Handlebar vibration reduction - bar end weights?

Also re/re handle bar mounts. Cleaned a re-lubed with red rubber grease.

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Well who would have guessed - I couldn’t wait until tomorrow. Approx 50ml of lead shot plus 50ml of silicone filled the bar leaving a 1-1/4 space for my bar end mirror mounts. I’ll have to weigh the bars tomorrow but this should have added close to 1lb of weight on the one side alone. I poured about 1/3 of the silicone, added 1/3 lead, stirred it around and repeated 2 more times. Then I tapped the side of the bar to further settle the lead and encourage more air to escape. There may be some entrapped air but the lead is packed in there pretty tight so I don’t anticipate any further settling.

I just realized I didn’t leave space for the cork in the end.☹️. No big deal. The bar end mounts will keep the silicone and lead from moving. After it cures, if I sense it may move, I might dig out a slight amount and maybe plug it with JB Weld. We’ll see tomorrow. Overall a fun project. I hope it does some good.

The clamp is insurance that it won’t slip out of the vise. That would be disasterous!

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The few stock Standard handlebars I’ve dealt with have what appears to be steel in the ends.
I tried scratching at one to see if it was lead but it didn’t mar.
These bars have an opening between the knurls for what I assume is hiding wiring. If that be the case then the metal inserts must be limited in their depth to allow control wiring to enter the hollow of the bars. I’d venture the weights are grip length at most.

If I had to weigh some ends down I’d look into lead anchors.
Yes, I used a set of Honda bars off the V4 1200, and the bar inserts were about 5" long steel slugs. I had to remove them to fit my internal bar heaters, and a right pig they were to get out.
 
Hey Vic, check this out. DIY vibration testing.

I think I'd do the test slightly different. Have someone sit on the bike and hold the handlebars while testing. In the real world, that's how the bike will be configured... two hands on the bars. After all, your hands will provide a slight dampening effect. So that's what we need to see, the difference in different weights with hands on the bars.
 
Hey Vic, check this out. DIY vibration testing.

Interesting watch. I’m a bit surprised it didn’t make a more significant difference, however we really don’t know what we were looking at. As he mentioned, perhaps the frequency has bern changed.

Last night before I went to bed, I actually conducted a very scientific experiment in my basement laboratory . I took the bars out of the vise, held then in my left hand at the center, then with a small hammer, gave them a sharp tap about 5” from the end (where the grips would end). On the weighted side, the hammer tap resulted in more of a thud, but when hit on the non weighted side, the bars vibrated quite noticeably in my hand with a tingling sensation. This gave me hope that my efforts will pay off.

I wonder if you can add too much weight? I’m thinking maybe I should have custom bar end mirror mounts made that incorporate a bar end weight. If I make them out of SS they’ll have some heft and can look nice too. I should probably ride it with what I’ve done first.
 
Not too convinced that DIY laser vibration test tels us much of anything. The spread of light on the target looks similar both with & without the weights. And I don't reckon the vibes could be at lower frequencies because he uses similar revs in both cases.

So I think this is one where we'll have to wait for Bosco's feedback when he gets out & about with the weighted bars.
 
Not too convinced that DIY laser vibration test tels us much of anything. The spread of light on the target looks similar both with & without the weights. And I don't reckon the vibes could be at lower frequencies because he uses similar revs in both cases.

So I think this is one where we'll have to wait for Bosco's feedback when he gets out & about with the weighted bars.
What a BRILLIANT test!
What it told me was the weighted bars he put on made no difference, what so ever.:D
 
Not too convinced that DIY laser vibration test tels us much of anything. The spread of light on the target looks similar both with & without the weights. And I don't reckon the vibes could be at lower frequencies because he uses similar revs in both cases.

So I think this is one where we'll have to wait for Bosco's feedback when he gets out & about with the weighted bars.
Yes, I’ll be happy to report, but it will be a few months yet☹️.

I finished the second side last night and will weigh the bars later this morning. They are definitely heavier now. When I did the second side, I measured the silicone in a beaker (it’s mixed 1:1). I mixed up 50ml of silicone and had approx 50 ml of lead shot to install. After pouring and settling, it turned out I only used about 25ml of the silicone, so it looks like 2:1 by volume of #9 lead shot to silicone to make up the mixture I used.

I need to think of other uses for the silicone. It has a 1 year shelf life I don’t want to waste it. I dropped a piece of the cured, left over material from the previous night, into the uncured left overs from last night. The two parts seemed to bond together seamlessly. I don’t know what the UV stability is. I wonder if this might be used to make unobtainable grommets etc?
 
I put the bars back on today and obviously can’t report success or failure re: vibration reduction, until the springtime. What I did notice was the improved movement of the bar mounts in the triple tree rubber bushings, as previously mentioned I removed them, cleaned them and gave them a light coat of red rubber grease. A huge difference from the silicone grease previously used. I’m hoping this plus the added weight will = winner in vibration reduction (around 3,500 - 4,500 rpm).
 
My Moto Guzzi comes from factory with bar end weights. I still get a good vibe through the bars at certain engine speeds. I added Grip Puppies last year and they helped but I’d like to make it better. I removed one of the weights tonight and it weighed 240 gms. Trying to load these bars with lead shot will be quite a bit more challenging because the factory has the ends of the bars blocked off with a threaded plug to hold the bar end weights on.
I think I’ll wait until spring to see if the XS weighted bars have improved things before I attack the Moto Guzzi.

I wonder if 240 gms at the tips of the bars will have a better damping effect than my 350 gms along the last 8” of the bars? Time will tell.

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My Moto Guzzi comes from factory with bar end weights. I still get a good vibe through the bars at certain engine speeds. I added Grip Puppies last year and they helped but I’d like to make it better. I removed one of the weights tonight and it weighed 240 gms. Trying to load these bars with lead shot will be quite a bit more challenging because the factory has the ends of the bars blocked off with a threaded plug to hold the bar end weights on.
I think I’ll wait until spring to see if the XS weighted bars have improved things before I attack the Moto Guzzi.

I wonder if 240 gms at the tips of the bars will have a better damping effect than my 350 gms along the last 8” of the bars? Time will tell.

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Moto Guzzi's don't vibrate! They are a 90 v twin with perfect primary balance.😉☺️
 
Laser shows mode and amplitude of vibes at the mirror.
X amp
Y amp
and at a slow 30 frames per sec. sample rate cell phone shows a psuedo Lissajous pattern, to show how up down vibes compare to left right.

Triangulation off axis with the set-up messes even this crude method up.

cliff

and by the way............
looks like my video but in green, not red
i mounted micro laser on mirror directly, pointed at same 8x11 paper on door years ago
no amplification, triangulation or postrenation from ambiguous genitalia tape on the mirror

oh my
 
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