theWolfTamer Chronicles: FZ1 Mod: Gen2 Handlebar

After riding Cruzman's Stella on the Short Ride, I decided it was time to put the Gen2 handlebar I bought during the summer on the bike. Problem was the handlebar was silver-ish and didn't match the frame. I priced powder coating but frankly I didn't want to spend the money to get it powder coated. The other option was to paint it and after talking to EricR I decided I'd give it a shot.

I didn't take pics of the process, but it was pretty simple. I taped over ends and the holes because I didn't know if I needed them or not, then put a couple of layers of paint on it. Once it was kind of dry, I put it in a "box oven" to bake. The box oven was simply a big ass box with a halogen worklight inside. With the short days, I didn't know what I had until the next day. It wasn't too bad so I ran with it.

I ordered some grips from eBay since I can't decide if I want the Pro Grips Gel Grips again and it was a chance to try something different. In a Lupie moment, I ordered both sets I was contemplating. For once, it turned out to be a good thing since I cut one pair too short!

Changing the bars isn't all that hard. You just have to get everything off, get the bars on and set, then get everything back on. I also got a used throttle grip to replace the one I had because I cracked the end of it taking the OEM grips off to install the Pro Grips. The hardest part was re-installing the hand guards.

These pics show the bars with the hand grips that I cut too short. After all that work, I decided to just live with it but after sleeping on it, I had to change them! I cut the one's I'd already messed up off to put the other new set on.

Unfortunately, they wouldn't slide over the grip heaters I'd also installed (but not wired) when I put the new (to me) handle bar on. No problem, I took the grip heaters off. The grips still weren't easy to get on, but with a little determination and elbow grease, they were installed.

They were a tight fit and I'm not sure how I'll get them off to put on the grip heaters or new grips if I decide I don't like these. They do look really good though, except maybe the throttle side is a little too short, and I like the way the color goes with the oem Yamaha Blue.

Looking at the pics, I still have a couple of adjustments to make but after a short ride on Christmas Eve, I'm very pleased with these bars. Since I ended up painting them, I really shouldn't've waited so long to put them on! Here's a front view--on the left is with oem Gen1 bars, on the right the Gen2 bars:

I never noticed before I saw these two pics side by side how the oem bars appear to point downward. It's either that or I did a better job at installing the hand guards the second time.

I guess it's time to fess up, I had a little help. My nephew and I did this together.