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Message started by Jay on 04/29/09 at 23:03:03

Title: highway bars and a crazy idea.
Post by Jay on 04/29/09 at 23:03:03

OK, look at the image below.

http://www.cyclepartsusa.com/store/images/detailed_img/d_25605.jpg

Now the crazy part. After doing Diamond Jim's seat mod, I've been wanting to install highway bars, cause for some reason I just don't want to get off the bike now. :)
Being cheap, I'm looking at these and thinking that they look just like handlebars. MC or bicycle handlebars can be had pretty cheap, especially at 2nd hand shops, Goodwill, etc. Any reason a set of handlebars couldn't be fastened to the down tube, just prior to the bifurcation? To this I could fasten some pegs, after trimming down any excess tubing that extended beyond the bike frame. (I don't want to have something on it that wouldn't fold up in case of a laydown.) I don't need it to be super stong. Just sturdy enough to have a place to put my feet on long rides. Do any of you have experience with this kind of thing?
If this works, I may have to get a bigger tank. ::)

Title: Re: highway bars and a crazy idea.
Post by John_D on 04/30/09 at 00:24:49

08031B0E125353620 wrote:

I would imagine anything made out of bicycle handlebars would be at least as sturdy as the ones in the pic. Doesn't look like there's all that much to them. I've been toying with the idea of just making my own, but if you make this work, I'd definitely be interested!
Oh, who makes these, by the way?

Title: Re: highway bars and a crazy idea.
Post by justin_o_guy2 on 04/30/09 at 00:31:45

Ive seen some pretty cool looking bars that could go across & hold feet up nicely in the gym. Might be able to pick one up easy enough, as long as its not loaded to heavily.
Seriously, the "pull Down" bars often have a drop in them. I dont kow how theyd work, its been years since i was in a gym & cant remember exactly what they look like, but maybe?

Title: Re: highway bars and a crazy idea.
Post by Jay on 04/30/09 at 02:23:51

John_D,
I honestly don't know. I Googled "Moustache highway bars", and this was the best pic of what I was tallking about.
I'm seriously going to look into this. If I can find a way to mount folding pegs to the bar, that would be so sweet; but that's the deal breaker. I initially considered just putting thick grips on the bar for foot pegs; but then rethought my position. I hate to think what might happen if I do have a laydown, and I've got several inches of metal bar to dig into the pavement. :o
My luck they wouldn't just bend under the weight, and fold over. :(

Title: Re: highway bars and a crazy idea.
Post by John_D on 04/30/09 at 02:31:06

I haven't paid enough attention to highway pegs to know if anyone makes one that would slip/clamp onto a horizontal bar like that. If the vertical ones like I always see are the only style available, you could just mount a little vertical stub on the end, to clamp the pegs to. The problem with welding anything on, you lose the chrome, and rechroming would run into more money, so anything that could be clamped or bolted would be better. Or maybe you could find something like thishttp://www.cruisercustomizing.com/images/image_8315_200.jpg that would slip into the I.D. of the pipe you use for a crosspiece, secure it with a roll pin or something, and just bold any pegs to it then. :-/ Lots of options, depending on what ya got on hand I guess.

I did come across these, http://www.cruisercustomizing.com/detail.cfm?model_ID=0&Category_ID=6&manufacturer_ID=16&product_ID=7875&sblid_name=Kuryakyn_Cruise_Pegs_for_Yamaha__Pair__ look like they'd bolt onto just about anything.http://www.cruisercustomizing.com/images/image_7875_200.jpg

Title: Re: highway bars and a crazy idea.
Post by Jay on 04/30/09 at 02:49:26

Looks nice, but also looks $$$ :(
I gonna try to do this recession like, and true to my inner nature, and go cheap. If it succeeds, I'm king of the world! 8-)
If it fails, then my wife will say "Another crackpot idea. You shoulda went with the aftermarket bars." :(

Title: Re: highway bars and a crazy idea.
Post by John_D on 04/30/09 at 03:15:44

The full brackets and all were pricey, but just the peg adapters (1st pic) ran around $20. Then you'd just pay whatever for a pair of pegs to go on them. Probably better methods, but that's what I came up with on the spur of the moment.

Title: Re: highway bars and a crazy idea.
Post by Jay on 04/30/09 at 03:28:19

2C3B3A303B3D35696C6F6E6C5E0 wrote:

I could do $20. Might just look into that after I rummage around the 2nd hand stores and Lowes. Definately bolt on. I don't weld, not about to start; and not about to pay unless I absolutely have to.

Title: Re: highway bars and a crazy idea.
Post by John_D on 04/30/09 at 04:29:51

If you know anyone who does any milling or machining (I don't), you could probably whip something similar up outta a chunk of aluminum or something.

Title: Re: highway bars and a crazy idea.
Post by diamond jim on 04/30/09 at 04:54:16

Jay, the handlebar idea is a great idea. Maybe some BMX or dirtbike bars that have the extra cross brace may offer more mounting/support options. For those with a set of Ed L.'s forward controls, the forward controls cross brace my be a point of lower support for a handlebar as a highway bar mod.

Title: Re: highway bars and a crazy idea.
Post by verslagen1 on 04/30/09 at 07:25:19

Why not attach it to the lower tree?
Put pedals on it and it could be foot controls.
and a back rest so you can lean back and chillax.

Title: Re: highway bars and a crazy idea.
Post by Jay on 04/30/09 at 08:57:29

diamond jim,
Your idea intigues me. Definately want to look into that.

verslagen1,
Your idea leaves me a little disturbed. Kidding right? :)

Title: Re: highway bars and a crazy idea.
Post by bluesavage218 on 04/30/09 at 09:06:27

You know I actaully thought about modding something to that cross brace on the forward controls. I don't think it would be all that difficult to attatch some type of highway pegs to it, but the problem is making it look decent.

Title: Re: highway bars and a crazy idea.
Post by John_D on 04/30/09 at 15:33:36

212438393C23223F4B0 wrote:

That idea had crossed my mind too: what if you extended the plate forward, and up, to use the same plate for f/c, and highway pegs. These are what gave me the idea:
http://www.cruisercustomizing.com/images/image_17195_200.jpg You could either do it all in one piece, or as something that bolts on in addition to Ed.L's controls, I would think. Whadda ya smart people think? :-/

Title: Re: highway bars and a crazy idea.
Post by diamond jim on 04/30/09 at 17:37:50

Or something like this. Maybe extend the front bar out on each side (which this older pic doesn't show) so the highway pegs are a little wider than the stockers.
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh128/russ_diamond_jim/FChighwaybars-2.jpg

Title: Re: highway bars and a crazy idea.
Post by John_D on 04/30/09 at 18:28:00

6D60686466676D636064090 wrote:

Precisely! I knew I'd seen a pic of that idea somewhere before. I was thinking curve them up, to place them above the stockers, but to the sides would be good also. If you used steel, you could just throw a couple bend in to move 'em out a little. I know, steel's heavy, but with the 2 cross bars, it might stiffen things up enough to let you get away with some thinner steel? Dunno; wish I still worked in a steel shop, couldn't swing a dead cat without hitting a couple tons of scrap plate, I could experiment to my heart's content. .105 all the way up to .750 for making up to 12' dia. pipe. Yes, twelve FEET! :o

Title: Re: highway bars and a crazy idea.
Post by bluesavage218 on 05/01/09 at 07:59:08

I could be wrong but looking at my forward controls it looks like that another cross brace would interfere with the shifter and rear brake pedal. Am I wrong? or just not looking at it correctly?

Title: Re: highway bars and a crazy idea.
Post by diamond jim on 05/01/09 at 08:06:10

It might. LIke John_D said, some angles or width would be needed to get the clearance. There isn't a whole lot of room to play with there. But I think a design like that would be a good starting point for supporting a custom highway bar and looking decent.

Title: Re: highway bars and a crazy idea.
Post by bluesavage218 on 05/01/09 at 08:11:04

Yeah I totally agree! There really isn't a whole lot of room to play with not only with the shifting in braking in the way and what not but unless you extend your forks there is not a lot of room between the existing cross brace and the wheel. Hmmmm.....

Title: Re: highway bars and a crazy idea.
Post by Rocco on 05/01/09 at 08:17:24

any of the ideas above sound better then doing a wheelie with your feet in the air....gotta love the sport bike stunt crowd.....i was told by a friend of mine who is a police officer that cruiser type bikes are less prone 2 being stopped without reason then a lime green jigser with shiney japanese writing on it lol

Title: Re: highway bars and a crazy idea.
Post by Staplebox on 05/01/09 at 19:15:31

Does anyone know the OD of the frame tube offhand?
I found these on ebay
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1-1-4-CLAMP-ON-ISO-HIGHWAY-BAR-PEGS-FOR-HARLEY-METRIC_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trkparmsZ72Q3a1171Q7c66Q3a2Q7c65Q3a12Q7c39Q3a1Q7c240Q3a1318Q7c301Q3a0Q7c293Q3a1Q7c294Q3a50QQ_trksidZp3286Q2ec0Q2em14QQhashZitem2ea50e6647QQitemZ200337679943QQptZMotorcyclesQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories
They seem to have a nice balance of price v. install work.

Title: Re: highway bars and a crazy idea.
Post by Jay on 05/02/09 at 02:28:28

Nice set of pegs, but you'd have to have something to attach them to, and that is where i'm starting. The frame tubes are too far in to make those worth having. They wouldn't protrude far enough out to make them useful. Too expensive for what I'm wanting to accomplish this for money wise anyway, but they are nice.