Convertibars

Convertibars

CW EVALUATION

Up or down, you decide

WHEN IT COMES TO MODERN sportbikes, comfort is secondary to performance. As such, seats are thin, footpegs are rear set and handlebars are low, the latter often mounted below the top triple-clamp Invex's Convertibars address that concern by allowing riders to quickly and easily adjust bar position.

No matter whether you ride an Aprilia RSV Mille, a Yamaha YZF-R1 or anything in between, the basic Convertibars kit is largely the same. The bars are manufactured from seamless stainless steel, and welded at 90-, 85or 80-degree angles. They slide up and down within machined-aluminum Cyclops clamps, which in turn can be rotated around the fork legs.

Placing an order on the Convertibars website is a snap. Once you reach the home page, click on “Fit Your Bike.” Select the correct make, model and year, click again, and photos and all the pertinent information related to installation pops up. We chose a 2003 Suzuki GSX-R 1000 because it is a “confirmed” application, Convertibars-speak for a guaranteed, modelspecific fitment. In the case of the GSX-R, there are two options: a clutch cable ($30) and braided-steel brake lines ($99), which are 3 and 4 inches longer than stock. Using the stock clutch cable and longer brake lines, the 80-degree bars can be set 1 inch lower than stock and as much as 4 inches higher (and 3 inches farther back). Changing out the clutch cable adds yet another inch of available bar height, the maximum allowable using the stock throttle cables and electrical wires.

DETAILS Invex Corp. 275 E. 4th St. #750 St. Paul, MN 55101 800/513-2440 www.convertibars.com Price.. .$299 A Beats conventional bar risers A Clamps beautifully machined A Bar-end adapters, tie-wraps and stainless-steel hardware included owns V No cruiser applications-yet v Not all models guaranteed to fit

Following the supplied instructions, installation was straightforward and required only basic hand tools. The fact that the bars came pre-drilled for control pins made the process even easier. As for bar/clamp adjustment, Convertibars recommends a simple rule of thumb: forward (clamps) and down (bars) for more aggressive riding, or back and up for touring. Once you’ve established personal preferences, scribing marks on the bars with a knife or magic marker lets you quickly return to the previous settings. For side-of-theroad adjustments, a supplied 6mm Allen wrench stows in either handlebar.

Of course, each application is not without its idiosyncrasies. As for our GSX-R, in touring mode the 10-degree slope of the bars combined with the rearward positioning required to clear the windscreen and gas tank and achieve full lock-to-lock steering placed testers’ hands at an awkward angle. What’s more, the stock clutch and throttle cables had to be re-routed, a timeconsuming operation.

At the opposite end of the ergonomic spectrum, the lowest, farthest-forward setting, though very similar to stock, was an improvement simply due to the added leverage that the wider Convertibars provide. Anyway, the change in body position afforded by the bars was dramatic.

So, while the term “comfortable sportbike” may forever remain an oxymoron, Convertibars take us one step closer to making that a reality. □