great video 👍🏻 you said about dropped foot pegs, I found I would catch my heels on ruts and G outs 😬 so my new bike I kept stock and modded the levers so far. I run the Renthal 827 as you said it opens the bike up and raises my elbows. Im 6'7.
Thanks broski. :) deffo getting fat bars :) and I’ll set mine just below neutral too :) perfect for the front end handling :) I’ll be running both the same bars on my ktm as my new Honda aswell 😊
You could do a video on gearing. What happens when you increase or decrease the number of teeth on your rear sprocket and the differences between an o ring vs. non o ring chain.
This helped me a tremendous amount! Got my bars setup for my liking now and man do the slight adjustments make a world of difference! The bar-to-fork neutral spot was key in my case after adding risers with renthal 605 fatbars that came with the bike. Thanks Jeff! #protips
Great vid..but b good to hear your option on the handling affects of bar Bolting postions...6.1 on sherco 300 2t felt so cramped...had to put bars in full forward hole position and lower pegs....new bar position is more comfortable but makes it turn a bit to quick..but needed to increase the triangle that way 👍👍
I’m one of the weird ones lol I’m 6’1 & run PT Carmichael which is pretty close to Mcgrath I’ve tried all the other bends & found that I like to be over the front of the bike a lot so the lower bars just feel right to me
Yup super lanky 6’3 here. I have found tall bars to be horrible, completely throws off my attack position. Whenever I see tall guys running ape hangers I try to talk to them about it. Made me stand up too tall and vertical, increases fatigue and arm pump, not to mention just put me in a bad position on the bike. Been running 996s for years, just switched from Yamaha to ktm, now the 996s feel a little tall. Gotta ride the new bike more and get used to the new ergos. Biggest thing for tall guys in my opinion is sweep, less sweep = more open cockpit.
Regarding @15:00 Actually it's really easy to figure out if the tips of the bar are going to "upsweep" or not. It's the difference between height ("B") and rise ("C")....ex.....if you have a bar with a height of 90mm, and rise of 70mm (the "B" and "C" measurement in the tool) that is a difference of 20mm between the two therefor that bar will have little upsweep to the ends....conversely, a bar with a height of 90mm but rise of just 50mm (40mm difference) that bar will have much MORE upsweep to the ends of the bar (which also kicks the elbows out more). To summarize, the greater the distance between height and rise, the MORE upsweep the ends of the bar will have, the closer those numbers become, the "flatter" the ends will be.
