Weird Handlebar problem

Have a weird problem here, the bike was bought used, is a 98 VT1100C (Shadow Spirit) and it appears it probably has an aftermarket handlebar on it.
The controls don't fit the bar right, they don't join all the way in the middle after you clamp them on and the accelerator has friction from the oversized bar and will not return to idle on its own.

According to this chart:
http://www.sideroadcycles.com/ImportedMotorcycles/ImportHandlebars/StockBarsOne.html

This bike has 1" handlebars, These bars look like the stock bars, but I am thinking they are not because of these issues. If I had to guess they are probably Harley bars... I'm wondering if 1" Harley is not really 1" if it is 1 1/16 or 1" Honda bars are really 15/16" or some such case.


Any ideas? The only thing I can think of is to just bite the bullet and buy and OEM Handlebar from a Honda parts place.
Last edited by saltcreep; Today at 01:44 PM.

are the controls and grips aftermarket too?

pictures?

Sometimes there is a little nipple or stud on the control clamps, sometimes on the outer edge, sometimes inside. Make sure it fits into a hole on the handlebars. Or possibly they put on aftermarket and neglected to drill a hole. If it does not fit correctly, it can bind your throttle grip. This keeps the control unit from twisting around when you twist the throttle, or slipping off the end.

You can also take off the grip by removing the cables and then slide just the grip over the bar to see if it fits right. It should be slightly loose.

Dragon, I think that must be it, I never noticed it being there before, It is on the outer edge and there is not a hole in the handlebar.

Would the control have enough tension to stay on there without the little nub if I just grind it off with a dremel? My Yamaha doesn't have one that I've noticed.

Yep, thats the set pin alright. Like I said, it keeps the entire control from spinning around the bar or slipping off the end/ It is safest to use that, but I suppose you could grind it off.....BUT....make DAMN sure it clamps tight enough you cannot make it turn or wiggle at all on the bar, because twisting and speeding up/slowing down puts more torque on there than you would think. If it is not tight enough, wrap the bar so that that outer edge clamps down tighter, you could try some heavy tape or maybe even some of that adjustable strapping wrapped around there.

Definitely sounds as if they changed the bars out. Those do not have pre drilled holes since they fit differently on different bikes. Normal procedure is to loosely fit the bars, slide on the controls, mark the pins with a marker, pull the bars back off and drill them in a drill press.

And while you got it apart, take your fingers and apply a very light coating of grease or graphite where the throttle slides on the bar too. Save lots of stickiness headaches later on.

I did this swap on crispys 95 shadow. I put an old handlebar from my fatboy on his and we drilled the holes for the controls. Just put them in place and mark the stud. Not hard to do. And it worked great.

I took the dremel to them. The clamps hold them tight enough that you can't move them , so I'm ok with it. They work great now! Dang such a simple thing this whole time Thanks muchly.

Not a problem.

Anytime. That's why we are here.