RT handlebar swap - how much work?

[Egor]

I had to get my RT towed, and the tow fellow seems to have bent the bars with his straps. I'm gearing up to do the hall effect sensor repair, and thinking that this might be a good time to fix this issue as well.

 

Long story short, how hard is it to swap some new bars in? I have a Clymer but it's a little cryptic on this topic, and makes it seem like I basically have to disassemble all of the controls, unhook all the cables, etc. That doesn't seem right. But I can see that there is a hose or a wire passing through the actual bars, which seems like it could be a bit of a road block. Is that the heated grips wiring?

 

Wavering about trying to tackle this, or trying to live with slightly crooked bars. A bit of direction would be very appreciated.

[dirtrider]

I had to get my RT towed, and the tow fellow seems to have bent the bars with his straps. I'm gearing up to do the hall effect sensor repair, and thinking that this might be a good time to fix this issue as well.

 

Long story short, how hard is it to swap some new bars in? I have a Clymer but it's a little cryptic on this topic, and makes it seem like I basically have to disassemble all of the controls, unhook all the cables, etc. That doesn't seem right. But I can see that there is a hose or a wire passing through the actual bars, which seems like it could be a bit of a road block. Is that the heated grips wiring?

 

Wavering about trying to tackle this, or trying to live with slightly crooked bars. A bit of direction would be very appreciated.

 

Morning Egor

 

Swapping those bars is a pain but definitely doable at home.

 

Those wires that you see passing through the bars are the for the heated grips (just remove terminals from the connectors & they will pull back through the bar holes)-- You can then pull them through the new bars with a wire or string.

 

Just make sure that the new/used bars that you get are from a bike with heated grips. Some of the earlier non heated grip 1100RT bikes came without those heated grip wire holes. AFAIK all the BMW new replacement bars (expensive) come with the heated grip wire holes.

 

Best way to go on removing the bar end housings is to look at the parts book breakdown as that (sort of) shows the clamping bolts & cover screw locations (once you get the bar ends off & the end housings loose you can unbolt the bars from the upper triple tree then slide the bars out without removing cables or brake hoses)

 

On the L/H side the grip tube itself is held on with a couple of small screws so you will have to peel the inner end of the rubber grip back a little to get to the small screws. (see picture below)

 

It seems the tow fellow should be responsible for your bike's handlebar damage as the BMW 1100/1150RT is never to be tied down for transport by the handlebars.

 

 

Edited June 18, 2017 by dirtrider

[Twinsig]

Get 4 of those nylon motorcycle straps, the short ones with loop only, no buckle, and put em under the seat. Along with a bunch of other stuff you'll "never" need. It's good karma?

 

[Egor]

Ok - so I'm finally doing this, it's been an awfully busy summer. Things were going ok until I ran into a snafu. The PO used a pair of incorrect bolts on the bars - they were pan-head screws (and for some reason took a 5mm hex), so instead of sitting in the hole they were kind of on top, but not really. This torqued them weirdly, probably bending them slightly, and let water in. They also weren't stainless and the heads were massively corroded. The holes rounded immediately, just about crumbling.

 

These were the long screws that go through the top of the "triples" (don't even know what to call them on the oilheads) - so there is some sticking out on the bottom. I used vice-grips to grab the bottom on one of them and managed to back it out. The other one was stuck something fierce. I drilled out the head, took off the bars, and that's where I am.

 

 

I dremeled the top a bit - so now I can screw things on there. I was hoping I could use some sort of double-nut setup but the first attempt didn't go so great and I didn't want to ruin the threads. I'll get some better nuts tomorrow and maybe give it another go but not holding out much hope.

 

So... where to go from here? I am having doubts about things like easy-out here, it's *really* in there. I could try to attack it with vice grips from both sides, maybe rock it loose. But that will screw the threads - and perhaps I can make use of them somehow. It can come out in either direction after all, if I can manage to break it loose.

 

No welder, so can't weld a nut to the top. JB Weld? Propane + candle? Try to drill a hole through it and put a screwdriver through for leverage? Keep pouring PB blaster on it for a few more days?

 

I have ideas, but scared to make the situation worse.

Edited August 7, 2017 by Egor

[AnotherLee]

Hi, Egor -

I googled a bit and found *this* "10 TRICKS TO REMOVE THAT STUCK, SEIZED, OR STRIPPED BOLT/NUT". Probably some good ideas there.

[Egor]

Thanks, some of those do sound promising. I'll get a propane torch tomorrow and start there, that seems pretty non-destructive.

 

Also, if I don't want to preserve the threads, maybe a simple pipe wrench would do the trick?

 

Edit: I guess this is the tool for this sort of thing...

 

 

Just need to find something a bit less pricy.

Edited August 7, 2017 by Egor

[Egor]

I ended up getting this set:

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01M5J2JN9/

 

Hope it does the trick. It'll take a while to get here but I can work around the stud in the meantime.

[szurszewski]

More PB blaster, sharp (not necessarily hard) raps with a small hammer, heat the bolt (carefully since you are near the ignition switch), repeat.

 

If you can't weld a nut on there, can you grind a set of reasonably parallel flats to grip with a wrench? I'd do that vs a slot for a screw driver (though since you have so much bolt you can slot it and still have some left once you broke off those ears with your screw driver).

 

Above all, take it easy and when you get to the point where you think you're about to break it STOP - and then repeat the PB blaster etc one more time. DAMHIK - but I suspect most all of us have found that.

[Mark C]

I think the longer bolts with nuts under were only for the wire loop that was used to keep cables together in front.

I have a few of these take-offs handlebars if you still want to replace them for cheap.

I found cutting and soldering heated grips wires saves alot of time, otherwise all the bodywork has to come off to get under tank to unplug them, fish them through .

Mark

[Egor]

Thanks Mark - but I ebayed a set of bars long ago.

 

Honestly, all the tupperware is already off, so I might as well just do it the slightly longer way, a dozen separate cable ties notwithstanding. The catastrophe that started me on this journey was a busted Hall Effect sensor so bodywork had to come off no matter what. I also have some tank issues to clean up, new fuel/air filters to install, and wanted a more powerful headlight (trying the LED option). So basically everything is already off the bike. The heater terminals are already out at the plug end, so I'm ready for the procedure. Just going to leave the stud where it is until the extractors get here. With the head removed, it doesn't actually interfere with anything.

 

Yet still kind of tempted to just snip and solder. Don't know what BMW was thinking here, it would have been trivial to run the wires through the hand controls and then this would have been a ten minute swap.

Edited August 8, 2017 by Egor