Straighten that bent handlebar!

[Powderfreak56]

Went up a hill climb in flat light and hit a dip that I didn't see and went over the left bar and bent it down about two inches. Here is a cheap and inexpensive way to bend your handlebar back into position as long as it's not too far gone or bent too bad. I thought about using a large pipe as a cheater bar, but this worked out like a charm. Notch out a 2x4 the width of your handle bar and drill two holes so you can put a couple of long bolts through that will be on each side of the handle bar. Find some kind of steel bracket to bolt to on the under side of the handle bar. Position the end of the 2x4 close to where the bend is. In my cae it was right at the junction of the rubberized mountain bar. Leave yourself around 3-4 feet of 2x4 so you have some leverage. You may have take the 2x4 off several times to check your progress and do some measurments. Just be patient! It works. My finger is pointing where the handle bar was bent down to. It doesn't look pretty, but it works.

 

[tudizzle]

bending them back just weakens the metal..best to leave them bent till you can replace them.

Unless they are too far bent then replacing would be the only option.


Creating a situation where your handle bars could fail just doesn't make sense. Limping thru a day is one thing..but as a long term fix...nope


IMO

 

[carlc]

bending them back just weakens the metal..best to leave them bent till you can replace them.

Unless they are too far bent then replacing would be the only option.


Creating a situation where your handle bars could fail just doesn't make sense. Limping thru a day is one thing..but as a long term fix...nope


IMO

agreed. i broke a set of bars that i had bent and straightened 5 or 6 rides before. trying to ride out of secret in cooke city is not fun with one hand! they will last for a bit but i would definitely replace them!

 

[Powderfreak56]

Riding with the handle bars like that was not an option for except for getting back to the truck. My playing around after that had was done due to the ergonomics of the bar. I'm all for replacing what needs to be replaced, but if these bars bent back way too easy, I would have trashed them on the spot. Not planning on jumping off any 60 foot cornices any time soon. Getting close to the big 60 so I think my Geoff Kyle riding days are limited. We are heading up to Revy the last week in January. It shoud be a good test to see if those bars hold their position. Thanks for eneryone's concern!

 

[PJ-Hunter]

Dizz is right. Even the stresses of a whooped out trail can snap a damaged set of bars.

Just replace them with a nice set of ProTapers or something like that and then the bars have a warranty. It's your life and if you wanna take the chances on a compromised set of bars, that's your call. Even if you ride easy like you say you will, you can't control surprises like filled in but soft creek beds or that hidden stump. Leading to a broken wrist or even worse, an impalement.

 

[Borderstaff]

I agree with the posts above. I'd only bend them back to get through the day or a trip and then at the very LEAST I'd have another set along in the future so that IF they do break you'll have another set all ready to go. If you were jus trail riding it probably wouldn't be nearly as big an issue. But I know that off-trail riding we put a huge stress on the bars and eventually they will fail.

Here's a set on Ebay - you could buy these and at least have them in case you do need them. Then, if you never use them you can sell them when you upgrade sleds.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Arctic-Cat-...Parts_Accessories&hash=item337ed6aebe&vxp=mtr

 

[BHPete]

Straightening a slight bend once in a handlebar should not be an issue! When you do it to the point that you exceed the yield factor of the metal, then you will have issues!

 

[Mjunkie]

Just my opinion, but I've bent and straightened handlebars a fair amount and I'm more worried about the way you are doing it with the stress you are putting on the steering post. I've seen too many of those brake to dare put any additional stress on them. I haven't broken any bars btw, but have broken the posts. Just my experience.

 

[Powderfreak56]

I rock and rolled these handle bars every way I could a couple of weekends ago and they seem fine. Whoops, jumps, sidehilling and climbing. They havent budged at all. We are going out again this weekend before we head up to Revy the following week. I'm confident they will be fine!