I found this site that gives a bunch of ways on how to correct the problem. Has anyone tried any of the suggestions? Anyone have any tips not mentioned?
Use a stick of rhubarb instead of the steel handlebars, I find it solves all vibrational problems, but doesn’t add much to the handling.
I tried that last week but I happened to stop off for a pot of custard and… well, you can guess the rest.
Fit clip-ons. Your back will hurt so bad you won’t notice your hands are numb.
Clip-ons and rearsets. “Hey mum! Looky me! I’ve got a cafe racer!”
I heard filling up the handlebars with caulk will reduce the vibrations.
Tell you what, Frost. All joking around aside, your bike’s just a 150. If you’re bothered by handlebar vibration when the thing’s just a few days old and so small, maybe you should get it looked at before you go any further. Why not give Jeremy at Bikefarm a call and ask him to take a good look at it for you? He’s usually happy to do so, as long as you give him a call in advance. He can also explain the workings to you in understandable language*. Plus, he won’t treat you like an idiot for not knowing what size of gubbledehickey needs to be spranged into your jetpack atomizer.
*Although he’s English, poor guy. Still, you can generally make out a LOT of what he says.
[quote=“Frost”]I heard filling up the handlebars with caulk will reduce the vibrations.[/quote]Solid lead slugs in the bar ends will be more effective. Caulk just doesn’t add enough mass. Oh wait a minute. You were trying to make your bike faster in the other thread…
The handlebar on your bike, is it clamped directly to the top yoke, or does it have risers? If there are risers you may be able to swap them for ones with rubber mounts, or mod them for same.
Make sure your engine mounting bolts are all torqued to specs, with a torque wrench. I know it’s a new bike, but check anyway.
Sandman, I am not complaining. I am new to owning a motorcycle and just trying to learn all I can, and improve things that can be. I ask questions to learn about things I don’t know about. Sorry that I haven’t been riding for 40 years like you have, but this is the way I learn. You make it seem like I am trying to reach some impossible goal, and you think it’s your place to save me from the embarrassment. I did chuckle at your opening line “all joking aside” since I have never read a post from you that, if it wasn’t there, people would be missing out. Now either answer the question that I asked in my first post, or GTFO.
Redwagon, the point of the other thread wasn’t necessarily about making it go faster, but to improve on the bike as a whole. But thank you for your suggestions about the mounts and making sure the engine is mounted properly. I’ll give Jeremy a call and schedule an appointment.
When a forum as been going on as long as this one, at some point everything that needs to be asked, will be. Hopefully I can add some new things to liven up a slow section.
I was quite serious about the lead slugs btw. It’s very important that whatever you use to load the handlebar is properly coupled to it. Attaching extra mass changes the resonant frequency, but only if it moves as one. You could make a dam inside the bar and pour molten lead in. Or maybe you could buy some of those alloy bar-ends, some lead slugs approximately the inner diameter of your bar, and some long screws. Drill a hole right through the slug, pass the screw first through the bar-end plug and then through the slug, fit a washer and nut behind that. Insert and tighten up. Lead is soft and will expand to lock itself into the bar.
A lot of people use lead shot but it’s very hard to pack or compress it well enough to couple with the bar. Maybe a mix of lead shot and epoxy resin would work better. Do not mix with caulk. It’s an isolating material and would let the bar vibrate around the lead shot, defeating the purpose.
And I was also quite serious about getting your bike looked at. So GTFO yourself. And just what in the FUCK makes you think I have any desire to “help you reach some impossible goal?” You have a problem, I suggested a fucking possible solution that’s both easy and cheap. So lighten the fuck up.
catfight!
Rowr! I used to get tingly numb fingers with the original fzr clip ons with the weighted ends. When the neighborhood kid knocked it over and bent one, I bought some lightweight aftermarket ones from some scooter mod shop. They don’t weigh anything and my fingers don’t go numb anymore. I don’t really ride it any longer than an hour or two at most on recreational trips anyway. I also positioned them out a bit if that means anything.
I would just muck around with the positioning and different grips (real rubber is best) and see what works for you.
Have fun on your ride.
[quote=“canucktyuktuk”]Rowr! I used to get tingly numb fingers with the original fzr clip ons with the weighted ends. When the neighborhood kid knocked it over and bent one, I bought some lightweight aftermarket ones from some scooter mod shop. They don’t weigh anything and my fingers don’t go numb anymore. I don’t really ride it any longer than an hour or two at most on recreational trips anyway. I also positioned them out a bit if that means anything.
I would just muck around with the positioning and different grips (real rubber is best) and see what works for you.
Have fun on your ride.[/quote]
Going along with this idea I would recommend trying alternative material bars. I assume that there must be alternative material bars out there such as alloy and aluminium that might alter the frequency traveled through the hands. Another simple possible solution might be to purchase a nice set of gloves. Of course all of the problems to do with resonance are going to come down to major factors such as mountings on the engine and gearbox, engine balance etc, the last one being possibly the most major contributor to numbing handlebars as far as I’ve experienced on many of the modern 125 and 150cc bikes from Kymco and Sym. It seems to me that bad vibrations are perfectly normal on these bikes and so engine tune might be not much help. I would follow Redwagon’s advice and start playing around with the handlebars and materials, fixings etc assuming the bike is only as good as the ones which I have ridden recently which weren’t impressive to say the least but do the good old job of moving people around without too much fuss, which is only what a Taiwan built bike is really meant for after all.
Yes, an aluminum bar has a much higher resonant frequency so it should help some. An 80cc motocross bend should suit your bike. You could cut it if it’s too wide. If you’re not jumping tabletops with it you can take off the crossbar. 
Oh yeah, gloves are da bomb!
The vibes come from the engine. Some engines are balanced better than others (karma in the bike you choose to buy), but it’s impossible to perfectly balance a single cylinder recip engine due to the single reciprocating mass.
The easiest way to eliminate vibrations is to get a bike with more cylinders. Or get a Norton Rotary.
[quote=“Truant”]The vibes come from the engine. Some engines are balanced better than others (karma in the bike you choose to buy), but it’s impossible to perfectly balance a single cylinder recip engine due to the single reciprocating mass.
The easiest way to eliminate vibrations is to get a bike with more cylinders. Or get a Norton Rotary.[/quote]
STEAM POWER, baby.
you could go to a high-end mountain bike shop and look for some carbon fibre bars that fit your triple clamps… that’s yet another materials choice for you.
carbon fibre bars have great vibration damping characteristics. of course, they are expensive if you drop the thing.
any option that changes the resonance freq of the bars will help.
Remove the handlebar …