Hello, thought I would share my issue and a solution for those wishing to replace the stock handlebars for Renthal ones.
I have covered this topic before and thought I had found a solution... in theory yes, but over time no. So, I bent my original handlebars when transporting my bike two years ago (opps) and thought I would use the opportunity to replace the steel handlebars for something lighter and a little more forgiving if and when the bike was dropped again.
I choose the Renthal 613-01 in silver, with a set of Zeta handlebar offsets and risers, so far so good as all the cables reached no problem at all. However, as the aluminium handlebars have thicker walls (14mm ID), this meant I could no longer use the original OEM bar ends. I bought a pair of aluminium Oxford bar ends (OX593) which I used in conjunction with the OEM steel spacer to allow the fitting of the Suzuki hand guards. This was too light a set up and I had some minor vibration coming through the grip.
So, I bought the larger Oxford bars ends (OX599) which although still aluminium were heavier. Vibration now gone, happy days! So I posted on here that this was a working solution. It was, but only for around a year...
The Oxford bar ends like many bar ends use a piece of rubber that when compressed expands to secure the end in place. This works fine for a while, but I was finding the vibrations were returning because the rubber was deforming and allowing the bar ends to work it's way out. I have attached a photo below, effectively as soon as the spacer lost contact with the handlebar end, the rubber allowed the whole bar end to wobble and add to the vibration.
So, the solution. I purchased some heavy duty stainless steel bars ends form Oberon Performance, link below:
https://www.oberon-performance.co.uk/universal-bar-end-weights/universal-bar-end-weight-largeI then designed and made a custom stainless steel spacer so that I could use my OEM hand guards, as I was no longer able to use the original steel spacer. This rigid solution will not deform over time, so I can now hopefully say that this is a working solution. I have attached my design below for the spacer, if you can find a local machine shop they are small and cheap to make but work very effectively.
I hope this helps someone
