[Wild-Bill]

Yes, pellets are (mostly) lead and they'd work but the skirts are hollow, lowering the overall density. That'd bring them down to almost the same density as BBs with the added downside that they wouldn't slip against each other as well as the BBs.

The idea here is that each impetus introduced into the bars as vibration is canceled by the momentum of the shot, still moving in the opposite direction from the last impetus, causing the shot's movement to be stopped and the bar's movement to be canceled. If each piece of shot isn't free to move on its own then you'll just get a deadening of the vibration from increasing the overall mass of the bar. If each piece of the shot can move independently then it can completely absorb the vibration.

The same concept gets applied to large wood lathes. You anchor a box filled with loose sand to the lathe stand. It absorbs enough vibration that you can turn an off-balance 60# burl at ~400 rpm without the lathe jumping off the floor. Even after you get the outside of the burl turned into a concentric shape it's still off balance because the grain isn't even. At that point though, the lathe will be steady enough that you can cut a mirror-smooth surface with a skew chisel. If you use a concrete block the same weight as that box of sand though, you'll never get a smooth finish even with sandpaper.

[Slofuze]

^ Good info. I'll have to take a look at the clip-ons that I have on the Yami.

[jetmerritt]

I switched bars to a renthal bar and lost my bar end weights. Wild-bill said to try lead shot. I went to the local sporting good shop and picked up a bag of reject lead shot. I filled my bars and fabbed up some plugs. It didn't do hardly anything, but is the trick in mixing it with silicone??!

I was a little cranky that it didn't much. I was going to get my bar ends back on and see if that would help. But maybe I'll try the silicone... Dunno.

[rexazz2]

Yes, pellets are (mostly) lead and they'd work but the skirts are hollow, lowering the overall density. That'd bring them down to almost the same density as BBs with the added downside that they wouldn't slip against each other as well as the BBs.

The idea here is that each impetus introduced into the bars as vibration is canceled by the momentum of the shot, still moving in the opposite direction from the last impetus, causing the shot's movement to be stopped and the bar's movement to be canceled. If each piece of shot isn't free to move on its own then you'll just get a deadening of the vibration from increasing the overall mass of the bar. If each piece of the shot can move independently then it can completely absorb the vibration.

The same concept gets applied to large wood lathes. You anchor a box filled with loose sand to the lathe stand. It absorbs enough vibration that you can turn an off-balance 60# burl at ~400 rpm without the lathe jumping off the floor. Even after you get the outside of the burl turned into a concentric shape it's still off balance because the grain isn't even. At that point though, the lathe will be steady enough that you can cut a mirror-smooth surface with a skew chisel. If you use a concrete block the same weight as that box of sand though, you'll never get a smooth finish even with sandpaper.

Maybe I will just stop at the beach

I switched bars to a renthal bar and lost my bar end weights. Wild-bill said to try lead shot. I went to the local sporting good shop and picked up a bag of reject lead shot. I filled my bars and fabbed up some plugs. It didn't do hardly anything, but is the trick in mixing it with silicone??!

I was a little cranky that it didn't much. I was going to get my bar ends back on and see if that would help. But maybe I'll try the silicone... Dunno.

this is a + to bar ends

[jetmerritt]

Ok, Rexazz, I guess I noticed it seemed to eat up the higher frequency vibes, but the low frequency stuff when it growls between 6-7K is where it doesn't do much, also, that is the rev where I usually ride most. I am goin to put the bar ends on I guess.

Anyone think mixing the lead shot with silicone would help?

[Aaron-71]

So basically the objective is to get lead BB's and fill the handle bar from end to end with these BB's so they'll move around, hit each other and take away the vibrations (if I've got it correct).

Then all we have to do is put our bar end weights back on, and it will work as a cap to keep the BB's inside.

Is this basically what I've got to do? If so, I'm in! I'd love to have a much smoother ride on my kat since most of my riding takes an hour each time I sit on it... get bad feelings in my hands after a day of riding...

I also saw that someone had to make a "plug" on the end of their bars so the BB's would stay in. Is this just for the pre's? or the posts as well?

[Wild-Bill]

Ok, Rexazz, I guess I noticed it seemed to eat up the higher frequency vibes, but the low frequency stuff when it growls between 6-7K is where it doesn't do much, also, that is the rev where I usually ride most. I am goin to put the bar ends on I guess.

Anyone think mixing the lead shot with silicone would help?

Sorry it didn't eat the vibes at the rpm's that were bothering you. The farther out you can move the mass the lower the frequency that will be dampened. I'm afraid I don't have the math expertise to calculate the exact length/mass to totally dampen vibes at 6-7 KHz but bar end weights are probably the farthest you can move a weight without getting silly.

...Then all we have to do is put our bar end weights back on, and it will work as a cap to keep the BB's inside....

That end of the bars isn't a problem. There's already a plug there that you bolt the bar end weights onto. The inside end of the bars has a plastic plug that you can remove to gain access to the insides of the bars.


One thing that gets overlooked when folks try to reduce vibration is making sure their engine is tuned properly and that the wheels are balanced. A properly tuned bike makes less vibration to dampen in the first place.