The spacers are made from a piece of aluminium bar which the local steel supply guy had lying around. He has a minimum fee of $15 for people like me who drop in looking for odd pieces.

The aluminium is 25mm (1") in diameter. I cut two pieces to [s]50mm (2") [/s]length, and drilled a 10 mm hole down the centre.

Then I hit it with some 400 grit paper, then some 600 grit paper, then some 'Autosol' polishing paste.

I got longer bolts 120 mm. They are just long enough. I'll run with them for now but I'm going to order some at 125 mm - I would like to have a  bit of thread poking out through the nut, seeing as it's all that holds the whole handlebar assembly on.

I also had the grind the edges back a bit on the hex head on the bolts - making the hexagon smaller, to match the cavity they sit in inside the bottom half of the handlebar clamp.

This image shows the aluminium, as I got it and after I polished it. I also added a coat of clear gloss.


* UPDATE, for anyone who is interested: I wasn't happy with the minimal amount of purchase that the nuts had on the screws. I also had trouble getting longer screws from the bolt supplier. So, I was left with 120mm screws. I cut the spacers down to 40 mm. Clearance from the tank is still good, and the nuts screw on with about 8mm excess - that feels a lot more secure.

I haven't had a chance to take the bike for a spin yet. I'll ride to work tomorrow - looking forward to it  

I only have one little concern. That is the length of the brake line. It's now  forming an 'S' shape as it leaves the handlebar (and there is already plenty of length down by the wheel). If anyone with experience has read this far, I'd really appreciate your feedback on the shape of the brake line in the first image in this thread.

The break appears to work ok, but I'd like to find out if I have a potential problem before it becomes an actual problem. Cheers.

My brake hose has been like it for years. Not a problem. It had the big girly buckhorn bars, swapped for drag bars with 2" pullback. Nice fix, btw. I used the seatbelt spacers from an old Commodore I was wrecking at the time. Found the longer bolts in the same car  

Nice idea, I am thinking of swapping my buckhorns for some window drags and wanted another 1-2", and had wondered about doing something similar. This is a super bit of guidence and info. Thanks.

Thanks for the feedback on the brake hose guys. I feel a lot more confident about it, knowing others have run it in similar fashion before.

I wondered about taking the hose out of that wire clamp, and adjusting the connection bolt at the brake lever as suggested. I'll give that a go and see if I can get a better looking sweep - I couldn't possibly make it look any worse!

I rode to and from work today. Just a short trip but enough to tell how the risers change the ride. It does exactly what I hoped, and more. The riding position feels great and that bit of annoying softness/movement in the tall risers is gone. Also the mirror position has gotten even better. I love how they change the look of the bike too.

I had been thinking about getting some of Ed.L's forward controls but decided to wait until the handlebars were finished (sage advice from the guy at the bike shop who sold me the handlebars - "Change one thing at a time"). I'm glad I waited. I think, in the position I sit with these bars, the foot peg position is just about spot on (I have short legs for my height). I have a couple of longer rides coming up in the next couple of weeks, so time will tell.

Next will be the suspension. I've been researching that here on the forum. That would be Progressive shocks on the back. As for the front, I'm sure I read a comment somewhere (by Batman, I think) that said it's possible to use the method linked below, but recalculated so as not to shorten the forks:

Fork & Shock Improvements for Café Conversions - http://suzukisavage.com/cgi-bin/YaBB.pl?num=1421689358

I'm still reading up on that  

jcstokes wrote on 05/08/17 at 03:34:13:


I think that's what Batman suggested a couple of posts back. He is a "teckie" so you're probably on solid ground with that one  

verslagen1 wrote on 05/07/17 at 08:03:18: