Buzzing bars??

[Jehu Bandit]

First - I love my Bandit 1200S.
Secondly, I have a bad case of tendonitous that rears its ugly head int he form of tingling and numbness in my right hand if so one so much as goes BOO! at the right frequency.

I've dealt with it on the Harley in many ways but the frequency of the vibration is not htat bad. On longer road stretches, there's always the friction screw which I do make frequent use of.

The Bandit has a much higher frequency buzzing. Masking tape under foam tape under frction tape and a throttle rocker helps but I'd like to do more.

I'm seeking real-world reports, opinions and owner reviews on any of the following:

1. BBs or lead shot in the bar.
2. Bar snake.
3. Heavy throttle meister as ocmpared to stock bar end weights.

Thanks in advance.

[ray nielsen]

Check out Manic Salamander's bar end weights at http://www.manicsalamander.com

I have the stainless steel versions and find they eliminate most of the vibration.  I can ride without gloves at near 4000 RPM with minimal discomfort.  With gloves on I don't notice any undue vibration at hightwy speeds.

He offers black, chrome and stainless steel options -- while not cheap they are effective.

[BlkJello]

I have a set of the Manic Salamander barweights on order for my 05 B12s.  Been 2 weeks now...so they should show up fairly soon.   Will post when they do.    Also have a set of Pro-Grip gel grips that seem to help.  I think both of these items together will quell the vibes quite well  

[Red01]

Along the same line, but with an added feature of a throttle lock, is the Throttlemeister. Whereas the Manic Salamader pieces weigh in at 12.75 oz, the Throttlemeister standard weight is 12 oz and their heavy weight ones are 14 oz.

The Throttlemeister is a bit pricier than Manic Salamander though.

[Desolation Angel]

Are you using some of the lightweight aluminum aftermarket bar-ends?  I made the mistake of switching to those for the looks (I like shiney bits ) and the vibration level went from virtually nothing to unbearable immediately.  I ended up putting the stock weights back on and even added an extra rubber bushing to the thing and problem was completely eliminated.

My thoughts afterward...Suzuki knew what they were doing using what they did!

[S_Kisby]

Hi all:
I finally got activated!  I just bought an '02 1200S  with 1500 miles on it and as this is my first "sportbike" (from several dual purp to a number of cruisers) I was expecting some differences.  Overall I'm really pleased with the bike but the vibrations in the bars is killing it for me - my hands are asleep within 15 minutes.  They seem to be worst in the 4000 RPM range.  I tried the Manic Salamander bar ends but that seems to make it worse!  I have a "bar snake" on order & we will see if that helps.

Any other suggestions?
Tx

[Red01]

Any other suggestions?

Gel grips and/or gel gloves.

[Banned it.]

I had a box of 12 guage cartridges in the garage been there a long time, the shot (No.5 ) now resides in the Bandit handlebars along with foam grips. No more numb fingers. Incidentally it took about 22 cartridges to do the job. Small lead fishing sinkers would probably work. I also went up a tooth on the front sprocket, this moves the vibration higher up the speed range.

[Steve]

I would not be too overly hopefull on the barsnake. I have one, there may have been a slight difference, not overwhelming. I'm not going to take it out, just don't really know if I would buy another.

Changing my gearing (15/47) and keeping the bike in good tune seem to be at least as helpful to reduce vibration.  I cut a bit off of both ends of the bars to improve my comfort, and adjust the rotation of the bars in the clamps to the most comfortable position for my arms/ hands/ wrists. I also tried 20mm bar risers to reduce the pressure on my wrists for a while, went back to the stock clamps.

Changing the gearing will not only move you above the "buzz" range, it might just make you smile a bit more (unless you are hung up on speedo calibration, which is no good anyway).

Steve

[S_Kisby]

Hi all:
Thanks for the suggestions.  The Manic Salamander weights seemed to make it worse.

I figured I'd put in the Bar Snake & return the MS weights.

Unfortunately my IQ apparently dropped considerably with the birth of my two kids and the resultant 4 years of interrupted sleep (I'm hoping the interruptions end soon)!!!

After reading the directions I figured that if I followed them I would not be able to reinstall the stock weights as the rubber would be filling the bar. So, if I measured how long the bar is and subtracted the length of the weights I would be fine...who sees where this is going?

After pulling the snake through you need to remove the pull wire, I would suggest cutting it off and stuffing the remains back into the bar.  Unfortunately I forgot about that whole thing about how rubber contracts as you pull it through so when I pulled it through far enough to remove the wire I discovered that it was damn near impossible to stuff back into the bar so that I could get the stock weight back on (rubber expands when compressed!)!! After several HOURS of pushing, yelling (which worked better than pushing) and trying everything else I could think of before the dish liquid evaporated I finally had to take a DRILL to it to make enough room to put the Manic's back on (they are shorter than the stock ones).  I guess I'm not returning either!!

 
While I am embarrassed enough as it is it may be helpfull for others to post how they did it without resorting to the drill!!

Performance wise the MS weights seemed to worsen the situation and the bar snake (with MS weights installed) did decrease the vibrations but only bought me an extra few minutes before the numbness sets in!!

[Mongo]

I ended up taking a 3/8" drill bit and running it between the bars and the bar snake, I then reversed the drill and was able to get bar snake out of the bars far enough to lock onto them with a pair of vice grips and pull it back out.

After it was removed I did a best guess on the length and reinstalled it leaving a loop of wire long enough that I could cut one side of the loop and pull the wire out of the snake while it was still in the bars. I ended up jamming a 3/8" drive extension down the bars to hold the bar snake in position while pulled the wire out the rubber. I was the able to install my stock bar ends. This seemed to help a little but did not solve all of my problems my hand still goes numb after a good cruz.

Like you said it would help if the instructions gave a little more detail.
 

I hope this helps the next guy that trys to install one of these.

[Snubnose]

Hi all:
Thanks for the suggestions.  The Manic Salamander weights seemed to make it worse.

I figured I'd put in the Bar Snake & return the MS weights. !!

I just installed the salamanders and in CONJUNCTION with the bar snake from dale walker, it pretty much eliminated ALL vibes. I had some vibes left after the snake install on the right hand side.. numbed the thumb after half an hour, now,..NO numbness, smooth and silky!. Maybe the combo is what did it?

[BlkJello]

I put the barends by themselves on and they didnt make much noticable differance.  Going to take snubnoze's advice and get a barsnake also.   I think hes correct...both of these together will do the trick.  Ordered a barsnake today.  

[BlkJello]

Hi all:
Thanks for the suggestions.  The Manic Salamander weights seemed to make it worse.

I figured I'd put in the Bar Snake & return the MS weights.

Unfortunately my IQ apparently dropped considerably with the birth of my two kids and the resultant 4 years of interrupted sleep (I'm hoping the interruptions end soon)!!!

After reading the directions I figured that if I followed them I would not be able to reinstall the stock weights as the rubber would be filling the bar. So, if I measured how long the bar is and subtracted the length of the weights I would be fine...who sees where this is going?

After pulling the snake through you need to remove the pull wire, I would suggest cutting it off and stuffing the remains back into the bar.  Unfortunately I forgot about that whole thing about how rubber contracts as you pull it through so when I pulled it through far enough to remove the wire I discovered that it was damn near impossible to stuff back into the bar so that I could get the stock weight back on (rubber expands when compressed!)!! After several HOURS of pushing, yelling (which worked better than pushing) and trying everything else I could think of before the dish liquid evaporated I finally had to take a DRILL to it to make enough room to put the Manic's back on (they are shorter than the stock ones).  I guess I'm not returning either!!

 
While I am embarrassed enough as it is it may be helpfull for others to post how they did it without resorting to the drill!!

Performance wise the MS weights seemed to worsen the situation and the bar snake (with MS weights installed) did decrease the vibrations but only bought me an extra few minutes before the numbness sets in!!

I found if i stopped leaning ON the bars alot of my numbness went away.  Seriously considering a set of bar-risers from holeshot or genmar.  REally love the clean "factory" look of the holeshots.  But the genmars also move the bars back...not just up.

[Mongo]

I had some vibes left after the snake install on the right hand side.. numbed the thumb after half an hour, now,..NO numbness, smooth and silky!. Maybe the combo is what did it?

I noticed the same thing after the installation of the bar snake, my hand continued to go numb for the first several day so, I removed the bar snake and shortened it then reinstalled it with the stock bar ends. My hand still continued to go numb for about a week or so but now I notice far less fatigue almost none.

Perhaps the lubricant (dish soap) needed to fully evaporate so that the rubber makes a solid contact with the metal in order to remove the harmonics from the bars? I'm not really sure but it seems to be working!