Handle Bar Grips

[Minitor911]

This is coming from a fairly new rider, so bear with me. First off, how would one go about removing the hand grips from the vision? And secondly are all grips a fairly standard size? Any recomendations for after market grips for the vision?

[Lucky]

the throttle grip has a white plastic inner liner that must be reused, so you have to cut away the old rubber grip. i use generic foam grips. they are thicker & softer than the stock grips and help cusion any vibration in the bars. with the stock grips my thumb would go numb after an hour or more of riding.  they do harden & wear out much faster than rubber or more expensive grips, but they are cheap to replace.

you can spend a lot of money for things like gel grips, i've never tried them.

you secure the new grips with hair spray.  spray the inside of the grips with hairspray & while it is wet they will slide on. once they dry the spray gets sticky and stiff like granma's hair...
my left grip it didn't work as well on & it took another application.  i can still turn that one if i want..

bars are standard 1 inch & 7/8 inch. i believe ours are 7/8 if i remember right.

--Lucky

[h2olawyer]

Lucky is right - the Vision with stock bars are 7/8 inch.  I agree with the foam grip comment, too.  I've had two sets on mine over the last 20 years.  The first set lasted about 15 years.  the bike has always been parked in a garage or storage shed so the sun doesn't work on them much.  Both sets were Grab-On brand - under $10 per pair.

H₂O

[kiwibum]

I had to use a screw driver, poking it down between the tube and grip then rolling it round to loosen the old glue, it was stuck in there pretty tight. Bars are generally a standard size. Think about fitting bar ends as well, they help a little to reduce the vibrations. Nice idea using hair spray Lucky, another way is a little contact adhesive, very slippery before it drys out.

And yes check they are firmly in place, you shouldn't be able to turn them easily. I came off a bike years ago due to the left hand grip sliding off. It was just starting to rain, going into a left hander on an XL250 the back started to slide, I was used to this having done a lot of trail ridding just leaned to it and pushed on the bars to control the slide, next second I'm on the ground rolling along behind the bike. Got up shaking my head wondering how that happened so fast since I had it under control and find my left hand grip was missing from the bars. Walked back up the road and found it on the corner in the grass. As I pushed on the bar the grip slid off, my hand with it and the wheel tucked under since I wasn't holding it in place:-).

[h2olawyer]

Bummer about losing your grip, kiwibum.  Glad you weren't hurt too bad.

Another way to remove grips is to use compressed air.  Put the small nozzle into the hole in the grip & give it a blast.  The grip will expand under the pressure & break the adhesive loose.

Hairspray works well - it's what I've always used.  However, Threebond makes a grip adhesive.  Never tried it so I have no idea how well it may work.

H₂O

[Tiger]

:)...Just take a scalpel/sharp knife, cut thru' and peel off. Clean off any old adhesive before installing the new grip's of your choice. 7/8" being the correct size you need...When you buy new grip's you can buy an adhesive for grip's. However, as Lucky stated, hair spray work's just fine... 8)

                                    8).......TIGER........ 8)

[kiawrench]

vision bars are 7/8 inch, motorcycle grips only   bicycle grips are too long but they will fit on

 to get old ones off, split the old grip on three sides with sharp knife or razor blade, peel off toss into trash. to get new grips on, i too use hairspray. slides well when wet ,but once dry is like cement .

you can type motorcycle grips into your search bar, find all sorts of grips to put on, but buy the best you can, no sense in replacing them 2 or three times due to buying poorly crafted goods .

[ps2/bikevision]

motorplow and i have both used gel grips. (i copied him) we also have heated grips. they work great. your hands dont go numb on those cold morning rides and if your hands start to get a little cramped just kick them on for a few mins and it gone.

here is a link where i got everthing i needed.http://www.amotostuff.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=street-hand-cont

[Minitor911]

Ok, this is great information; thankyou to all.
What do you guys think of these? http://www.motorcycle-superstore.com/item.aspx?style=18580&department=656&division=6

[h2olawyer]

Don't see why they won't work just fine.  Kind of snazzy looking as well.

I like the foam grips because they are larger diameter.  My hands are on the large side & tend to cramp with smaller grips.  They also insulate some of the buzziness out of the bars when the revs get high.  Am considering grip heaters - hope they work with the foam grips.  Guess I'll just have to find out.

H₂O

[Kevin]

Minitor, I like your choice. I don't care for the foam variety, they take so long to dry out after washing or riding in the rain.

[Minitor911]

Thankyou  ;D I think I'll buy them.

[h2olawyer]

Minitor, I like your choice. I don't care for the foam variety, they take so long to dry out after washing or riding in the rain.

They do take time to dry.  I normally put plastic bags over the grips when I wash it.  As for getting caught in the rain - they get wet & stay that way for a while.  Most of the excess water can be squeezed out of them, though.  For me, they are hands down, the most comfortable option so I'm willing to put up with the occasional wet grip.  Hadn't really been a problem until the Summer before last.  Had one long rain ride then & two rain rides plus two snow rides last year.  Those snow rides got me interested in putting grip heaters on the V.  One of them was in late August.  Can run into those conditions anytime at higher elevations.

H₂O

[kiwibum]

With all this talk of bar grips reminds me to ask if anyone knows of a site on the ergonomics of motorcycle riding?  I want to change the angle of my bars and was about to hack into a spare set I have then thought maybe I should do some research on what is the best/correct angle to have them rather than do by trial and error. 

I'm assuming just like typing on a keyboard the wrists should be kept straight. I looked at the bars and placed my hands in about the right position thinking the bars should run parallel to my knuckles. Then after thinking about it for a while I realise this might not create the best angle since it's actually my palm that rests on the bar and due to the thumb being pushed forward in the grip position the line across the palm is a steeper angle than my knuckles.  Maybe I'm over thinking it but thought it would be interesting to see what research has been done so I only cut and weld once:-).  Anyone have any thoughts on this or URL's of sites with information about it?

[kwells]

Well a quick search yielded a couple generic results

http://sampson-sporttouring.com/ergonomics.html

This one may yield some more info if u dig around some...seems like u have to register though

http://www.ergonomics.org.uk/page.php?s=15&p=24

[Tiger]

OK, this is great information; thankyou to all.
What do you guys think of these? http://www.motorcycle-superstore.com/item.aspx?style=18580&department=656&division=6

:) Go for them...They are not expensive, which means you can change them for something else IF you don't like them... ;)

                                  8).......TIGER....... 8)

[67GTO]

H2O: If you had heated wet foam grips would you have steam rolling off the handle bars? ;D

[YellowJacket!]

Ok, this is great information; thankyou to all.
What do you guys think of these? http://www.motorcycle-superstore.com/item.aspx?style=18580&department=656&division=6

I bought exactly the same ones from motorcycle superstore. ;D  Decent quality at a great price.  Just hadn't had te time t put them on yet.

David

[h2olawyer]

H2O: If you had heated wet foam grips would you have steam rolling off the handle bars? ;D

Probably so - or it could be smoke from the heating circuits shorting out!   :D

H₂O

[QBS]

Been using foam grips for 20 years.  Love the larger diameter and vibration dampening.  Believe it or not the larger diameter really makes a noticable improvement in my '83s' riding position.  That little quarter of an inch of extra foam thickness moved my riding position just a little more upright and really helped take a bit of the load off of my wrists.  I would never have believed it if I hadn't experianced it for myself.

Wet foam grips have never been much of a bother for me.  If I'm riding in the rain, they're the least of my concerns.  Hair spray is my install tool of choice.