You may not have them installed correctly DanD- It took a lot of fiddling to get my bars to find the sweet spot where they seem to fall into place and both sides sit the same.
It was easy to see that they were off by lining up only the front bolts squarely and seeing where the upper rearmost mounting points fell in relation to the bike. The bars were in a bind when mounted squarely. And even at that they were also asymmetrical when mounted squarely. I'm glad yours worked for you. But I take offense to the "not knowing what I'm doing" tact. I know you have no way of knowing my past experience but I've been wrenching on bikes for 35 years, owned two full time shops and a full blown ten acre motorcycle salvage yard. Suffice it to say I've been around the block a few times and have installed and or adapted more after market bike accessories in a year than most people will install in a lifetime. The alt rider bars lack design/manufacturing synergy. Period. Great idea piss poor execution and follow design. But that's just my opinion. You're welcome to your own.
I'm 6'1" 32 inch inseam My ALT bars are not in my way, so I'm happy with the fit and position Dropped the bike did what it's supposed to
Dang I dont know how you guys aren't having knee contact on the altriders. I guess some of us ride way more forward because my legs are a good 3 to 4 inches over the bars when I ride where I normally would. Replacing them with the Happy Trails this weekend.
For the record, Happy Trail bars don't fit with the Altrider skid plate. It's really close but no dice. For anyone who is interested, I have some Altrider bars I'll ship to you in U.S. for $200. Brand new, just been on the bike then right off.
This is really the only thing that makes sense to me. At 6'1" I have to try really hard to make my knees even touch the bars. In that same vein though I don't know how you guys can ride that much closer to the front of the seat without crushing your family name on every bump. Must just be one of things that we will never know. Unless someone who lives in Washington and has this problem wants to meet up with me and compare notes....I would be down for some beers and shooting the shit, also pretty sure my bike is faster then yours.
So looks like no other bars are compatible with the Altrider skid plate. Did anyone modify any other bars to fit with the Altrider plate?
I am currently considering the SW Motech crash bars which are almost $200 cheaper here in Oz than the Altriders. However, I will have to alter my B&B bashplate to make it fit with the SW bars. I see that TassieRob (pg 16 of this thread) made the necessary modifications but I was keen to see some photos of the final fit. I don’t think TassieRob is still on this site; has anyone else got this combination of bars and bashplates to play nicely together? To obtain a clean and straight cut on the bashplate (aluminium) is an angle grinder the way to go?
I ended up with this combo and didn't cut anything. I just bent the plate, in fairness I have access to a full metalshop and a giant "break" (sheet metal bender) that I used to bend right where I wanted and at a clean angle so it looks factory'ish. I will take a picture in the morning.
Hey Greg, thanks for the reply. What did you use to trim the bashplate? I'm thinking a jigsaw may work...
Crash report Flinders ranges South Australia. First serious off road crash using SW motech skid-plate and crash bars combined with barkbusters and D606 front and rears. 1st gear going up a 4x4 track steep "low range high clearance required" incline. Took a crappy line and had the bike do a partial loop to the right and end up tank facing downhill and gushing fuel. I had to drag her by the tail rack a full 90 degrees before I could lift her up. All said and done the damage is minimal. Crash bars and'busters saved my bodywork though I do have two small dings in the exhaust. I am a happy customer.
I have the SW Motech crash bars and the Ricochet skid plate which required some minor modification to fit. I just used an angle grinder and grinding wheel on the skid plate to trim it where it was making contact with the crash bar on the left side of the bike. It took very little effort and looks like the skid plate was made that way. I doubt it would be any more difficult with your B&B. The SWM crash bars are great by the way - look awesome and very sturdy. I had a relatively low-speed high-sided on pavement, and they bars aren't even bent that I can tell.
I think I just bought the last set of Altrider Terra crash bars in Australia. I'd been tossing up between the Altrider and the SW Motech so I rang Adventuremoto to see if they had any Altrider in stock. Last pair is now mine for $100 off the website price (I think he wanted to get them off the shelf)
The Altrider bars are very good and have done a good job for me. I went down in rocks a couple of times when I tried a trail which is really for a lightweight bike. No damage to bars or the bike.
Altrider bars turned up today. Will be fitting them on the weekend. It came with two of the frame locating brackets. Doesn't it only need one?
Yep it only needs one bracket, and even then it might be surplus to requirements. The problem which that resolved didn't occur on all installations. I put my bracket on when they posted it to me, but I had no indication that the bars were riding up the frame.
