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Handlebars 2MO-26111-00
- Thread starter BowlingSS
- Start date
I gave a pair of these bars away for shipping charges a few years ago to a member...course they were used.
I also have a set of those I would give away to whomever wants them.
I actually bought a brand new set off eBay a couple of years ago.
Just out of a sense of morbid curiosity - they reckon that they will almost break your wrists if you actually use them.
And they were actually the one (standard) part of a 650 Special that I didn't possess.
Still haven't tried using them yet.
Just out of a sense of morbid curiosity - they reckon that they will almost break your wrists if you actually use them.
And they were actually the one (standard) part of a 650 Special that I didn't possess.
Still haven't tried using them yet.
I've been using them since I started riding a motorcycle.
I cut them up and make things out of them, lol ........
I'm curious.........Who are THEY.
be careful listening to they. They used to say the factory Charging system i useless and needs to be got rid off and replaced with a PMA. Finally it is now recognized, and advocated, a reputable rewound rotor will solve90% of the problems. adding an automotive Regulator and Bridge rectifier costing at least 1/3 less than a PMA.
The special bars have to be positioned right for them to not give you wrist or back/shoulder problems..........hang on that is true for most handle bars, and if one put on cafe bars, it's a given, not if but when the wrists and shoulders ache. Doesn't stop people from putting them on though, and "they' don't make mention of the associated problems when some one is building one.
I rode many a mile/Klm with the factory bars, some long ones, my arse would get sore before my wrists. My hands got effected by the vibration, not that it was concerning, but enough to know i had been riding for 2 hours and i road several more than 2 hour trips.
"They" aren't always right, Sure the bars may not suit you, but how will you know if you listen to they
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The "they" in the case of the Special handlebars were, in my recollection, most of the British motorcycle press.
Having given the XS2 a very negative reception in 1972, when it first appeared on the British market, the media sort of slowly and grudgingly accepted the XS650.
But then when the 650 Special arrived for '78, the criticism started all over again.
Styling was criticised for no particular good reason, surely that fat back wheel would mean the bike would handle like a pig.
And those handlebars came in for a particularly venomous slagging off.
One magazine claimed that those bars made the bike almost impossible to ride.
Who did Yamaha think they were, building such a motorcycle ?
Surely the only people to buy them would be drug addicts ?
Respectable law abiding motorcyclists obviously wouldn't be seen dead on one.
You're quite right. UK press were never more than luke warm about any version of the 650 Yamaha. The bike is more popular in the UK now than it was in the 1970's for sure. I bought a new XS650C back in 1976 and the press weren't thrilled by it (as it turned out, neither was I). The press recognised the improvements made by Percy Tait for the 650B onwards. But this is the home market of Triumph and Norton and there were still many advocates for British bikes back then. I was a big Yamaha fan back then. I wanted a 650 or 750 twin but not a British bike. So I got the 650C. In the year and a bit of ownership, I never met anyone else who owned one. I didn't really like it and went back to two strokes until I bought a GS1000 a couple of years later.
I stand corrected. A negative, (biased??), 46 year old press review compared to 34 years of experience riding one. You have convinced me,"they" are right
You should have held onto that one for sure, but the situation looked very different back in the day.
IIRC, the UK market 650C was the very model featured in the Haynes manual for the 650.
You got a lot of good features that year.
You still got the twin disc set up with the powerful twin piston calipers.
The carb butterflies were linked together properly for the first time.
And the paintwork still had the classic '75 graphics (on the UK market bikes anyway), but that troublesome fuel filler cap was gone.
A lot of good features, even if I wasn't keen on the new instrument cluster.
I bought a non-runner 650E around '86, for the princely sum of £75, but the engine had been abused (run with dirty oil for a high mileage).
I never really appreciated that bikes potential, and the next year I swapped it for a 750 Honda in bits.
Maybe the British press were miffed the Yamie 650, left the Nortons, BSA's and Triumph's as well as Kawasaki's, Suzuki and Yam 2 strokes behind in the Australian Castrol 6 hour race where the 650 had it's first outing, coming in 2nd and 9th.
I think it's very simple why the XS650 wasn't popular in the UK in the 70's. It's the home market of the traditional parallel twin motorcycle. A Japanese 650 twin was always going to be a hard sell. The 750 twin Kawasaki sank virtually without trace in the UK.
totally understand that.
TBH, I've never ever bought a 650 Special with the standard OE bars on it, well not undamaged ones anyway.
I quite like the style, but I can't comment on the comfort.
This is my '79 Special on my drive, about 15 years ago, I built the bike up from about two and a half bikes in bits, and these bars came with them, along with the (then) new repop seat, and nice metallic blue tank and panels.
I've no idea what these bars are, a custom aftermarket pair at a guess, but I've never seen another pair the same.
Note the width in the center section where the clamps are.
Sadly, rust got the better of that rather nice paintwork, lifting the paint off in big chunks.
Got so scruffy that I took paint stripper to it eventually
I quite like the style, but I can't comment on the comfort.
This is my '79 Special on my drive, about 15 years ago, I built the bike up from about two and a half bikes in bits, and these bars came with them, along with the (then) new repop seat, and nice metallic blue tank and panels.
I've no idea what these bars are, a custom aftermarket pair at a guess, but I've never seen another pair the same.
Note the width in the center section where the clamps are.
Sadly, rust got the better of that rather nice paintwork, lifting the paint off in big chunks.
Got so scruffy that I took paint stripper to it eventually
The bike market in UK in the '70s transitioned from British to Japanese bikes, at first mainly 2-strokes and then four-cylinder 4-strokes. British twins and anything of that ilk went right out of favour. The m/c press had no use for middleweight 4-stroke twins - especially 350 or 400 cc.
Not helped by the light weight four stroke twins being universally dreadful things. The 400/4 showed the way for four stroke lightweight bikes. At the time, I was a happy (but skint) two stroke rider.
wildav
XS650 Enthusiast
That is/was? a nice looking bike G. Those bars just make me think longhorn rather than the buckhorn tag I've seen here on our forum. When I bought my bike in 79, after the hour long ride home, the only adjustment I needed to make was roll the bars back a smidge to better accommodate my reach. been that way ever since.
Even though Yamaha came in second, I’m still offering those bars…
That bike will hopefully resurrected during the coming winter.
Needs just about a new everything by now.
New seat cover, new paintwork, new exhaust system, new shocks, battery, you name it.
Almost everything in fact, lots of $$$$$
Planned improvements are losing the rear disc, and replacing the exhausts with chrome turnouts
I've still got those bars, but the chrome has seen better days.
Might just get some made at work if I can't find any new ones.
