Sick of RSTD Handlebars

[rynorris]

The wide grip bars are playing hell on my neck. Does anyone have any recomendations for a narrower set of bars that won't affect performance? I was wondering if a set of Venture bars would work? Any ideas?

[dragerman]

I was having serious neck troubles and headaches after about and hour of riding and thought it was my new ¾ helmet. As it turns out it wasn’t the helmet at all but rather my riding glasses! The arms apply a slight constant pressure just behind my ears and the ¾ helmet compounds the problem. The pressure was so slight that I didn’t notice it, took me a while to figure it out. I changed my glasses and have had no problem since. I’m not doubting you just wondering are you sure it’s the handle bars?

[RickH]

The wide grip bars are playing hell on my neck. Does anyone have any recomendations for a narrower set of bars that won't affect performance? I was wondering if a set of Venture bars would work? Any ideas?

 

Because the RSTD uses the H-bars to mount the meter. You have to be careful what you do. Flanders has a upgrade bar for the RSTD that pretty much does the same thing as the RSV Flanders bar. It added 2 inches of pull back. We have been doing these kits for a couple years and everyone that does the upgrade likes it.

[Tatonka]

I have an older bike (98 RSTC) but noticed the same problem when I drove it from Florida to DC after buying it in April. I had however, also noticed the same problem when I was riding a Road King Classic on a 120 mile test ride (The island of Mallorca is a great place to test bikes) which almost seems to have the same high configuration.

 

I bought a set of wrist braces for the grips on EBAY and now seem to be doing ok because I can relax my arms more which relieves the cramping in my neck. I figured the $24 including shipping was worth trying before I went into a major rewiring and bar replacing operation.

 

I can only let you know my final decision after my planned 12,000 mile trip in August/September.

[Reshired]

The handlebars are one of the things I want to replace one of these days, but would like a thicker bar that has the wires on the inside. I don't know if they make fat bars for the RSTD. I also have problems with pain in the back of my neck after a couple of hours. I am not sure what to do about that.

[concours]

My neck is ON FIRE... never thought about the BIKE doing it to me...

 

to the guy with the Flanders bar change info... do you have before and after top views?? Any more info?

[eagleeye]

I also ride an 05 RSTD and do not have any neck pain after riding all day. You might just want to look at something other than the bars, maybe the seat postion, or ???, then again maybe it is the bars.

Just want you to think about the whole picture.

Steve

[Johnh]

I used to have severe pain between shoulder blades after any extended riding period. I installed a Mustang seat to relieve the pressure on my tail bone, and the riding position is a little closer. The pain between my shoulder blades is also gone. I just did a 720 mile day and no pain.

[Guest leemcd]

I found out from John Flanders himself that there is a part number for a handlebar they make specifically for the 2006-2008 RSTD (I'm sure it's the same as for a 2005). I sent him pics of the bike and told him I did not want to change cables,etc.

The part number he gave me is #650-08783. They also have a table in the website that lists stock diameter, rise, pullback, height, and center measurements. The new bar for the RSTD has 1" more in height and 2" more in pullback. Width is the same and center is 3/4" wider which should be OK. Has anyone tried this particular bar yet? Any special considerations when installing it ?

 

Lee McDowell

mauiman1@comcast.net

[tazmocycle]

i have a 01 royal star standard blvd and put venture bars on it and it helped out pretty good. you can run the cables under the triple trees instead of over it. don't know about the newer tds with the speedo on it.

[Mikealiasmike]

Just emailed Flanders Co. asking if wires/cables will need to be altered or changed. Awaiting response. Cost of new handlebar is 146.95 plus shipping I'm sure. I also have the burning in the back of the neck followed by pain in the arms, mostly right. So gonna try this AND the mustang seat if that don't do the trick, if not then who knows. That new Victory might be in the Corral next. Ride safe and God bless

 

 

I found out from John Flanders himself that there is a part number for a handlebar they make specifically for the 2006-2008 RSTD (I'm sure it's the same as for a 2005). I sent him pics of the bike and told him I did not want to change cables,etc.

The part number he gave me is #650-08783. They also have a table in the website that lists stock diameter, rise, pullback, height, and center measurements. The new bar for the RSTD has 1" more in height and 2" more in pullback. Width is the same and center is 3/4" wider which should be OK. Has anyone tried this particular bar yet? Any special considerations when installing it ?

 

Lee McDowell

mauiman1@comcast.net

[RoadVenture]

Just emailed Flanders Co. asking if wires/cables will need to be altered or changed. Awaiting response. Cost of new handlebar is 146.95 plus shipping I'm sure. I also have the burning in the back of the neck followed by pain in the arms, mostly right. So gonna try this AND the mustang seat if that don't do the trick, if not then who knows. That new Victory might be in the Corral next. Ride safe and God bless

 

NO! Do ONE change at a time. If you change the bars AND your seat you may create more problems than you solve.

[Mikealiasmike]

Actually that was my intent. guess I didn't come across as I wanted to. Trying the cheaper route first. I actually don't mind the stock seat so the handlebars would be my first choice. If that fails then I'll try the seat. Whichever I go with, I might end up with one or the other to resell but I got to do something. The PITA ..er.. neck gets old after awhile. But Thanks for responding. Ride safe and god Bless. mike

[Mikealiasmike]

Flanders response to email. Pretty quick too. Looks like I'll be ordering a new set and doing a winter upgrade. Next thing to look up is best way to swap them out. Got to be here somewhere in Tech info...

 

"Mike

You will be adding only 2” of pull back and can probably keep the stock cables."

John

Flanders Company

340 S Fair Oaks Ave

Pasadena CA 91105-2540

[David R. Vincent]

Well I did it! I installed the Flanders bars (#650-08783) on my '06 RSTD. It took a few hours, but was not too bad of a job. You will lose the bar ends, but I also installed the Kuryakyn ISO grips with about 1 inch overhang and wound up with about 3 more inches of pull back than stock bars.

 

The clutch line and left side wires were plenty long, but the brake line and right side wiring was too short, so I pulled the gas tank back about 6 inches to remove the left side neck cover and released the cable ties beneath the tank and that gave me plenty of slack. I also routed the throttle cables under the speedometer housing to get additional slack. I pulled the headlight housing off so I could see the shortest route to run the wiring and cables to try to keep from buying new ones.

 

I also routed the brake line around the right fork to get the needed length. It is covered by the windshield and is completely safe. I used the Yamaha billet cable guides, these are the only ones I could find that will hold the wiring and brake/clutch lines.

 

These mods were not very difficult, just a common sense hunt to find alternate cable routing to get the most slack available. I did take my time to insure it was done correctly and safely, after all, I'm the one who will be riding this bike! E-mail me and I will be happy to send some pics or answer any questions about how I got from there to here.

 

This is my first posting, but I want to help anyone I possibly can. I have learned a lot from the many postings I've read and got a lot of enjoyment from being a part of this great family of bikers.

 

Thanks,

David

[Eugene]

I would like to hear if this solved the sore neck/shoulder problem.

Thanks

Eugene