Noob needs handlebars for F650GS Dakar

[charleshmosesii]

Hi smart people,

Noob sucky offroad rider has heavy 2005 650GS Dakar (with stock heated grips) to bang up. Already banged it up -- rode it hard, stretched the chain quickly and didn't notice, a takeoff in a curve caused the loose chain to blow off and I lowsided from the jolt and slightly bent the cheap stock handlebar, as well as scraped up the weak plastic handguard. That being said, I feel better now that the newish bike has been on its side (well, kinda new...I put 10k miles on her so far).

I'm ready to bang her up offroad some more. Wanna get a tough handlebar and tough handguards first. Not yet sure if I want risers, as the Dakar handlebar height is comparatively high already (compared to the low stock handlebars on my 1200GS, where I added the monster Verholen risers to get a better height) so I can determine that later. I don't know squat about offroad handlebars and handguards, so I'm asking for a basic opinion on what to get.

My girlfriend rides the Dakar mostly on the street, and, I am venturing more offroad with it, light stuff so far, but I want to do more (I know, I know, "get a real dirt bike then"...). I don't need some super pro handlebar setup or anything, just something basic and solid to handle my numerous offroad getoffs without getting all bent out of shape about it.

And also being a mechanical noob, regarding installation, is swapping out the bar as straightforward as it seems -- just taking off the bar stuff (technical term) and putting it on the new bars? Heated grips and all?

THANKS............................................ .........

[Shazam*]

hi
touratech has a kit for the f650 to give you better bars and still accomodate the heated grips.
otherwise, you need to do some drilling.
its a little pricey, but they seem good to deal with.

[charleshmosesii]

Originally Posted by Shazam*

hi
touratech has a kit for the f650 to give you better bars and still accomodate the heated grips.
otherwise, you need to do some drilling.
its a little pricey, but they seem good to deal with.

Did a little research so far and you seem to be correct, thanks for the tip. The problem apparently is ability to use the heated grips on other bars, and yes, the Magura bars in the Touratech kit will reportedly work.

However, even Touratech doesn't yet know whether or not the Acerbis Rallye handguards (which they sell for this bike) will fit on these Magura bars on this bike with the stock heated grips. Anyone find this combination to work?

I have the touratech magura bar kit and the touratech guards.
The bars are great, highly recommended.
Here is a link to comments I made on the F650 site.

http://f650.com/forums/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=148260

The acerbis plastic guards are not exactly protective. My stock bmw plastic thingys lasted 3 yeas of abuse including bending the stock bars. The acerbis/touratech guards I ordered were a disappointment. I assumed that they were custom designed to fit my bike which is why they cost more. Nope, the cost more because TT had TT stenciled on the front AND they fit poorly. I also had to buy the fat bar adaptor for another $50 on top of the $200 for the guards.

All this would be forgivin if they worked. Trip one. Bike falls over very slowly as I am attempting to keep it vertical on a gravel road. Snap, one broken guard. Hmm, me thinks these are going back. The likely hood of protecting me in a fall is zero. I stopped at a local shop and they said "o yeah, those are only for looks..." great..

I will go to a regular old bike shop and get the acerbis metal ones for half the price of ordering them through TT.

[charleshmosesii]

Originally Posted by Surlyguy

I have the touratech magura bar kit and the touratech guards.
The bars are great, highly recommended.
Here is a link to comments I made on the F650 site.

http://f650.com/forums/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=148260

The acerbis plastic guards are not exactly protective. My stock bmw plastic thingys lasted 3 yeas of abuse including bending the stock bars. The acerbis/touratech guards I ordered were a disappointment. I assumed that they were custom designed to fit my bike which is why they cost more. Nope, the cost more because TT had TT stenciled on the front AND they fit poorly. I also had to buy the fat bar adaptor for another $50 on top of the $200 for the guards.

All this would be forgivin if they worked. Trip one. Bike falls over very slowly as I am attempting to keep it vertical on a gravel road. Snap, one broken guard. Hmm, me thinks these are going back. The likely hood of protecting me in a fall is zero. I stopped at a local shop and they said "o yeah, those are only for looks..." great..

I will go to a regular old bike shop and get the acerbis metal ones for half the price of ordering them through TT.

Just the insight I was looking for, much obliged. So, it looks like the TT bar kit is not only the only choice but a good choice (phew), but the TT handguards don't really fit and suck anyway, and I should buy metal ones and just get creative on mounting...

[SKWERL]

I'm running the TT bar set (Magura EX modified for heated grips) on my Dakar and have been happy with it once I got it all figured out. It took a while to get the order straight w/TT (their R1150 bar set looks very similar except the adaptors at the end are positioned differently to route the grip wires). I did not use the TT (Acerbis) handguards. I bought their kit but returned it--it was overpriced and would have required modified bar adaptors anyway.

I ended up buying a set of Acerbis Rally protectors (with the metal insert along its length), as well as a set of bar clamps from a company in San Jose, CA. I used the small bar end caps from the TT setup. The package works well and seems solid. Since most of the HW in the Acerbis package is not used in this setup (the handlebar end inserts/screws as well as the bar clamps), you might just shop for the actual replacement guards at a place like Cycle Gear and save some $$$ that will help cover the $50 for the bar adaptors.

If I remember correctly, I used the "extended KTM clamps" from the the clamp manufacturer (can't remember the name of the company--but they were a pleasure to work with and their stuff is first rate). I did cut a small slice out of my windscreen to make sure I didn't have any interference lock-to-lock.

bryan

[charleshmosesii]

Hey Bryan, thanks much! Yeah, I understand the clamping is the problem, so if you recall the clamp maker name later on, lemme know! (Maybe its written in small on the clamps?)

[SKWERL]

Originally Posted by charleshmosesii

Hey Bryan, thanks much! Yeah, I understand the clamping is the problem, so if you recall the clamp maker name later on, lemme know! (Maybe its written in small on the clamps?)

Yep, it was, I just wasn't at home with the bike--damn work! Take a look at ACN Machining & Welding. Nice folks and very helpful!

A few pics--no I didn't clean the bike and no I didn't straighten up the shop







bryan

[charleshmosesii]

Thanks so much Bryan, you rock. I'm on that.

ANd I got a glimpse in your photo of that leather seat... I still run stock on both my BMWs, I dunno why...some day I'll do Meyer seats for my bony ass.

[charleshmosesii]

Sell me yours?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Just kidding.

Back to my dilemma on handguards for this setup.

[SKWERL]

Originally Posted by charleshmosesii

Sell me yours?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Just kidding.

Back to my dilemma on handguards for this setup.

Why do you say they are out of business? Their website still seems active (although they say they are doing some updates). They were a pleasure to deal with and make a nice product--hope they are still around!!!

bryan

[charleshmosesii]

Originally Posted by SKWERL

Why do you say they are out of business? Their website still seems active (although they say they are doing some updates). They were a pleasure to deal with and make a nice product--hope they are still around!!!

bryan

I called, and their outgoing voicemail message says "we are no longer in business, it has been great, thanks to all our customers". Yeah, the website is still up though -- misleading. I left a voicemail that said "if you have any clamps leftover to get rid of, I am in need and would love to buy a set!" but haven't heard back yet.

[SKWERL]

Originally Posted by charleshmosesii

I called, and their outgoing voicemail message says "we are no longer in business, it has been great, thanks to all our customers". Yeah, the website is still up though -- misleading. I left a voicemail that said "if you have any clamps leftover to get rid of, I am in need and would love to buy a set!" but haven't heard back yet.

Darn, that's a drag. When I needed mine we weren't sure which size it would take. He charged me for one, shipped out two different sizes and had me return the ones I didn't need. He was even willing to machine a custom set to take into account the slight taper in the bars at the mount point (the bar end weights position the clamps slightly farther out on the bars than intended). Pretty incredible service. Well, I hope he has better luck in his next venture.

Good luck on your search!

bryan

[WERA456]

I have a factory set of handlebars if you are interested. Pm me