Heli bars??

[Mike13]

Is there a differance between Heli-Bars on a 4th gen and a 5th gen. I see some pop up on E-bay every now and then and most of the time they are for 5th and 6th gen. I have a 4th gen. Just wanted to know if the are interchangable? Thanks All

[Y2Kviffer]

I would say there must be some difference as they are listed as 98-01 and 02-up. Maybe someone in your area has a 5th gen you can compare yours to.

[Rogue]

Different bar end weights on the 5th gen - I don't know if Heli's use the standard bar ends ?

98-01 is 5th Gen "02 up" is VTEC i.e 43mm forks .

[mello dude]

Originally Posted by Mike1313

Is there a differance between Heli-Bars on a 4th gen and a 5th gen. I see some pop up on E-bay every now and then and most of the time they are for 5th and 6th gen. I have a 4th gen. Just wanted to know if the are interchangable? Thanks All

I have a 5th gen and I installed 4th gen bars. The 4th gen bars are somewhere 7/8 inch to 1 inch lower compared to the 5th bars. On the locator tab, (4th gen) the key thing that goes into the top triple clamp slot, I had to cut it off as its in a different radial location vs the 5th gen. I just lined the bars up using strait edges and calibrated eyeball and torqued it down.

Now for cheap bar raisers for a 4th gen, you could do the same but use 5th gen bars. (Ebay or whatever) I think these would be better than the helis, in that you would be keeping the stock bar angle. The 4th and 5th bar angles are roughly identical.
Helis tend to flaten the angle. I tryed them once and hated it.

Um - I guess in a round about way - no 4th and 5th helis are not interchangable.

MD

[Mike13]

Originally Posted by mello dude

I have a 5th gen and I installed 4th gen bars. The 4th gen bars are somewhere 7/8 inch to 1 inch lower compared to the 5th bars. On the locator tab, (4th gen) the key thing that goes into the top triple clamp slot, I had to cut it off as its in a different radial location vs the 5th gen. I just lined the bars up using strait edges and calibrated eyeball and torqued it down.

Now for cheap bar raisers for a 4th gen, you could do the same but use 5th gen bars. (Ebay or whatever) I think these would be better than the helis, in that you would be keeping the stock bar angle. The 4th and 5th bar angles are roughly identical.
Helis tend to flaten the angle. I tryed them once and hated it.

Um - I guess in a round about way - no 4th and 5th helis are not interchangable.

MD

So in general you are saying that instead of buying Heil Bars, I could buy 5th generation bars (possible modify a bit), they are 7/8" to 1" higher then my 4th gen stock bars, and that might be a suitable substitute. I understand that the bar ends might be differant but would the other stuff like starter switch, blinker switch, and reservoirs fit ok?

[Y2Kviffer]

That stuff all clamps on, so no issues there.

[dale-j]

You can also use other honda 41mm clip-ons, in particular the higher ones off of a NT650 Hawk from the late '80s to the early '90s. You will need to get a longer brake hose and will need to reroute the clutch line (or get a longer stainless one) and reroute electrical wires and throttle cables. You may also need to play with positioning of your reservoirs or clearance the inner fairing a bit to make sure they don't interfere. No fairing on my VFR so I can't comment on specifics of this other than to note that the Hawk bars have quite a rise to them.

If you're lucky you'll find a Hawk rider that wants lower bars and you can switch, otherwise most guys racing a Hawk in sport twins will have a set or two around that have since been replaced with F2 clipons or Vortex/Woodcraft bars.

Another good option (as you can cheaply and easily adjust the height angles to your tastes) is the Convertibars system - link here: convertibars.com

One more option is the Spiegler Superbike bar conversion which also offers some adjustability by changing the bar bend - still fairly inexpensive but not quite so easy. Link here: SPIEGLER - Superbike kit

I haven't specifically tried either the Convertibars or the Spiegler kit, and on my naked VFR I did not like the higher hawk bars and reverted to the originals. Depending on your preference, YMMV.

[mello dude]

Originally Posted by Mike1313

So in general you are saying that instead of buying Heil Bars, I could buy 5th generation bars (possible modify a bit), they are 7/8" to 1" higher then my 4th gen stock bars, and that might be a suitable substitute. I understand that the bar ends might be differant but would the other stuff like starter switch, blinker switch, and reservoirs fit ok?

Yeah - It was super easy. The switch gear and reservoirs bolted on exactly the same. The bar ends are a bit lighter, but you could go aftermarket if you wanted something heavier. As dale-j points out, cables and brake hoses are a question mark. Convertibars sells longer cables, you could get longer hoses from Spiegler. Or if your lucky stock could work.

For me the 5th to the 4th was so easy, it was ridiculous. It took me probably a whole hour to do it. I bought the bars off ebay for $25 in winter. Chances are you could find a 5th set for the same.

MD

[Rogue]

Please be aware that all 5th Gen bars don't have the engagement tabs in the same place..

[Mike13]

Originally Posted by Rogue

Please be aware that all 5th Gen bars don't have the engagement tabs in the same place..

Thanks for the info. Mello Dude mentioned that as well and said he cut the tabs off and torqued it down. He said it worked fine on his 5th gen when he put 4th gen bars on it. I am not sure if that effects the safty of the bars or not.

[mello dude]

Originally Posted by Mike1313

Thanks for the info. Mello Dude mentioned that as well and said he cut the tabs off and torqued it down. He said it worked fine on his 5th gen when he put 4th gen bars on it. I am not sure if that effects the safty of the bars or not.

I have over 5000 miles this way and no issues. Plenty of aftermarket bars rely on just the torque down of the clamps also.
Just check it once in a while to make sure its tight.

MD

[Mike13]

Originally Posted by mello dude

I have over 5000 miles this way and no issues. Plenty of aftermarket bars rely on just the torque down of the clamps also.
Just check it once in a while to make sure its tight.

MD

Thanks Mello Dude, did not mean to sound like I had doubt. I am definatly giong to try it out considering the cost differance. I was not worried about bar risers until I bought a corbin seat. The seat seams to sit a little lower and I can feel myself reaching a bit farther for the bars and it is a little uncomfortable. I will watch E-bay and hopefully find a reasonable price for them. Thanks again for the info.

[dale-j]

Originally Posted by Mike1313

Thanks Mello Dude, did not mean to sound like I had doubt. I am definatly giong to try it out considering the cost differance. I was not worried about bar risers until I bought a corbin seat. The seat seams to sit a little lower and I can feel myself reaching a bit farther for the bars and it is a little uncomfortable. I will watch E-bay and hopefully find a reasonable price for them. Thanks again for the info.

The problem with the Corbin is not really that it sits lower, but that in order to provide its 'neutralized seating position' it pulls the rider position further back from the tank. It's the reason on my 3G why I would not use it for riding in town or sporty riding as it degraded front end feel as well as making the reach to the bars uncomfortable. For longer trips, the butt pain of the stock seat made it necessary but I never did really get along with the Corbin. Next seat I buy will probably be a Sargent due to this.....

[15dollar]

I have a set of heli's would be happy to trade (right is slightly tweaked). If you have a set of factory clip-ons, let me know.

[NorcalBoy]

Originally Posted by mello dude

(Ebay or whatever) I think these would be better than the helis, in that you would be keeping the stock bar angle.

MD

Heli's maintain the stock bar angle, they are just a tad taller and a tad futher back when mounted.

[gsus]

Page i found regarding helibars on a 4th gen bike:
HeliBars 1 <- click

I didn't want to spend that much money on bars so I bought some 5th gen bars. They are slightly taller but the alignment tabs do no line up. However, I instead of cutting off the tab, I used that tab as a spacer to raise the bars that much more on my 97 VFR. Unfortunately for me though I was not very attentive when I bought the bars, they did not come with the inner and outer weights... so I get a bit more vibration now :(.

Stock 97 bar:


5th gen bar:


5th gen bar in back, 4th gen bar in front.


HTH