GS500F Handguards / Bar Ends

Infidelus

Infidelus

Infidelus

Soldato
Joined
3 Aug 2012
Posts
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Hi all,

After clipping someone's wing mirror last year and shattering it into tiny pieces, I've been looking at getting some slim bar ends for my late model (2007) GS500. I've also been thinking of getting some handguards for the last few years.

I've spent the last hour Googling around but can't see anything decent that'll fit in either department.

The bar ends that came with the bike are 30mm.

Any suggestions (short of buying a newer, faster, better bike :))?
 
In that case getting an eye test so you can see and avoid potholes, thus avoiding losing balance and destroying mirrors?

In all seriousness, if its due to a pothole causing you to lose your balance I really don't think shaving 10 or so mm off the width will make much difference, I'd just chalk it up as what it was - an accident - and move on.
 
Am I understanding you correctly in that you hit one pothole which resulted in an off (or bit of damage), and now you want to remove your lovely big and safe mirrors in favour of some little postage stamp sized elbow-viewers? Bit overkill isn't it? Bar ends are generally crap, I wouldn't bother.

Cookeh might be blunt but he's 100% correct. You had an oopsie. No need to go altering your bike, just pay a bit more attention in future :)
 
Cookeh said:
In that case getting an eye test so you can see and avoid potholes, thus avoiding losing balance and destroying mirrors?
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Thanks again. I have my eyes tested every two years regular as clockwork, but clearly having one minor incident in the 26 years since I passed my bike test makes me a rubbish rider.

Diddums said:
Am I understanding you correctly in that you hit one pothole which resulted in an off (or bit of damage), and now you want to remove your lovely big and safe mirrors in favour of some little postage stamp sized elbow-viewers? Bit overkill isn't it? Bar ends are generally crap, I wouldn't bother.
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No, you're not understanding correctly. It has nothing to do with my mirrors as they're not attached to the bar ends and aren't going anywhere. After clipping the plasticrap mirror on the other vehicle I was just curious about smaller bar ends as, had they not been there, I wouldn't have hit the other car at all. Irrespective of them, I've actually been thinking about getting handguards for a much longer time and thought I'd ask the bikers on here for suggestions. I didn't come here particularly to get into a debate about how crap you all think I am as a rider, so thanks for that.
 
Infidelus said:
No, you're not understanding correctly. It has nothing to do with my mirrors as they're not attached to the bar ends and aren't going anywhere. After clipping the plasticrap mirror on the other vehicle I was just curious about smaller bar ends as, had they not been there, I wouldn't have hit the other car at all. Irrespective of them, I've actually been thinking about getting handguards for a much longer time and thought I'd ask the bikers on here for suggestions. I didn't come here particularly to get into a debate about how crap you all think I am as a rider, so thanks for that.
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Whoa, calm down sunshine, I was in you corner ;)

Now I understand. You should be able to get little stubby ones but do keep in mind that if the bike goes for a slide it may be your tank that gets scraped rather than the bar ends. This is something I would definitely check out first (you can do this using a straight edge if you don't want to lay the bike down).
 
arfoll said:
FYI i thought what you where asking for was pretty clear. I think the cagers are just being a tad sensitive today...

Typically longer/heavier bar ends are said to affect bar vibration so thin/small ones may make the bars a little vibier. But I would just go on ebay and get a set of compatible ones, there are loads of 'slim' ones to choose from. I actually had "Strada 7 Racing CNC Handle Bar Ends" which are pretty thin on the SV650 after loosing a nice R&G one 'somewhere' (sorry if I smashed a windscreen!). Having 1-2cm less on your handlebars does add confidence even if it may not help much in real life.
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Thanks. Most of the ones I've seen are max 22 mm and the diameter on mine is 30 mm which is why I was asking. I'll have another look. Are handguards pretty generic in size or is that something I'm also going to have a problem finding?

Diddums said:
Whoa, calm down sunshine, I was in you corner ;)

Now I understand. You should be able to get little stubby ones but do keep in mind that if the bike goes for a slide it may be your tank that gets scraped rather than the bar ends. This is something I would definitely check out first (you can do this using a straight edge if you don't want to lay the bike down).
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Sorry, didn't mean to snap at you particularly, I was just irritated by the extremely unhelpful comments from the first couple of responses.
 
You're right, I did originally post in motors. I ride a MOTORcycle. :p

PS, if being cool means I have to drive a BMW, I'd rather be very very uncool (sorry, not gonna spell it like the kids do 'cos I'm not cool enough and still have a fairly firm grasp of the English language) :)
 
arfoll said:
I'm not sure what you mean, the diamaeter of the exposed bar end? That usually is realtively standard and doesn't have to be the size of your grips, in fact on a lot of bikes it isn't. Bar mounted handguards are a bit of a mess, I've used the acerbis dual road handguards which are nice enough though I wouldn't bother again, and they do adapter kits for most bikes including my K1300R so i'm sure there's something for yours if you hunt a bit.
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Thanks again.

arfoll said:
Hey! I'm a bmw rider ;-)
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A BMW rider is a million miles away from any BMW driver, especially from a standing start :p
 
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