A little background info before my question.
I have a 2002 that had the curvy buckhorn handlebars on it. The curvy sections made adjusting my windshield difficult, so I got some z-bars since they provide tons of straight bar for mounting stuff. The ebay description said they are 6" Rise with a 8-1/2" Center Width. (tip to tip) measures 25". Angle of Pullback is approx. 15°. I couldn't tell from the ebay pictures, but the pullback is somewhat down as well as back.
So I put them on parallel to the fork tubes and took it for a spin. At that angle my wrists are bent inwards and the ligaments on the pinky sides of my hands start to hurt after only a couple miles.
Back home I take a look at how to make my hands point more forward and settle on rotating the handlebars forward. Go for another spin and the wrist discomfort if better, but the bike's handling feels odd. Unstable I guess. Slow speed maneuvers do not feel natural. Point being, I don't feel as in control as I did with the stock bars.
While the z-bars are narrower than the stock bars, it doesn't feel like its the extra effort required is at fault. Looking the geometry of the mounted bars,
I notice that the grips are now a little forward of the steering tube's axis. Could this be the cause of the changed handling? Google is not helping out much, is there some unwritten rule about handlebar geometry?
Right now I'm thinking of just going back to the original bars. Anyone have a better idea?