New grips - review

Hey, people. I shamelessly admit that I am a "big fella" with pretty long fingers. Unfortunately, most of the grips intended for our rides are designed for scrawny dudes like Rossi. That means most grips are too skinny for my hands. Well, today I stopped in at CycleGear and actually found some grips that I really like. The problem is that they are intended for use by big fat bastages on cruisers (yes, that means Harleys), with handlebars that are typically bigger than the stubs on our sporty bikes. Undeterred by the bar size problems, I bought a set and fitted them today.

First, the grips. Pro-grip model 842, cruiser grips. You will need to cut the ends out, to make way for your bar ends.



The grips are two different I.D. sizes (clutch is smaller), but it works to your advantage. Use the smaller, clutch side grip on the throttle tube. Make sure you use plenty of grip glue. On the clutch side, you have to figure out how to build up the O.D. of the bar. I used some SUPER sticky, heavy duty duct tape and wrapped the bar about 6 or 7 times. I decided to wrap in two stages. Once the second stage was wrapped, I still had to cover the last inch or so of the bar. I didn't want any flex or slipping on the end of the bar, so I used some very oversized heat shrink (used to increase the grip size on tennis racquets) to build up the very end of the bar with a non flexible, "plastic ring". It took three layers of the shrink wrap to be about the same thickness as the tape wrap.







Apply plenty of glue inside the grip and then slip it onto the left bar. Let the bike sit for 8 hours and the glue will set. This is what they look like on the bike.







I recall being able to use these same grips (or something VERY similar) on my old CB750F and they felt GREAT!! Texture is good, material is pliable and grippy, but not "spongy". The best part? THE GRIPS FIT MY HANDS!!!!!!! I will report back as I live with these, but I expect them to be exactly what I need.

Jose

 

Nicely done, I may not have real big hands but when I mounted my oxford heated grips I found the slightly larger diameter to be much more comfortable than the regular size grips.

 

:thumbsup: I'm a lil bastage with lil hands and I still think stock grips are too thin and small.

 

Dahoser, good idea !

 

Also, Dahoser, what the hell is mounted to your top triple clamp just inside the RH fork tube/clipon??

 

That crazy looking thing is an add-on piezo screamer for a radar detector. PO put in on, but I haven't purchased a replacement head unit. Notice the tiny, weather sealed toggle switch on the left side controls? That is the volume for the screamer. Left is low, center is off, right is high.

Jose

 

I FINALLY took the VFR for a ride with the new grips. They are AWESOME!!!! The texture is grippy, they fill my hands and they don't "squish". They just plain feel great. I also stopped by a dealer today where a 2K in yellow was dropped off for repair. It had polished lip wheels and a hand built, twin undertail pipe. It looked great and sounded KILLER!!!!! Now I'm gonna have to build a new muffler to get that same deep, rumbling sound. Did I mention it sounded KILLER?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Jose

 

I had these on my ST1300 and transferred them to my VFR when I sold the ST. They work great for me.

http://www.st-owners.com/forums/showthread.php?67416-BMW-grip-pictures&highlight=bmw+grips

 

I have the same grips- they're soft enough for grip but not too soft where they break down.

I have them on top of grip heater elements and they get too hot if it's not real cold. Had to add a 2 stage switch.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

I have the same grips- they're soft enough for grip but not too soft where they break down.

I have them on top of grip heater elements and they get too hot if it's not real cold. Had to add a 2 stage switch.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk