My 93 VFR developed a head-shake upon deceleration at about 4000mi. The stock Dunlops were almost at the end of their service life (and then the rear picked up a large pointy object and went flat on the way back from a ride in the north Ga mountains!), so I replaced the tires with Metzelers Z1 front and Z2 rear. These are superb tires for the VFR! They beat hell out of the Dunlops. However, the head-shake persisted, and at the 8000mi service (actually 6000mi) I had my Honda dealer adjust the steering stem bearings. The head-shake disappeared for 900mi, then came back just as bad. I thought this unusual for such a new bike, so I negogiated with my Honda dealer to install a set of tapered roller bearings in place of the factory ball bearings in the steering stem. This eliminated the head-shake, and the steering response and feel were silky- smooth, inspiring confidence in the bike, especially when cornering. The roller bearings were available at the Honda dealer (small wonder) for $50.00. Installation is a 3.5 hour job, and they were willing to take some labor charge off the service fee. In other words, this did not come cheap. I did some homework (including calling Honda of America), and there is no factory recall for this problem. However, I have seen on the VFR list some postings regarding the same experience from other VFR owners. Perhaps, if some of my fellow VFR drivers are willing, we could start a movement to alert Honda to this problem? rkaraff@emoryu1.cc.emory.edu (Robert Karaffa)

I got Heli Modified bars for my 95 VFR mounted a few days ago, and they're great. They really do take the weight off of your wrists, especially for a not too tall (5'8") guy like me. Comfort in the twisties was greatly improved - no sore hands after a couple hours of riding around. The only thing is, when the dealer first mounted the bars, the Hi-Lo Beam switch actually contacted the fairing with the steering all the way to lock turning right. To correct this, I adjusted the bars all the way back (they were rotated all the way forward) but then the start and horn buttons would touch the tank (just _barely_, not enough to activate the starter or horn, and not enough even to scratch the tank after it happened couple of times) with the steering at lock on alternate sides. So, I adjusted the bars one more time, back forward a tiny bit, and now there is no contact with the tank, and no contact with the fairing. Perfect fit, great comfort. You just have to be sure to mount them just right, and check to make sure they're not making the switchgear contact anything before riding too far. Definitely worth the money if your hands get bothered by the low clip ons of the VFR, and they look great as well. jwright@commsoft.com (Jim Wright)

I put Heli bars on my 94VFR a couple of months ago. The people at Heli say that the bars are about one inch higher and one inch farther back than stock. Maybe that's true at the counter weight, but not where the hand meets the bar (IMO).

I'm 5'11", and the stock bars were fine for canyon carving, but not too comfortable on extended rides. The Heli bars, OTOH, are not as good for aggressive riding, but better on long rides. Even if you add a little more bend in the elbows when riding hard you don't get the same feeling of being in control that you get with stock bars. This may be a personal thing and probably depends upon your particular riding skills.

On extended rides it's another story, although not entirely good. There is less pressure on the wrists/elbows/shoulders with Heli bars, but since you are riding a little higher you catch a little more wind. With the stock bars the wind is your friend. It helps lift the weight off your wrists. With Heli's, it is unnecessary, and therefore unwelcome. On a calm day I think the Heli's are a good trade off, but if there is a head wind or a cross wind (or you are going faster than 85mph) the stock bars are better.

Overall, I'm happy with the Heli's, and I don't plan to go back. I'm looking forward to my next extended ride when I'll really wring them out. I'll keep you posted.

(Ed. David wrote back later)

I had a great chance to check out the Heli Bars this summer. On July 4th I left Los Angeles on a trip north. Destination: as far north as I could go on paved roads. That took me to a point 35 miles north of Fairbanks Alaska. I spent 4 weeks on the road and saw some of the most beautiful country in North America. I covered 10,071 miles in all, camping in a tent every night. Without the Heli Bars, the trip would not have been possible. The VFR, with Heli Bars and a Corbin seat, makes an extremely competent sport-TOUR bike. I saw a lot of Gold Wings, Harleys, GS's, and Africa Twins on the road, but I wouldn't have traded my VFR for any of them.

I found that the best way to adjust the bars was to push them as far forward as I could without having them hit the faring. That position gets me out of the wind as much as possible, and leaned over just enough. When on the road, I made a conscious effort to carry the weight of my torso with my abdominal muscles, not my wrists or arms. It doesn't take much effort to do this, and keeps the minor strain of a hard days ride from accumulating over many days. I was surprised at the total lack of soreness or discomfort encountered on the trip. I filled up the tank whenever the odometer indicated over 100 miles. This kept me from running out of gas when the distance between services got large, and let the blood recirculate in my posterior.

I would highly recommend this trip to anyone, on a motorcycle or in a car, and wouldn't hesitate to do it again. I have to add, though, that there is a lot of gravel road in BC and in the Yukon, and gravel is no fun on a motorcycle. I encountered 230 miles of documented gravel road, and another 200+ miles of undocumented gravel. Sometimes there is little or no warning that there is gravel in the road. Gravel damage to your motorcycle can be kept to a minimum by pulling over whenever there is oncoming traffic.

You can't go wrong with Heli Bars. I am completely satisfied with them, and see no reason to go back to stock bars. dg93063@loop.com (Dave Geddes)

After reading your reviews I thought that Heli bars sounded just like what I needed. I have a 1994 VFR which I bought new when this latest model was first introduced into New Zealand. I am vertically challenged at 5'5" but have found the VFR an excellent machine as generally the riding position and the general compactness of the machine fits my size well. However, on long rides any time I have had to cruise through towns slowly, the lean forward position put too much weight on my wrists. I had no information on heli bars at all so I e-mailed Jim and Dave asking for contact details, prices etc. Jim replied basically saying they were great and that I should try them and he thought they were about $250. I tracked down a phone number in a Cycleworld magazine, rang Heli Modified Inc. and ordered a set. Heli are in Maine phone 207-625-4642. Price for the VFR bars were $229 plus $36 shipping to New Zealand. In Kiwi (New Zealand) dollars about $400 all up. They accepted my Mastercard, but they didn't accept Diners card. From the time I rang until the courier turned up at my door took 18 days. I have fitted the bars and have now done one ride of over 400 kilometres (250 miles). They fitted with no hassles at all, I didn't even have to adjust them for clearance. On the ride they were great, and certainly relieved the wrist strain when riding slowly, and generally the riding position is more sit up with less bend in my neck as well. Altogether a great improvement for a short rider. me.cbharvey@xtra.co.nz (Merv Harvey)

I have had genmar risers for two years, but couldnt get the pinch out of my neck. I wanted to try heli bars but at more than twice the price of the genmars and the awkward angle I decided to pass on them til now. Heli Modified has changed the design slightly. First, they are no longer made from forged aluminum,which may disappoint some folks,but this allows the bike to be secured by the bars if necessary. With aluminum this is NOT allowed. Second, the bars do not have as severe a downward or inward angle, thus putting less weight on the outside of the palm. They are ,however , higher than my genmars,and closer to me. HOWEVER,they do not allow for simultaneous clearance of all switchgear. You must adjust the bars to the least offensive position for you. There will be some compromising here.All in all, even at $239.00 it is money well spent.As a final plus, and this may be more peace of mind than anything else,the fork tubes go completely through the heli bars for a more secure fit(although my bars never fell off the fork tubes while the genmars were utilized.) (Pjgvfr@aol.com)

Installation went without a hitch. I would have liked to have the option for even greater rise and setback, but after installing the bars, I see that the shape of the tank and fairing, combined with the lengths of the stock cables, prohibits a more extreme change in handle bar position. Heli has done a great job in creating a more comfortable ride within the constraints presented by the stock bike. (Greg Lara - greg@aptix.com)

I have a 97 VFR 750 and was having some wrist pain with long rides and stop and go traffic. In reading this website, I was convinced that if any relief was possible the Heli bars or equivalent product was the answer. (Why doesn't Honda read these comments and place the right bars on to begin with, I don't know.) Paid $239 from Heli and received the bars about a week later. Instructions were pretty clear, but was surprised to read that one step was to cut the clutch and brake fluid reservoir tabs off, to allow the lines to move out an 1/2 to 1 inch. I fortunately, had an electric dremmel tool and cut them off with ease, being VERY careful not to cut anything else in the area or the reservoirs too deep. Also, installation required re-routing the throttle cables between the steering post and fork tube, which I agree with, but taking off the top triple clamp required finding a very large metric socket to take the center cap bold off. After being on there for 6 years it need a little persuasion. Once the bars were mounted, clearance adjustments between the tank and front fairing were performed very easily. Have about 1/2 inch clearance on both.

At first feel and look, the bars didn't appear to be any different than the stock bars. I'm 5'9", 185lbs, with I would say short but strong arms. However once I rode the bike, WOW what a difference. I just returned from a 3500 mile round trip from San Francisco Bay Area to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico and never once experience wrist problems. The bars really did the trick. I wish I, or Honda would have placed them on the bike a long time ago. (Bob Pavao - BobPavao@ChevronTexaco.com)

Ordered and installed the GenMar risers on my '97 VFR750. Cost was (U.S.) $99.95 w/ $5.00 shipping and handling. I received my risers four days after ordering them. The quality is very good. Installation instructions came w/the risers. Simple to do.

I am 6' 2" tall and found low speed riding in town to be uncomfortable w/the bars in the stock position. The risers make the riding position more upright and comfortable than one would expect for a mere 3/4" rise in handlebar height. The risers seemed to take about half the weight off my palms/wrists while driving around town.

Downside: The hi/lo beam switch contacts the left fairing, turning on the high beam on right turns. Also, the clutch lever makes contact w/the fairing when the handlebars are turned fully to the right. There is no contact of the switch gear or brake lever on the right side.

Bottom line: the GenMars are a very good product at a great price (when compared against the HeliBars) but you may have clearance problems. I did. Others have not. If you are interested in the risers, but have concerns about them not working for your particular VFR, ask GenMar about their return policy prior to ordering. Happy riding. (Pat Coleman - Mipatcole@aol.com)

I'd done a number of longish trips (ca 150-200 miles) and I'd found that my wrists were aching pretty badly, and that the only riding position that worked was *way* forward. I'm about 6 feet and a bit tall (with a longish back and average arm and leg length).

I moved the clip-on bars up about 1/4 inch from stock. This had some beneficial effect until I had to do a trip up the superslab from San Diego to LAX. I was kinda 'stuck' into a single speed/riding position for miles and miles, and when I arrived I could hardly move my hands at all.

I've been left with a severely diminished grip strength on my right hand, which has only recently started to fade. To put it mildly, that hurt!

First step was to put a 'suicide switch' (throttle control) on. This was some help, allowing me to rest my right hand, but it didn't solve the problem completely.

And then I bought some Genmar Risers, having seen them reviewed on your web page. I thought that they were *way* expensive, but the need was there.

I put the Genmar Risers on yesterday. It took about 5 minutes. Today I went for a 200 mile ride. For the first time, I discovered that the *new* limit was having my legs in one position all the time!

My wrists are fine :-)

My only (theoretical) concern is that the addition of the risers means that only a relatively small proportion of the clip-on bars are being 'gripped'.

We'll see. I hope not too dramatically. =:-O Simon Parry (few10@san.rr.com) Follow-up:

Having ridden the VFR800 for quite a while since the risers were added, I can confirm their benefits.

However, I discovered that the chromed caps were becoming pitted and rusted. So I emailed GenMar and they quickly offered to replace them for free. When they arrived (within a couple of days) I coated them with clear nail polish before fitting them.

Full marx to GenMar, shame that the quality of the finish was less than optimal.Simon Parry (few10@san.rr.com)

The GenMars were very easy to install, it took about 5 minutes. The extra 3/4 inch height in the bars allows me to ride in a much more relaxed, less "hunched over" position. Best of all, I can still carve corners on the VFR just as fast as I could before installation. I can ride longer now without stopping to rest.

On the downside, the headlight switch will hit the fairing when the handlebars are turned all the way to the right, but its no big deal. I think the GenMars are well worth the 100 bucks. These, plus a Corbin seat and you're ready to go sport touring!!!

Joshua Mackenroth (JMackenroth@arrowheadgrp.com)

for VFR700, 750, 1000. Part #sb-035 in 1993 catalog.

The kit consists of three pieces of aluminum that make up a mounting system similar to that used on dirt bikes. The bottom piece is drilled and tapped to allow the top and bottom bar cradles to be bolted to it. The triple crown is then drilled and the bottom piece bolted to it according to the enclosed plans. The triple crown must be removed to drill it and this accounts for the high time billed to the job. I would suggest that you do any fork mods and brake line work at the same time. This certainly could have been a DIY job, but I was motivated by good weather to open my wallet.

I had the kit installed on my '86 VFR750 in 93 and immediately appreciated the more upright riding position. Since then I have grown to appreciate the abillity to inexpensively replace the bar after a crash (once) and adjust the bar to different positions with a quick turn of the four allen screws that clamp the bar. I plan to experiment with different bends of bars in the future.

Summary:

Cost effective as an alternative to Heli bars or fitting of CBR 600 bars. Cost:

• $120.00 US for SB-035
• $5.88 US s&h
• $157.00 CAD for 3.5 hours to install kit, bar,and re&re controls
• $35.00 CAD for K&N G.P touring( I think) bar.

The unit was first developed on my '94 VFR and works superbly -reliable, effective, fuel efficient and lightweight. Virtually no modification to the bike is needed - the unit is essentially 'plug and play'. Articles have appeared in two wheels magazine here in Australia, but they are subject to copyright so I can't reproduce them. We have interested clients in the States awaiting units for the '93 model, but we haven't been able to source a bike yet - maybe in the next couple of months. (Tony Guymer - mcsetup@netlink.net.au)

I have an 86 VFR700F2 with some significant modifications. I scrounged up a 92 CRB600F2 front end and rear wheel and with the assistance of Cobalt Racing's rear wheel spacer kit(60$?) and the necessary rear shock lengthening(75$?) I had a nice wide 17" rear wheel. Taking the stock CBR triple clamp and having the VFR stem installed(thanks Tatro Racing) I had a great front end installed. But alas, when I put on the CBR clip-ons...my back died. They were too low and too narrow. I recalled an ad for tubular handle bar kits from a British magazine (Superbike). So I ordered up the kit for the CBR (relevant front end) but they also have them for VFR's. The kit came promptly and includes two clamps that mount to the handle bar (a Renthal street bend in a beautiful gray) and then the two clamps slip directly over the tops of the fork tubes. The kit varies depending on the bike but the one for CBRF2 came with braided front brake line, the handlebar, and the wonderfully machined clamps. It took less than an hour to install and translates into many hours of pain-free riding. Now comes the bad part...its EXPENSIVE, $300.00+(after exchange rate). I called V&M Racing in England at 0706 840066. Some kits may come with a new windscreen trimmed to allow full lock to lock..mine didn't(as it was for a CBRF2) but I bought a Maier windscreen for $49.95..and trimmed it myself. csmrck19@mail.idt.net (Chris Smrcka)

Summary:

The Throttlemeister is a high quality, good-looking throttle lock. It replaces the stock bar ends and is engaged by twisting the right bar end. It ain't cheap at $90, but it works very well and possesses a level of quality on par with the VFR itself.

Background:

The Throttlemeister is made by Marker Machine:
Marker Machine Inc. ,
5240 N. 124th St. ,
Milwaukee, WI 53225
Phone: 414-464-6060
Fax: 414-464-9423 The person to talk to at Marker is Dell Fisher. The Throttlemeister is sold mostly for BMW's, but apparently someone at Marker Machine owns a VFR and so they have adapted it to work. The unit can be ordered directly from Marker; the U.S. cost is $90 plus $3 shipping (the price for their BMW units is $80, they add $10 for the parts used to adapt it to VFR's). The unit comes with printed instructions and a diagram. One's reaction when picking up the unit at the post office: "Holy cow! Does this little box have uranium in it?? This thing is heavy!! Cool ..."

What one discovers inside the box:

The unit consists of:

• (2) replacement bar ends;
• (2) replacement bar end mounting bolts;
• (2) adaptor sleeves for VFR's;
• (1) rubber throttle tube sleeve;
• (4) shims used for fine tuning the locking mechanism;
• (1) page of printed instructions.

Will they enhance my pose factor?:

Most definitely! At first I was concerned that the shiny bar ends would make the VFR look, uh, Kawasaki-ish, but the more I studied them the more I liked the look. It is visually obvious that these are NOT cheapo, crappy plastic gizmos that are going to be constantly out of adjustment before they finally break. Instead, they have a great machined-from-billet look that says these units have substance, these guys are going to outlast nuclear halocaust. This is indeed Milwaukee metalworking at its finest. The red painted trim groove is nicely understated, it adds a little visual interest without looking garish, and the color is a reasonable match.

What it does:

The rubber sleeve is mounted on the outside of the end of the throttle tube, under the grip. The bar end on the right side has the stainless steel outer shell and a brass inner sleeve. The bar end outer shell can rotate (on the same axis as the throttle) between a full-off stop and a full-on stop. The full-off stop is in the same direction as full-off for the throttle. As the bar end is "rolled-on", i.e., rotated in the same direction as a throttle roll-on, the brass inner sleeve is pushed slightly inwards towards the throttle grip until it makes contact with the rubber sleeve. When properly adjusted, the friction between the brass and rubber sleeves is sufficient to hold the throttle stationary. Even at full lock, though, the throttle can still be moved, as would be needed in an emergency.

How well does it work?:

It works very well. At full-off, there is about 0.5mm space between the brass and rubber sleeves and so there is no contact or friction when the unit is not in use. The rotational action of the bar end is very smooth and gives you good feel for how much locking force you are applying. I haven't had a chance to test it yet for very long periods of time, but so far it hasn't had any tendency to slip. The instructions don't actually tell you how to engage it. The obvious technique is to reach over with your left hand and twist the bar end while your right hand holds the throttle in place. I'd be interested if anyone has developed an alternative technique.

Ease of installation

Installation is extremely easy. The instructions are good and the diagram makes it clear how the pieces are arranged and how adjustments should be made. It took me about five minutes to do the installation including adjustments.

Complaints and general whining:

Actually there's very little to complain about. Here's what I'm able to come up with.

1. Honda uses thread lock on their bar end mounting bolts. The Throttlemeister instructions should probably mention this.
2. Someone on the VFR list mentioned that they added a shim to the left bar end so that there is a small gap between grip and bar end (like stock). It would be nice if Marker either made the left end VFR adaptor longer or included a shim to provide this.
3. The only color choice is "stainless steel". Presumably you could paint or powdercoat or anodize (gold anodized would be gorgeous), but I'm not sure if you run the risk of screwing up the internals if you powdercoat or anodize. I'm sure Dell at Marker would know.