Initial review of Rapid Dog barbacks

Jerry L. · 01-23-2004, 03:11 PM

I was one of the lucky few to get a set of Rapid Dogs initial offering of his MADE IN THE USA barbacks!!! First off when they arrived I thought they were real pretty! After reading the installation instructions they went on without any problem. I had to cut a few wire ties for extra slack in the wiring. I took off the body panels to get at the last wire tie and check for any binding but I don't think that is really necessary after I did it. I also loosened the banjo bolt on the clutch master cylinder and rotated it slightly to give extra clearance again I'm not sure if really necessary. All told this newbie installed barbacks all by himself!
A dry run in my garage revealed a much more comfortable position for this 5'10" frame. Hopefully spring will come someday and I can give a real riding impression.
Thanks Randy for all your work

Jerry L.
Syracuse, NY
01' S

roger albert · 01-23-2004, 03:47 PM

God I'm glad I moved south!!!

ryker77 · ryker77's Garage

Does your bike have the ABS?

Did you have low or high bars?

RoundelRider · 01-23-2004, 05:41 PM

Looks like he has the high bars ryker77.

That install looks CLEAN!!!!!!!!!!!! very nice.

Good work RapidDog!

Gonna make any more???

John

Jerry L. · 01-23-2004, 06:35 PM

High bars..... now higher and back!!! Yes to ABS

Jerry L.

Flatbutt1 · 01-23-2004, 06:44 PM

Very nice! Looks like a stock install.

Rapid Dog · 01-25-2004, 12:48 PM

Roundel,

I've got 2 guys interested but I'm waiting to see the money.
Oscar (CNC guy), is willing to do a few more, possibly next week.
E-me at randyj@usaltg.com tomorrow at work.

http://www.sdcsoftware.com/rapiddog/barbacks.htm

Higgs · 01-26-2004, 01:30 PM

Will these work with the bars under the clamp on my 99 S non-ABS?

Rapid Dog · 01-26-2004, 01:39 PM

HIggs,
If you where planning on moving your bars ABOVE the triple tree, I would imagine, yes.
I can't comfirm because I don't have the low bars myself.
What you need to research is, if the low and high bars are the same casting or completely different.
Also, are the low bar cables and hoses shorter.
Do a search here at Pelican on bars, handlebars, etc.
Can anyone out there answer this?

Don Ro · 01-26-2004, 02:10 PM

"God I'm glad I moved south!!!"
**************

.

Merrimac · 01-26-2004, 04:27 PM

I installed my set of bar backs over the weekend. They look great and are easy to install. The instructions are helpfull. The quality is first rate. I painted mine flat black to match the bars.

The adjustability allows me to match the bars to the position of my hands. While not suggested I suspect one could position the bar backs to move the bars into a position that is wider than stock. The advantage would be more leverage for faster left right transitions. Just a thought.

I believe they are worth every cent. I recommend them to anyone considering moving their bars back!

Jeff "S" Moore

s-addict · 01-27-2004, 07:33 PM

wish i'd moved further south.

Josey · 01-27-2004, 08:58 PM

Higgs & Rapid:

The low and high bars are different castings. Both have anti-rotation screws; the low bars have them on top of the bar clamp. When the low bars are switched to above the triple clamp, the tang is now way above the triple clamp, rather than flush with the surface. The Suburban Machinery bar converters give you a raised block of metal that fits against the raised tang. One member of this board drilled & tapped holes in his triple clamp, and used longer screws and short pieces of alum. tubing to hide the screws. You can probably ignore these screws (there have been a few tens of thousands of clip-on bars sold without anything but the clamps and pinch bolts; the anti-rotation screws are the work of the Safety Nazis). Up to you. They look a little odd on top. No problem with hoses and wires, unless you have a non-ABS setup - the brake lines don't have much slack (some members have made it work without any add'l mods). If you have heated grips, the wires may be too short (mine were).

Rapid Dog · 01-28-2004, 06:24 AM

I haven't seen scres, but mine is a 2001SA standard. It has little tangs on the botom of the casting that fit into the tripleclamp groove. This so you can't adjust the bars I assume...

Again, I am not sure aboutthe low bars so I'll take your word for it, Josey.

Once again, Higgs, if you where intending to install yourbar above the tripleclamp, other than cable and wire restrictionc, my barbacks should work then.
I don't have experience with sliding the tubes up thru the tripleclamp, but I think that's how it works.

E-me and we can discuss furthur.
randyj@usaltg.com

Josey · 01-28-2004, 09:49 AM

Rapid:

Sorry 'bout that - you're correct on the high bars. The low bars have the set screws. I replaced my low bars ('02 Prep) with the Monika Verholen bars.

Wish you had made yours about a year ago - I would have bought them, and saved about $250.

acook · 01-28-2004, 09:58 AM

I mounted mine over the weekend. I have them pointed inward on a slight angle and it moves the bars out a little and it feels great. with my peg lowering kit and these bar risers it feels like on on my old K12RS with comfort bars. thanks Rapid Dog!! this weekend I'll take some pic's

Rapid Dog · 01-28-2004, 10:06 AM

Josey,
Hey, you could sell those danged Verholly's and buy mine and have cash to spare!

Tony, glad you got 'em on. Geuss you're keeping the S....

So far, noyhing but good press...

Higgs · 01-28-2004, 10:43 AM

I'm just trying to figure our what I would need to bring my bars above the clamp. Rapid's design looks good. However if I need new wires, cables, and brake lines, I would probably just live with my set up until I can afford a new S. Does anybody have experience with raising the bars over the clamp and if so, any procedure or pictures out there?

Rapid Dog · 01-28-2004, 10:53 AM

higgsy,

I think you may have answered your own question.
Moving your bars to the top of the clamp will make them the same as the bars on my standard i.e. "comfort" bars.
The castings may be different as Josey said, but they'll be on top of the clamp.

That said, you may need the cables and/or hoses for the comfort bars IF indeed, they are different.
Easy solution, call a dealer and ask.
If they are not, then you're good to go.

The beauty of my barbacks is just that, you don't have to change out anything...

Josey · 01-28-2004, 01:53 PM

Higgs -

There is plenty of slack in the various cables to put the bars wherever you want. Trace them back from the grips - you find plenty of slack zip-tied to the frame. The Verholen risers I have bring the bars up about 80mm and back about 25mm, which I think is more than Rapid's. The only problems I had were the brake lines and the heated grip wires. I have a Prep w/o ABS, so there's little slack in the brake lines. From this board's info, the ABS model has plenty of slack. My grip wire problem was caused, in part, by my dealer: I had them install the grips, and they left me with absolutely no slack in the wires. The best way to aproximate if you have enough slack is to remove the bars and bring them above the triple clamp, then back to about where Rapid's risers will mount; you may have to cut a couple of zip-ties to get enough slack. That's how I found out about my brake lines. It's not difficult to remove the bars.