[md86]

You can unscrew the control pod and play around in there without taking off your grip .

[RedKat05]

About to put some newones on tomorrow, sounds as easy as it looked, but good write-up.

[quadturbo]

instead of using hair spray to slide the grips on you can use rubbing alcohol and throw a match in there when you get them where you want them, then you don't have to wait for the stuff to dry. i don't know how well it will work on motorcycle but ive done it on bicycles.

[Sasquatch]

one of the first mods I did was a new set of grips. I had gone for a 150 mile ride, and noticed that I had to pull over and let my hands get feeling back in them. I bought a pair of 'pro grips' brand, and they seem to do well (jell filled).

I have since learned not to lean so hard on my wrists/hands, and it has helped tons.


Great write-up on how to replace the stock grips. I cut mine off as well (easy and quick), and soaped my new grips up well. Easy to install after that.


thanks for the input

[oyam]

I just installed Progrip 724's. It was kind of a hot TX day & believe it or not, my old ones rolled off. It did take some work but they were both off in about 5 min. The left went on pretty easy with the grip glue, and a little spit for the right one. Now if only installing a jet kit were that simple. Again, try it on a hot day.

[Spud]

Great write up. I just put Pro Grip 838's on my bike in about 10 minutes total time. The left grip came off with only a little bit of persuasion using a Phillips screwdriver as suggested in the write up and the replacement slid right on using hairspray. After a few minutes, it was already solid enough that I think I'd be comfortable riding with it.

The right (throttle) side was a little tougher to get off but I came up with a method to do it in one piece. I worked from the inside out (i.e. from the centre line of the bike outward). Start playing with the grip right up close to the switch assembly and start to fold it back onto itself (turning it inside out as you go). This works to the point where you have it folded over about in half. I then used the Phillips screwdriver as described in the write up and worked it up between the plastic throttle and the grip. Using the screwdriver for leverage, I was able to stretch the grip and slide it off the end of the bar. I did hear a slight crack when prying the grip off and I managed to break a small piece of the first plastic ring off (the one they rasped off in the write up). The small piece I broke off was minor and will have no effect on performance of the throttle or grip.

With a little persuasion, I managed to unroll the grip and I now have a set of stock grips sitting on the shelf in the garage.

I chose to use the hairspray on the throttle side as well and the grip slid right on without any real effort. It too seemed to really lock into place after only a few minutes of drying. I will wait until tomorrow after work to try the grips out.

FWIW - I would recommend checking other models of the Pro Grips. The 838 seemed a little short in length on the throttle side and I've got a bit of the plastic throttle exposed next to the switch housing. You can stretch the grip (in length) a bit while the hairspray is still wet and acting as a lube so you can cover up fairly well but it's still not perfect.

Sorry I didn't think to get any pix of the removal process.

[Animal Chin]

Thanks for the info. Got my grips off OK (had to cut em)

Going to replace my right handle bar. Will I need to get a new grip?

I've replaced grips on a dirtbike before and had to cut them off aswell.

I don't want to start on the handle bar until I get replacement drips if need be..

Thanks!

EDIT: Read some more and see I may be able to roll them off.. Better have room for error and time to go get replacements I guess.. =/

[awsnap]

Is it possible to get a new throttle 'tube'? I'd like to just file off the grooves to make it a little easier, but I'd also like to maybe put the factory's back on. Am I just being stupid and I should just file away?

[md86]

Yeah , it's possible to get a new throttle tube .

[awsnap]

Can you point it out on a fiche? I can't find it!

[md86]

I found a right throttle grip at $17 , but I'm not sure if that includes the tube . Doesn't SOUND quite right ....

[awsnap]

Yeah, that's what I was thinking....

[Sasquatch]

Damn , I HAVE those grips , but I can't remember what the hell they are .... They were only like $7 , though . Hey Wildmat , what kind of grips do we have ?

Pro Grips, gel grips..

Those are what I have, and mcmahon put on a pair while at the Rally. Took all of 7-10 mins.

[stealth]

Howto trim the end and get rid of "gap"

Ok, I have the ProGrip 719's also, and they feel great, but they're a little short. I wanted a quick way to trim them down, and tighten up the whole look and feel. I also wanted a quick easy method, 30 minutes max. It's getting extremely hot here during the day, so a quick mod is a good mod. I also wanted something that could be done by anyone, so everyone can do this. Even if you've never done anything like this before, you can do this quick and easy mod, too. Here's what I did.


First of all, let's take a look at the right side. What we can see here is the grip, overing the throttle. The grip is pulled as tight is it can go, and the throttle is set at the end of the handlebar. Still, the throttle is longer than the grip, and leaves a big unsightly bunch of crap sticking out over the end, even with bar ends installed.




There's also a huge gap between the throttle and the throttle cable housing.




First, get under here and remove these two screws.




When you remove them, the housing may just pop off of the bar. No problem.




Once you've done that, the throttle and grip should slide right off. My bar is covered in some ten year old crap, and you can clearly see the throttle sticking way out past the end of the grip. This will not do.




I slid the grip up on the throttle a little bit. I'm about to take the throttle in to the grinder, and want to have a little extra room, in case I shave too much off. You could just as easily do this with a belt or orbital sander. I happen to have access to a die grinder, and that was most convenient for me, so that's what I chose. If you have nothing else, just go get a sheet of 40 or 80 grit sandpaper. Hold the sandpaper down on a flat surface, and rub the end of the throttle across it until you get the length you want. Don't forget your eye protection! Even if you think it's gay - let me tell you, wearing goggles is a lot cooler than picking plastic shards out of your eyeball. Anyway, here's the before pic:




I was sure to burn off the initial "lip" of the throttle, but not sure how much more I wanted to cut off. In retrospect, I probably could have shaved another milimeter without missing anything. Next time I pull the throttle, I probably will grind a little more off... Anyway, here's the after pic:




Before putting the throttle back on, be sure to clean off the bar if necessary. I used carb cleaner to do this. It's quick and easy, but it's also *very* powerful. Be very careful if you use carb cleaner. It can easily screw up all that clean plastic on your dash and gauges. If you're not sure, just spray a little onto a rag, then wipe down the bar with the rag. After cleaning, I also added a bit of Liquid Wrench lubricant. This will help keep a smooth throttle response. Here's the clean bar, ready to be put back together:




Now we just put it back together. Easy. Probably it would be easiest to put the throttle cable housing on first. Make sure that the electrical wiring is in *front* of the handlebar, not behind it. The throttle cable then goes into the little hole on the side of the throttle. Make sure to route the cable around the *front* of the throttle, and put it into the front hole on the throttle. Here's a pic of the throttle, with the two holes for clarity:




Here's a very blurry picture of the correct way to mount in the throttle cable. This is taken from the front of the bike, but you can plainly see I've got the cable routed around the front of the bar, and I'm using the hole in the throttle closest to the front. The reason I keep driving it is this: if you put the throttle cable routed the wrong way, you will have a "push" throttle instead of a "pull" throttle. Not fun.




Don't forget the blue Loc-Tite! This will keep the screws from vibrating out, which is important if you want your bike to actually work.




Ok, so at this point we've done the right side. Let's look at our progress:




You can see above that we've gotten rid of a little bit of gap between the throttle housing and the grip. The only way to remove the rest of that huge gap would be to either sand or file down the larger part of the throttle itself, or to ream out the hole around the throttle housing. Since I wanted a quick easy mod that anyone can do, I decided to live with the results (for now).

With the bar end installed, we can see a huge difference, thanks to grinding off the end.




Great. The right side is pretty well buttoned up, and looking good. Now the left. Here we can see the same sort of problem, although this is simply a bar end, a grip, the electrical housing, and the clutch lever mount. However, there's a huge amount of gap between everything. Right now it looks pretty average:




I've removed the bar end on mine, but it's completely unnecessary. Just slide the grip to the end of the bar end, so that it sits nice and flush.




Next, get under the electrical housing and remove the two *outer* screws only. The one in the middle can stay tight like it is.




This part is basically just like the right, only easier. You don't have to remove the screws completely, just loosen them enough so that the housing will move around. With the grip slid down flush on the bar end, just move the electrical housing where you want it. Retighten the screws. You can also take an 8mm wrench to loosen the clutch lever, and slide it down near the electrical housing. The left side should now be flush. You can see how much it moved by the mark on the bar.




If I wanted to spend a few more minutes on it, I could also loosen up the handlebar and move it more toward the middle, cutting the excess off for cleanliness. Again, I wanted a twenty minute mod. It's nearly a hundred degrees now, I think...

Since I'm installing Grip Puppies after this, the whole thing was done just to make me feel better about it, but again - it's a quick and easy mod, and it sort of buttons the whole area a little tighter.

Finally, here's the last shots, including with Grip Puppies installed:



All in all, 20-30 minutes, and a cleaner look up front. Oh, plus it's free!

[stealth]

Went for a ride after the Grip Puppies were installed.

Man, those things are huge. It's just like using a set of those foam cruiser grips. OTOH, there was zero vibration, although I didn't get on the highway.

I went with them because they're easily removeable, and very cheap. I'll ride 'em for a while, then toss 'em if I don't like it. Anyway, just thought someone might want to know. Grip Puppies are awesome if you want a completely dead feel.

I'll probably take them back off, since I don't do too much highway right now, and prefer to "feel" the road. I can stand a little vibration in exchange for being in touch with my suspension. I also ackowledge that I have an *extremely* tight setup, since the addition on the PVC tube spacer mod.

FWIW, still worth the eight bucks just to try it out.