Subject: Re: Handlebar question

Author: rccla-@comcast.net

Date: Jul 9, 2003, 9:01 PM

Post ID: 1713707007

Rex
I have your setup but minus the floor boards. I found the boards put your
feet to far forward. I am 6 foot 2 inch tall, same bars, national shield,
stock seat`. Standard foot pegs work good with the longer original seat. I
have put long days in the saddle with a bad back! with this setup.
TED

----- Original Message -----
From: "Rex Clark" <rccla-@comcast.net>
To: <Loopfram-@topica.com>
Sent: Wednesday, July 09, 2003 6:18 AM
Subject: Re: Handlebar question

HI Mike,

With my inseam length, my seat and the floorboards I am pretty much locked
into an upright position. I do have a National Cycle windshield which

works

great. My handlebar is what Moto Guzzi Classics calls a "special" bar as
opposed to the police or civilian bar. I think you are absolutely correct.

I

need a bar that is higher and more rearward than the one I have at

present.

Also my seat was rebuilt by Rich Maund on a stock pan. I asked Rich if we
could put a backrest on it and he said no because of the way the pan is

made.

Thanks for your help. Any further suggestions would be welcomed.

Rex

Hi Rex, Charlie's right....most long distance riders find it more
comfortable to have a slight lean forward...it does take pressure off

the

back. If you want a upright position you'll want good wind protection,

a

back rest and handlebars that require no reach. Good luck.

EldoMike

----- Original Message -----
From: "Rex Clark" <rccla-@comcast.net>
To: <Loopfram-@topica.com>
Sent: Tuesday, July 08, 2003 10:01 PM
Subject: RE: Handlebar question

Hi Charlie,

Thanks for your reply. Now I'm not sure which bars I have. I have only

had

this bike for a few months and have never really seen another one, but

a s

you

state it seems that your hands are at an odd angle. I have a 1972

California

model which as I understand it is basically a police bike with chrome

fenders.

Therefore it has floorboards instead of pegs, the Harley style

kicklstand

and

the side mounted ignition switch and no tachometer, just the single

mounted

speedometer. I take it from that that I also have the police style

handlebars.

Therefore with the slightly higher seat my hands are only about three

inches

above my knees. I noticed today while riding my GL1100 that my hands

are a

good 8-10 inches above my knees and that I don't have to lean as far

forward

to hold onto the bars. I thought maybe that there might be some kind

of

risers

or a different handlebar that wouldn't look too wierd and still bring

my

hands

up and/or back a few inches. Bruce Giller (on the list) sent me an

e-mail

today and said that I had described his problem almost perfectly and

he

was

also trying to arrive at a solution. Thanks again. All ideas or

comments

are

gratefully accepted.

Rex

Hi Rex,
I never liked the police bars, they seemed to put my hands at an

unnatural

angle. Of course, they were on peg equipped bikes and not board

ones.

For the first five years I had my '69 Ambo, it had GS1000 Suzuki

bars on

it that

the original owner had installed. With those bars I got lots of wind

noise from

the police fairing and my back (especially the tailbone) got sore on

extended

rides. A crash on my SP in '85 resulted in a badly sprained but

otherwise

undamaged back, but it still bothers me from time to time. I

switched

back to

the stock "civilian" bars and I'm now down out of the wind and my

back

no longer

bothers me. More weight is now bore by my thighs and the lean

forward

helps keep

my back curvature more correct. The Ambo also seems a lot more

sporty

(if Ambo

and sporty can be used in the same sentence!:-)) kind of like an SPs

grandpa.

It could be a switch to the civilian bars may help you as well -

hope

so!

Cheers,

Charlie

Rex Clark <rccla-@comcast.net> wrote:

Hi everybody,

I have a '72 Eldorado California with footboards and police bars

(at

least I

believe they are the original style bars) I am 6'3" with a 34"

inseam

and had

Rich Maund build a seat to accomodate my size (the original foam

was

pretty

well gone anyway) After riding a short time my back is hurting

pretty

badly. I

have a 1981 Honda GL1100 with a backrest I can ride all day (400

miles

or so)

with no problem at all. My question is this. The handlebars on the

Guzzi only

bring my hands up to about 3 inches higher than my knees but on the

Honda the

bars are much higher in relation to the rest of my body. It seems

to me

that

my backache might be at least partially caused by the much lower

position of

the handlebars. Of course part of the problem is that I'm 56 years

old

and had

some disc damage sustained in an auto accident a few years ago. And

the

backrest on the Honda helps a lot also. But I'm just trying to help

the

situation as best I can. I wonder if anyone an opinion or

suggestions

on

things to try. I wuold like to ride to some rallies but right now

would

probably have to take the Honda:-( Thanks in advance.

Rex Clark

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