BAR SNAKE on RSV yes!

[Seaking]

Hi guys, I installed a Bar Snake on my bike today and took the bike out for a 5 hour road trip and WOW.. thank you!! what a pleasure THAT was.. I suffer horribly from hand buzz on any bike, especially the left hand, very susceptible to hand buzz.. Annoying as heck.. but today, man that was the first ride in AGES where my hand didn't buzz, go numb or fall asleep..

 

I installed one on my bike, took me 90 minutes or so to figure it out how best to install it.. what parts needed to come off, what was the best way of doing it ect... And then installed one on my buddy's bike which took all of 30 minutes or so.. Simple easy and well worth the cost and effort to install. I'm SO impressed.. It doesn't take all the vibrations out of your handlebars but it attenuates those high frequency vibes that put your hands asleep.. done wonders for me!

 

I ordered the HD-3L from http://www.barsnake.com Its longer than I actually needed, but that came in handy especially for installation..

 

The best time to install the bar snake is if you're switching from OEM grips to say something like Kuryaken ISO grips which seem so popular and comfortable to ride with.. Its best to do it at this time as you have to remove the handlebar threaded inserts that the OEM bar weights screw onto. To remove these threaded inserts, you'll find a shiny dimple under the handle bar ends. Best way to describe this is that they are soft welds that go through a hole in the handle bar and hole in the insert to hold it in place. Start with a small bit and drill a hole into this dimple, it's rather soft.. then a medium bit and then finally a larger one that takes up the whole hole to remove all the material and you'll find the threaded inserts are now free and easy to remove.

 

If you're like me and already have the ISO grips installed and cannot remove the left one (glued on way too good) then you can still install the bar snake but will lack about 4 inches of it in the left side of the bar.

 

Just in case someone is going to ask later, I'll add how I installed the bar snake on two bikes today.. the first one took 90 minutes and the second one easily 30 minutes since we figured out what worked and didn't work.. If you're going from OEM grips to ISO grips, then your work is tons easier.. Same installation process.

 

The bar snake comes with a pull wire. The task is to pass this wire through your bars and attach the snake at one end of the wire and then pull the snake through the bar by this wire until the snake protrudes at the other end.. then you trim off the excess bar snake and that's it.

 

But in reality, there's a little more to it.. This is how it's done with the left ISO grip in place..

 

Take the end cap off the left ISO grip to expose the hole in the end.

 

Remove the right side switch cover. There are two phillps crews holding it in place. You'll have to loosen and move the brake reservoir clamp as well. (make a mark on the bar with a marker to relocate the clamp at the end of the task). Under the switch box, the wire bundle needs to be slid out of it's pinch hole. Both halves come apart and you can rest these on the bike's gas tank which you have covered with a towel or heavy blanket.. The right side ISO throttle grip can now be slid off the handle bar with ease, no need to loosen throttle cables.

 

Inside the handle bar tub, you'll notice an insert with threads inside. This is where the OEM bar weights screw into. You will need to remove this by locating the shiny dimple near the end under the handle bar. Using first a small drill bit, then a medium then larger drill bit, you drill out the dimple which is made of softer material. Once you removed all of it, the insert will be loose and able to be removed. De-burr the resulting hold inside the handle bar to make sure it doesn't catch on the bar snake when passed through.

 

Take the supplied pulling wire and make a small loop at the end of it, about the same size that you can slide a pencil through.. This will make it easier to pass it through the handle bar's tight bends.. Patiently thread the wire into the left side of the handlebar, being careful not to bunch it up if it hits a snag.. Starting off with a straightened wire without bends or kinks make it easier. You'll be able to feel it go through but most likely it will bind up just as you get it to the last bend of the handle bar.. and this is where the little loop at the end of the wire really comes into play.. Using a straightened out wire coat hanger with a hook at the end of it, start reaching into the right side of the handlebar to try and hook the little loop so that you can then pull the wire the rest of the way through.. Patience is a virtue here

 

While you're doing all this, your bar snake has been soaking in VERY hot bucket of water to soften it up. Attach the pull wire that came out of the right side end of the handle bar to the end of the bar snake. One end is tapered with a reinforced hole for this task. You'll want to secure the wire so that it won't pull out or bind on it's way through..

 

I took a turkey baster and used it to blast about three loads of ordinary liquid dish soap into the right end of the handle bar in order to get it in deep. This is key to the task as it will allow the bar snake to pass through easily.

 

The left end of the pulling wire is wrapped around a screw drive handle (a better grip to pull with). As one gent is ready to pull, the other gent has to lube up the bar snake with dish soap read to lube up the bar snake as it's going into the handle bar. And as one pulls on the wire at one end, the other guides and lubes the bar snake at the other end. We found it MUCH easier to pull the bar snake through if you twist the bar snake as it's being fed through. Because the bar snake is meant to be very tight inside the bar in order to do it's job, the twisting of the bar actually reduces it's diameter and makes it easier to slide in. You'll know you have almost pulled it all the way through as all that soap you squirted in comes pouring out of the left end of the handlebar, so have towels ready to catch it, and not get it on the bike or floor (slippery on the floor)

 

As in both installation process, we found that you can pull the bar snake all the way up to the left side threaded insert, but as soon as you let go the pulling tension, the bar snake retracts on itself. What we found works best is to keep pulling on the wire, while the other gent is twisting and releasing the bar snake at the other end. The tension on the bar snake will pull in more of itself from the right side.. You'll know when all the tension is gone when you can't pull anymore from the left and no more bar snakes goes in from the right. Check it again in five minutes to make sure all that retraction tension is gone.

 

Once satisfied that its completed, you can cut the bar snake's left end piece and put everything back together again.

 

If you're installing a bar snake just before installing ISO grips, both threaded inserts can be removed and the bar snake can be pulled all the way through so you have some hanging out both ends.. Trim off excess at both ends and put everything back together again.

 

Its a simple enough process, once you know the little tricks and idiosyncrasies of our bikes..

 

As I said, for me I feel it was money well spent and time well spent installing these. Its made lot of difference in my being able to ride without my hands going numb from hand buzz.

 

If you need more info, drop me a line..

 

Cheers

[Bobby G]

Thanks for the very detailed instructions on this installation. After re-reading your post, I think I'd opt for the liquid BarSnake, even though it costs a few bucks more. Just pour it in and let it set for 4 hours!

[Guest Slab_Ryder]

After my installation of the solid snake, I am fairly certian you would have to remove the Bar completely IOT use the liquid Bar Snake properly

[Seaking]

Thanks for the very detailed instructions on this installation. After re-reading your post, I think I'd opt for the liquid BarSnake, even though it costs a few bucks more. Just pour it in and let it set for 4 hours!

 

You're welcome.. but as Slab Ryder noted, you will indeed have to remove the handle bar from the bike to get the liquid form of Bar Snake down the tube.. Unless you drop the bike down on it's side.. But luckily the handle bar comes off easy..

 

And interesting thing about the bar snake I hadn't anticipated on, though they mention it on their site is that 'handling improvement' after install the bar snake.. I dunno about that when I read it but man.. yeah, talk about NICE! Not just maybe but definitely..

 

When street riding, I find the turns are easier to get into, almost to the point where I almost did a u turn at one corner, the bike turned that much easier, the bike wanted to lean more.. and on the highway, we have this one 2 lane highway onto another highway merge that has a nasty bump that always gives you a wobble wobble when you hit it, and it's right in the curve.. catches some people by surprise... But after installing the bar snake, man it's like a bump and nothing else.. I have no idea how or why the bar snake would make such a difference but I ain't complaining.. I'm SO impressed!

 

Remember how much improvement you felt after installing Leveling Links? You FELT the difference... its the same thing with the bar snake.. you'll FEEL the difference.. impressive.

[Seaking]

Wow, after a week long road trip with the bar snake installed what a HUGE difference that made in riding comfort and endurance.. though once in a while I can feel a buzz in my hands, it was never enough to numb them or cause discomfort. Truly amazing and impressive..

 

Worth every penny