A set of Lindby highway bars for the M50 for Christmas! - Motorcycle-Journal Forums

Nick Mystic · 12-30-2007, 02:26 PM

My wife got me a set of Lindby highway bars as a Christmas present. I liked the look of the Lindby bars the very first time I saw them on a bike, but at the price (about double the standard crash bars) I figured I'd just wait for awhile before committing myself one way or the other. Then, a bit before Christmas I saw where the Lindby bars were on sale for $299 with free shipping. I slipped the link to my wife in an email and let it be known those bars would make a great Christmas gift! She came through for me and I put them on the M50 Christmas morning.

I had read a number of posts on installing the bars, mostly on C50s and nearly everyone reported that it was a bit of a challenge. Apparently, the bars fit better on the M50 than they do on the C50. Most of the C50 riders said they had to use a bunch of washers for additional spacers on one side of the bottom bracket to make the bars fit. On the M50 the top bracket fit perfect using the bolts and spacers supplied with the bars.

The lower bracket was about 1/16" too tight to go over the foot peg brackets where they are designed to bolt on. I loosened both of the second set of footrest bolts and that let the foot pegs close up a bit more to the frame, but still not quite enough to slip the Lindby bars into place. Next, I got a large crescent wrench and shut its jaws down so that I could use them as a lever to pry open the bottom bracket on the bars. I put a covering of duct tape on the bracket where the wrench would touch it so I wouldn't damage the chrome.

Since the top of the bars were already fastened to the bike frame I could get good leverage and it didn't take too much effort to force the bracket open that additional 1/16" I needed for a perfect fit. Once I had the bracket in place one of the bolts went in pretty easy, but the final bolt of course took some finessing. By using a large rubber mallet I was able to tap the bracket and foot peg holes inline with the frame and slipped the bolt into place.

I'm attaching a few photos of the bars on my '07 Limited Edition M50.