Clipons

[acebobby]

What are the benefits of aftermarket clipon handlebars opposed to the stock items on my bike, are they worth getting or best just waiting until mine break then replace them.

 

Bobby

[khp]

What are the benefits of aftermarket clipon handlebars opposed to the stock items on my bike, are they worth getting or best just waiting until mine break then replace them.

I would wait until I break the stock clipons

 

As for the aftermarket parts, they are often made of higher quality aluminium (ie they don't break as easily, and they can be bent back into shape, rather than just snap off), are easier to repair and order spare parts for. Also, they tend to be more adjustable on the fork leg.

 

My PP Tuning clipons were fitted to the bike when I bought it

 

Regards,

 

Kai

[jasonbw]

Hi Ace, there's a couple of different suggestions I would give, but they'll depend on what you use the bike for.

 

For street riding, stock clipon's *usually* offer good levels of comfort when in a sit-up prone riding style that is typical in a street environment.

For track riding, you're often either more tucked than street riding, which means the stock clip-on's may not provide you as great a level of comfort as adjustable clip-on's can provide.

 

Before deciding, put some thought to this; is comfort really that important? On a track, where the speed (and stakes) are high, a comfortable position on your bike may mean the difference between being able to apply the most fundamental control inputs versus being clumsy with the controls.... good consistent clean control inputs versus erratic variable control inputs.

Take Throttle Control for example, if you were reaching too far forward to the bars you may find you're gripping the bars tighter than you'd like, would this make applying the Throttle Control rule more difficult?

 

Comfort is one of the most important factors to consider when riding any motorcycle! Is it critical? Maybe not! this depends if you're going for a ride to buy milk or to win a race, but positive benefits are there for the gain for all sorts of riding if you provide a bit of time to investigate whether your bike is actually comfortable for you just like you're doing in your initial post! Great stuff!

 

As a great example of the importance of comfort, take Keith's last coaching trip to MMP with Leon Camier at the WSBK event a month ago, the first thing Keith noticed was a left heel guard missing on Leon's bike, this was causing lock-on issues, when rectified it made an instant positive improvement, read on:

RoadRacing World - Keith and Camier

# Note: I had to look up what dichotomy meant after watching that I guess it's the 2nd plural

 

Clip-on's provide the rider with more adjustment for vertical height and sweep positions than stock bars do (usually stock bars are locked into positions with a keyway into the top tripleclamp whereas clip-ons aren't).

 

So Ace, if you're wanting to experiment with different positions then clip-on's may give you a benefit you haven't had before, if racing or riding trackdays they will give you a benefit as khp pointed out of being able to replace the bars very quickly (the correct style clip-on will allow you to change just the bar, eliminating the need to remove the forks).

 

Let us know how you go with levels of comfort if you do decide to get a set.... even if you don't, hop on your bike and see if your controls can be set in a better position for reach... it usually is a surprise for riders as to how much easier riding is when you do this short self-analysis.

 

JasonBW