Tuesday, May 29, 2007

New bars - new bike!

Machine:
2002 Triumph Thunderbird

Mods:
Tommaselli Condor Adjustable Bars

The Thunderbird can definitely be classified as a "standard" in the motorcycle world. Rather vertical sitting position, handle bars bent toward for ease-of-reach, and foot pegs right underneath you (not behind or in front of you).

I decided to give the Tommaselli Condor bars a try. The adjustable Condor bars came up alot at the Triumph Rat forum, and most of the reviews seemed to be on the good side. I got the impression that it was an easy way to get the clip-on experience without actually retro-fitting clip-ons to the T-Bird.

TbirdWithCondors

I gave in to curiosity and tried them out. After 3 rides, I think I can say that it changes the riding experience completely. I now ride right up against the gas tank, leaning much further forward to operate the motorcycle. This is a pretty serious change of posture, compared with the relaxed, up-right experience I had with the stock bars. It is much more like riding a sport bike, except that the gas tank feels like it's in the way of the experience...

My final verdict is that I like them. When adjusted properly, my wrists find a much more comfortable home than they did with the stock bars. Otherwise, it's something to get used to. When riding hard, the Condor bars seem to promote a decent riding position. When sitting in traffic, it's less than ideal. But I think I like 'em.

1 comment:

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