Aftermarket handelbars....whats the use???

[Jeff]

A buddy of mine has a 400ex and has a set of Renthal handelbars and he flipped it, im not real sure how bad the flip was but it was not real bad. Anywayz, instead of it bending the handelbars it bent the steering stem. So whats the use in buying strong handelbars if all its going to do is bend your steering stem instead (which costs alot more than handelbars and more trouble to put on)?? Or am I wrong here?? Was it something that he done or the way it flipped that made it do it? But it does make since to me....:confused:

[Guy400]

During crashes freak things happen. Sometimes you won't bend a thing and another time it will be a seemingly light roll and all sorts of stuff get jacked. Could've been the angle that the quad landed that caused the bent stem. That's why these stories I hear crack me up about people that'll say "I'll never own a (whatever quad you're thinking of right now) cause my friend has one and he ran through a ditch at 10mph and tore the front end out from under it. I ride through that same ditch all the time at 20mph and have never had a problem with my (insert your favorite quad here)." I rolled my old LT hillclimbing. The thing went over about 10 times before it got to the bottom of the hill. From the looks and sound of it you'd sweat that every piece on that thing would've been broken off. When I got to the bottom of the hill to inspect the damage all I found was a broken headlight, torn rear fender and a bent linkage in the steering. Sometimes you can't explain why things break on a crash-->they just do.

As far as the benefits of aftermarket bars: aluminum bars flex more than stock steel bars. Renthal's will help absorb some of the shock when landing big jumps before transferring it to your wrists. Steel bars tend to stay rigid right up until the point where they just finally bend. Ever land a jump real hard and notice your wrists are hurting? Aftermarket aluminum bars minimize that shock that your limbs take.

[zzbudzz]

hey guylt250r ,that was a excellent response. aftermarket handle bars are going to be my next purchase ,mine are a little bent on both ends . and i have noticed my wrist hurts after i jumped some

[PDunes300ex]

I sincerely feel my renthals have made a significant decrease in wrist and arm fatigue while jumping. I think your friend might have over-tightend the bar clamps when he put on his new bars. They are designed to be just tight enough not to move during normal use but upon severe impact be able to give. Same idea behind a clutch and brake perches. You don't want them so tight that when you crash you break the levers....instead be able to pivot around the handle bars. kinda confusing but just don't over torque the bar clamps and everything will be fine

[optikid123]

yea leave your bolts looser or get tags they bend a bit when you crash but are an improvement over stock

I bent my steering stem instead of the bars too, i took a cross bar off a old kx 80 and bolted it on my stock bars..im not sure if that was why the stem bent instead of the bars or if thats how it works, but stems are only 45 bucks and id rather bend one of them than a 90 dollar set of bars

[Chef]

Yep, thats what I was thinking...the stems from service honda are like $50 or less, and my pro-tapers on my banshee totaled up about $145...the bars look better, and feel a whole lot better than the stock bars...

[RIZZO]

yeah the stock 400EX stem's are like rubber.....but there is a difference the rubber will spring back on it's own......the 400EX stem's need some help.
I've yet to see one that dident.
I have found the 400EX stock stem's to be very weak.

[RoostinOna400ex]

Yea I crashed and bent my steering stem to and not my handelbars so pretty soon im going to get a steering stem but im going to get a herrmann steering stem which is mad from cromoly and is 1 in taller and comes with a clamp for like $185! cromoly is stronger and lighter than steel! You can check them out at www.herrmannracing.com you can also get them any color you want. For your levers take teflon tape and rap it around the handelbars where you want you lever to go and put you lever on then you can twist the lever around the bars cuz they will slide on the teflon tape so when you crash they will just move on your handelbars and they wont break. They move back real easy too so if you crash during a race you can move back your levers instead of riding with your clutch facing down!:blah