Biggziff
Husqvarna
A Class
This is a *very* easy and inexpensive upgrade to do and one that can make a huge difference in how the bike feels to you. It doesn't matter if you're tall or short...some guys want the bars up high (elbows up and out) and some guys want them low. Only you can decide what feels best to you, but I strongly recommend that you sit on your bike with a dowel or broomstick in your hands and see what different handle bar heights feel like to you. You may find that things aren't where you're most comfortable.
I'm 6' 1" and like my bars up high to make it easier for me to stand and feel in control. I asked Mike at Motosportz if he had anyone running the tall risers and if there were any cable strain issues with them. He said he would send me out a set to try so here's the result.
The risers Mike sent me were the 1 1/8" and 1 1/2". I chose to try the taller of the two for this install as if they fit then I'd know the shorter ones would fit as well. I'll try the shorter risers later this week to see which I prefer. The risers were of excellent quality and came with appropriate fasteners. They were well packed and arrived at my home with 2 days of Mike and I talking. It doesn't get any better than that. Here you can see the stock riser next to Mike's 1 1/8" and 1 1/2" risers.
I started by checking my bar tilt position in case I wanted to put it all back the way it was. I ended up changing this, but you may wish to keep the bars where they are so check this before loosening anything.
Next loosen the 4 bolts holding the bar top clamp plate and remove the plate. Your bars will probably either stick in the top clamp plate or in the lower bar cradles so you may need to wiggle the bars a bit to get the top plate off. If you have hand guards that are integrated into the top clamp like I do, you'll need to loosen them as well.
Next you need to remove the riser/cradle bolts. You access these from below the upper triple clamp. Turn the front wheel to the right lock for the left bolt and to the left lock for the right bolt. Be careful to not lose the formed washed that is on the bolt next to the nut. Also note its orientation as it goes on only one way.
Now you can lift the riser and cradle off the triple clamp. Be careful to retain the formed washer under the riser and note its orientation to the riser. The convex side goes up into the bottom of the riser. Mike's risers are identical to the stock risers only taller so the washer fits perfectly on the new risers.
Mike's risers come with appropriate length bolts for the taller riser so be sure to use the fasteners that come with the risers. Install the new bolt through the top of the cradle and then the new riser, making sure you have the formed washer on the rubber bushing in the triple clamp and drop the riser with the bolt onto the formed washer and bushing. Note that you can rotate the cradle 180 degrees to move the bars forward or backward with relation to your seating position. Check which position you prefer before you tighten things down.
The formed washer installed correctly
The riser installed correctly
Riser installed with cradle and bolt. You can see the height difference compared to the stock riser.
Loosely tighten the nut with the formed washer on the bottom side of the triple clamp. Tighten enough to get things lined up, but not to final torque yet.
Once you have both new risers installed and tightened loosely, reinstall the bars and upper clamp plate snug enough to hold the bars, but loose enough that you can rotate the bars with some force in the cradles.
Now you need to check for any cable bind. Turn the bars full lock left and right and check every cable, wire, hose, etc. for any sign of binding or rubbing against anything that might damage them. I removed the headlight on my TE510 so that I could get a good look at things. You may want to do the same or remove the number plate if your bike doesn't have a headlight. This is a *very* important step....don't skip it. I found that everything fit fine with the 1.5" risers and I only had to re-route one side's turn signal wiring. Easy peasy!
Now sit on the bike and you'll want to check 2 things. First, check that the bars aren't twisted left or right in the clamps and get an idea of where you want the bars to be as far as rotation in the cradles. I checked for twist by using the tops of the forks as a visual reference point on my bike. I had to pull the left bar and hold it a bit to get things lined up perfectly while I tightened the riser/cradle bolts. If your bars are bent, you may not be able to get things perfect. Sometimes rotating the bars up/forward can make bent bars feel less bent so maybe you can get away with the bent bars by doing this.
Once you have the bars about where you want them, tighten the riser/cradle bolts up hand tight and then do the same with the top plate bolts. When tightening the top plate bolts I like to check the gap between the top plate and the top of the cradle on the front and behind the bars to make sure the clamp hasn't bottomed on one side or the other before things are snugged up. This probably isn't necessary, but I'm pretty anal about assembly (especially when I'm messing with something like the parts that let me steer the bike) so feel free to skip this step if you want to.
Now sit on the bike and do a final check on the rotational position of the bars. Get them where you want them and snug up the top clamp plate bolts.
Now go back to the riser bolts and torque to final torque values then do the top clamp plate bolts. I can't stress enough how valuable a decent torque wrench is. Even a Harbor Freight beam type is better than nothing. Get one and use it whenever you bolt things back on your bike.
Now go ride and feel how much better the bike feels with a little more rise!
I'm 6' 1" and like my bars up high to make it easier for me to stand and feel in control. I asked Mike at Motosportz if he had anyone running the tall risers and if there were any cable strain issues with them. He said he would send me out a set to try so here's the result.
The risers Mike sent me were the 1 1/8" and 1 1/2". I chose to try the taller of the two for this install as if they fit then I'd know the shorter ones would fit as well. I'll try the shorter risers later this week to see which I prefer. The risers were of excellent quality and came with appropriate fasteners. They were well packed and arrived at my home with 2 days of Mike and I talking. It doesn't get any better than that. Here you can see the stock riser next to Mike's 1 1/8" and 1 1/2" risers.
I started by checking my bar tilt position in case I wanted to put it all back the way it was. I ended up changing this, but you may wish to keep the bars where they are so check this before loosening anything.
Next loosen the 4 bolts holding the bar top clamp plate and remove the plate. Your bars will probably either stick in the top clamp plate or in the lower bar cradles so you may need to wiggle the bars a bit to get the top plate off. If you have hand guards that are integrated into the top clamp like I do, you'll need to loosen them as well.
Next you need to remove the riser/cradle bolts. You access these from below the upper triple clamp. Turn the front wheel to the right lock for the left bolt and to the left lock for the right bolt. Be careful to not lose the formed washed that is on the bolt next to the nut. Also note its orientation as it goes on only one way.
Now you can lift the riser and cradle off the triple clamp. Be careful to retain the formed washer under the riser and note its orientation to the riser. The convex side goes up into the bottom of the riser. Mike's risers are identical to the stock risers only taller so the washer fits perfectly on the new risers.
Mike's risers come with appropriate length bolts for the taller riser so be sure to use the fasteners that come with the risers. Install the new bolt through the top of the cradle and then the new riser, making sure you have the formed washer on the rubber bushing in the triple clamp and drop the riser with the bolt onto the formed washer and bushing. Note that you can rotate the cradle 180 degrees to move the bars forward or backward with relation to your seating position. Check which position you prefer before you tighten things down.
The formed washer installed correctly
The riser installed correctly
Riser installed with cradle and bolt. You can see the height difference compared to the stock riser.
Loosely tighten the nut with the formed washer on the bottom side of the triple clamp. Tighten enough to get things lined up, but not to final torque yet.
Once you have both new risers installed and tightened loosely, reinstall the bars and upper clamp plate snug enough to hold the bars, but loose enough that you can rotate the bars with some force in the cradles.
Now you need to check for any cable bind. Turn the bars full lock left and right and check every cable, wire, hose, etc. for any sign of binding or rubbing against anything that might damage them. I removed the headlight on my TE510 so that I could get a good look at things. You may want to do the same or remove the number plate if your bike doesn't have a headlight. This is a *very* important step....don't skip it. I found that everything fit fine with the 1.5" risers and I only had to re-route one side's turn signal wiring. Easy peasy!
Now sit on the bike and you'll want to check 2 things. First, check that the bars aren't twisted left or right in the clamps and get an idea of where you want the bars to be as far as rotation in the cradles. I checked for twist by using the tops of the forks as a visual reference point on my bike. I had to pull the left bar and hold it a bit to get things lined up perfectly while I tightened the riser/cradle bolts. If your bars are bent, you may not be able to get things perfect. Sometimes rotating the bars up/forward can make bent bars feel less bent so maybe you can get away with the bent bars by doing this.
Once you have the bars about where you want them, tighten the riser/cradle bolts up hand tight and then do the same with the top plate bolts. When tightening the top plate bolts I like to check the gap between the top plate and the top of the cradle on the front and behind the bars to make sure the clamp hasn't bottomed on one side or the other before things are snugged up. This probably isn't necessary, but I'm pretty anal about assembly (especially when I'm messing with something like the parts that let me steer the bike) so feel free to skip this step if you want to.
Now sit on the bike and do a final check on the rotational position of the bars. Get them where you want them and snug up the top clamp plate bolts.
Now go back to the riser bolts and torque to final torque values then do the top clamp plate bolts. I can't stress enough how valuable a decent torque wrench is. Even a Harbor Freight beam type is better than nothing. Get one and use it whenever you bolt things back on your bike.
Now go ride and feel how much better the bike feels with a little more rise!
