[jetmerritt]

Had to leave town for a few days and it turns out, I am heading out for a few more days this week, but I got my custom ordered brake hose. It is DOT approved, pressure tested and purdy! I have to pay for it yet, the guy at the parts store couldn't find it on their computer system so I'll do that today.

I got it through Lordco Auto Parts and they ordered it as per my specifications through Greenline Hose, so I am glad I can get these things built locally and not go through an american company and wait 2-3 weeks for it. If the price is good I am going to pull the rest of the hoses off the Kat and get them copied to SS and they will all be done. My '06 is due, or overdue for hoses according to the manual anyway. I noticed the front brake lever doesn't seem as solid as it used to be as well.

I am going to try to get the new bars on today and get some pics up, but I have one last problem, I am not sure whether I will be able to get my grip and heater off the left bar. The right is easy because it is on the throttle tube, but the left was epoxied on to the bare bar, so I may have to buy another set of grips and heaters...

[cintidude04]

Very nice brother, I may look into this someday as well.

[jetmerritt]

Well, I got some spacer washers and got all my parts painted shiny!



Changed out the bolts for allen heads too...

[Wild-Bill]

Instead of bar ends try just filling the bars with loose lead shot and just putting some plastic caps on the ends. The shot soaks up all kinds of vibration and you may be able to get away without the bar ends.

[jetmerritt]

Ok, I got all the measurements done with a rough mock up and I think a 400mm brake hose from bolt to bolt with dual 22.5* opposing offsets should be the ticket!

I am going to replace the bolts with allen cap screws to neaten them up on the brackets, they look a little dated and chewed up.

But I don't know what to do for the bars and brackets. I am thinking of satin blacking them so they don't stand out too much. They just kind of leap out at your eyes being big and silver. Think I might remove the brace too considering I won't be getting much air on the Kat.

Also don't know what to do about the bar end weights. I was thinking of trying to fill the ends with weld from an aluminum spool gun, then drilling and tapping them out to m6X1.0 or whatever the ends are. Any other suggestions?

So I guess that's it until I get my new brake hose... Stay tuned

Oh, and I am happy I am going this route because I can always switch bars if I don't like the geometry, easy fix. What I got was what the guy had on the shelf.

[Wild-Bill]

Either add washers or lower the forks through the triple clamps. Washers are probably a better solution though since they'll help give some clearance for the key, too.

[jetmerritt]

In progress

Ok, so brackets are from a Suzuki RM-250 vintage 1978. Bars, Renthal off of a CR I think, but they may not have been factory?

Awesome perks, I am using the original bar mounting holes to make the machining costs $0. Problem, Key is extremely tight for clearance and I may have to raise the bike a mm or two on front ride heighth in order to fit the way I am going.

1. had to make hex holes round on brackets for Allen screws to fit

2. Had to buff bolts a little to help as well.

3. First real mock up, might want to narrow them a little?

4. They are not quite tightened down and they are touching the fork cap. No big deal like I said, 1 or 2mm max. I might try to find a hard washer to fit under brackets for that extra mm.

Ignition key, very close! Touches during installation but works...


I am going to figure my brake hose out and get some specs, then go back to stock until I get it and clean up all the parts pretty like.
I'm so excited. And at $40, thrifty too!

[utah-kat]

longer brake hose

I've done the same thing using Bandit handlebar clamps and dirt bike style handle bar - not a Renthal though. I routed all cables to behind the folks, everything works fine for me, including the throttle cables. I then went to a local hose store and had them make me a loger brake hose. If you take the original brake hose to show them, they can make one while you wait. The store I went to they use BrakeQuip equipment and parts. I end up paid $25 for the 16-in brake hose. Have fun and good luck with your project.

[Wild-Bill]

Ugh, that would double my insurance. I should fix the bars right, then drop a vitamin B12 in.

Oh, yeah. You live in Canada. My insurance didn't change from a 750 Kat to my 1100. Won't turn this into a tirade about socialist states, though.

Your Renthal bars look like a great way to go. Take lots of pictures as you go.

[jetmerritt]

Screw all the companies that want to rape me! I went to the local dirtbike wrecker and 10 minutes later and $30 later I got a set of Renthal bars and a set of mounts. I am going to try doing this myself. I may have to source another brake line and stuff, but no biggie, the rest I can handle. I will post the how to if I can get this to work!

[jetmerritt]

If you want more comfort, you could always do what I did... Move up to an 1100 Kat! Smooth and comfy!

Ugh, that would double my insurance. I should fix the bars right, then drop a vitamin B12 in.

[Wild-Bill]

If you want more comfort, you could always do what I did... Move up to an 1100 Kat! Smooth and comfy!

[Nero]

Here's a universal set of adjustable bars I found for someone else a couple of weeks ago. Don't know if they fit the Kat, but you can call.

http://www.convertibars.com/

[ygolohcysp]

Well, when you take off the existing clip-on mounts, then you'd have a bit of fork tube above the top triple. You would need to lower the front somewhere around half an inch. Don't quote me on that, it's an approximation.

Right now, without doing anything to the clip-ons on my 06 600, I have the front lowered, and the rear raised a tad. It gives quicker turn in, but you don't want to go making drastic changes. The Kats are really stable in part due to the angle of the forks. I changed my setup for quicker steering, and it still seems fairly stable, but before I got used to it, it seemed a little twitchy. That's with dropping the front .5" and raising the rear just around 1.25". When I was looking at dropping the front, I put a zip tie around the forks, and then tried to bottom out the suspension. I think my not too exact measurement was that the front could be lowered around .75" before the lower triple would bottom out against the fork seals.

[jetmerritt]

OK,

BUT!

Why does it look like both of those Kats are lowered?? It doesn't look like I have that much fork tube sticking up at stock ride height.