hanglebar risers for M50 available again

[CooleyM50]

Hello to all,
I sent out a bulk email from my ken@shape-master.com address with invoice, instructions, photos, etc. regarding the riser spacer blocks.

If you did not receive this please email me ken@shape-master.com

Or phone me 217-621-1158 cell
I will call you back.
Leave a message and I'll know to send you the email.

We are shipping the new spacer blocks this week.
They look great and work very well.
I can now ride my M50 in an upright position with my elbows bent not straight.

Take care!

[CooleyM50]

Originally Posted by Mantissa

So what exactly does a chin spoiler do anyway? Or is it just cosmetic?

The chin spoiler is a dress up piece but can also keep rocks off your bike, radiator and also help to scoop air up into the radiator.
Depending on how it's designed.

The M109 and many other bikes have chin spoilers as designed or as an add on dress up piece.
You could check out Corbin's website for the chin spoilers he has designed for the Roadliner (Star Yamaha) and other bikes.

I hope to have mine in production by end of August or before.

Lots of work to do to get there but it can happen.

I'll get it posted in photos ASAP.

[CooleyM50]

Originally Posted by newshoundaussie

Given any thought to having these powder coated Ken? Black would look good on my black and white o9 M50.

Let me know if you want a price for black powder coated spacers.
If I can get enough orders together I can get it done at our local powder coater but he wants a minimum run.

Thanks,
Ken

[CooleyM50]

Annoucement on the Riser Spacer blocks for handlebar Pullback.

We are finding that shipping has gone up and we are not charging enough.
We will charge an average shipping fee to continue shipping via UPS so that your order is insured and so we do not lose money on each shipment.

The average in the U.S. shipping via UPS will be $9.95 residential. If we can ship to a business it will save you about a buck. We must know at the time you order what location we are shipping to and if the address is a business recognized by UPS.

You can also receive by USPS and choose either insured or not insured however their insured is $7.20

Thank you for understanding.
If you are one of the folks we sent an invoice to we will honor the price of postage however we cannot continue as we are losing money on each shipment.

In an effort to help out our fellow M50 riders we must try to keep all of our costs as low as possible.

Thank you,
Ken
Bumble Bee M50 rider

[BING]

Hey Ken,

Thanks for the fast shipping! I received mine yesterday! Hoping to install them this weekend. Product looks really nice and good quality!

Thanks,

BING!

[vtbme]

Ditto - just waiting for spouse to return to town and a clear day (no garage)! There are several small pits in the surface of one of the spacers, but nothing that will affect performance. Can't wait to try them!

[BigBear777]

Ken (CooleyM50),

Got the Riser Spacer blocks installed and it actually went pretty smoothly even though I had no help. Looks great and does blend very well with the stock risers. I'm very pleased with the feel of the bike afterwords, a much more comfortable ride! Glad I bought them!

[Mantissa]

Those of you installing these by yourself, how the heck are you getting the stock studs out? Try as i might i couldn't hold the handlebars steady (laying on the gas tank) and get enough force on the wrench. I didn't heat the stud up first, is that a pretty important step? I'm thinking of stopping to get a stud remover tomorrow even though I didn't break the studs just to see if that works any better.

What's most likely to help me get these out, heat with torch, stud remover, or both?

TIA

[BigBear777]

Originally Posted by Mantissa

Those of you installing these by yourself, how the heck are you getting the stock studs out? ...

I just used the method posted:



I only varied on this slightly my slipping a pipe over the wrench to get more leverage. After the first <crack!> and the stud started to move, the rest was easy by hand. No heat was applied or needed.

Most useful for me was the link that was included in the emailed instructions, I'll post it here again:

http://www.motorcycle-journal.com/fo...tml#post456225

Originally Posted by Mantissa

Try as i might i couldn't hold the handlebars steady (laying on the gas tank) and get enough force on the wrench.

First off I put down a pretty good thickness of padding on the tank, then the placement of the wrench so my first attempts at moving the stud was always a downward motion that would drive the handlebars into the tank. Which usually I was holding onto one of the handlebars (whichever was going to be getting the most pressure). I guess for me, having a very thick pad allowed the bars to sit more easily.

Hope this helps.....

[vtbme]

Haven't started on mine yet, but I've been told that heat is not necessary. I was advised to go ahead and get a stud remover (from Sears, etc), if I can't remove the stud...in other words give it a decent try but don't overly stress about it.

[Mantissa]

Using a pipe for extra leverage was the key for me. I couldn't find mine yesterday when struggling with the studs, even asked a neighbor for one but no luck. Stopped and picked up a 3 foot section of pipe on the way home today and pulled them out with no problems.

Install went pretty smooth except the center hole was a little small in one of the new spacers. The bolt didn't pass through cleanly, i had to thread the bolt through it which made it a bit more difficult than necessary but not terrible. The bolt slid right through the other spacer so i just did that one first. It's definitely a subtle change but i like it so far.

[CooleyM50]

Originally Posted by vtbme

Ditto - just waiting for spouse to return to town and a clear day (no garage)! There are several small pits in the surface of one of the spacers, but nothing that will affect performance. Can't wait to try them!

Howdy,
Was the pits in the flat top or bottom surface or in the side profile polished surface?
We will gladly replace anything that has cosmetic pit. So far we've not seen anything but mirror smooth surfaces coming off the polishing head.
Please let me know, we really want you to be happy with the product.

Thanks,
Ken

[CooleyM50]

Hello to everyone here who are installing.

I will say that I did heat up my stud with a propane torch for 60 seconds maximum, most likely less.
I heated until I felt just a bit of transfer heat into my hand that was holding the riser.
Also, I put heat in the center of the stud.
I then remounted the riser back onto the handlebar and tightened it just enough to keep it on and then went to work with the wrenches.
Must say though that if I had just left it on the bike with speedo bolted up it would have been less time comsuming but no I took them off completely.
If you remove the two speedo bolts that run up through that aluminum cross over bar be sure you tighten them. I didn't and lost both on the way to work. Real smart move Ken. Never vibrated a thing off a bike before. Just didn't tighten them at all and I was in a rush to try out my new riser blocks.
I like all of you am just now enjoying these as they were out of production until we brough them back after Jeff could no longer make them.

Soon I hope to find out that these will work on the M90's. Anyone out there know if the risers on the M50 are the same as the M90?

Keep me posted on your installs. Take your time. Pad the heck out of your headlight, fender and tank. Even a small allen wrench can wreck your weekend.

Best,
Ken

[vtbme]

Originally Posted by CooleyM50

Howdy,
Was the pits in the flat top or bottom surface or in the side profile polished surface?
We will gladly replace anything that has cosmetic pit. So far we've not seen anything but mirror smooth surfaces coming off the polishing head.
Please let me know, we really want you to be happy with the product.

Thanks,
Ken

Outside surface, wide radius end. Looks like they will be facing forward...same direction as headlight. Maybe 10-12 nicks.

Getting ready to try the install...I'll let you know if it's even noticeable once on the bike...

Got them on with the help of spouse...good thing, I really don't think I would have been able to turn those stock studs. No torch, no long pipe...they were tight, but he got them. Everything else was pretty straight forward.

Sailing along and was going to roll bars back...then it happened. One of the caps that covers the handbar allen crews broke. The topcap popped of and left the cylinder part inside the allen screw. Now I can't figure how to get it out...it's in there pretty tight and practically flush with the allen key so I don't think I can grab it with needle nose plyers. Maybe WD-40? Any tips?

I guess one option is to drill it out, but there is very little margin for error there - before hitting and ruining allen screw....

Go it! - One shot of WD40 and a smaller allen wrench scooped it right out. Tilted the bars back...which I think just rolls them down, not so much back on the M50 because of there shape.

Just returned from a little test ride. Nothing fell off...that's good. But I think I'm going to need more pull back. I kind of suspected that going in, but I wanted to give these spacers a shot. Suppose I'll wind up with a completely different bar...which will probably mean new cables...which will mean paying the dealer because I have no idea about all that. But it will be worth it because my lats and lower back are really upset with me. I just don't prefer quite the aggressive posture these bars dictate...but I LOVE the way they look, so I'll be sad to see them go.

If anyone has suggestions for bars that pull back 2"-3" beyond stock but still retain a bit of the aggressive look, let me know. Based on the stock bars pullback of 10.5" I think I'm going to need total pullback of about 12-13". C50 bars are certainly an option, but they are SO WIDE. I'm guessing the spacers give maybe 3/4" extra pullback, so I could still use those with a new bar.

Thanks again Ken! The spacers are great, just not quite enough for my body geometry.

[ranline]

Risers received in a timely manner, very good quality machine work! I installed on 2008 M50 yesterday with no problems. It did take a bit longer as I took my time so I would not scratch or dent. Went solo on the intall, using closed end 17mm wrench, 17mm ratchet/socket, rubber mallet. The rubber mallet I used to give a rap (not to hard) on the wrench to loosen the stud...worked great. Towels, packing bubbles and my fingers were you used to keep from banging tools against forks, bars, etc...

I'm very pleased with the results, rode immediately after installing.

thanks Ken!

Signed "Short Arms" Randy

[CooleyM50]

Originally Posted by vtbme

Outside surface, wide radius end. Looks like they will be facing forward...same direction as headlight. Maybe 10-12 nicks.

Getting ready to try the install...I'll let you know if it's even noticeable once on the bike...

Got them on with the help of spouse...good thing, I really don't think I would have been able to turn those stock studs. No torch, no long pipe...they were tight, but he got them. Everything else was pretty straight forward.

Sailing along and was going to roll bars back...then it happened. One of the caps that covers the handbar allen crews broke. The topcap popped of and left the cylinder part inside the allen screw. Now I can't figure how to get it out...it's in there pretty tight and practically flush with the allen key so I don't think I can grab it with needle nose plyers. Maybe WD-40? Any tips?

I guess one option is to drill it out, but there is very little margin for error there - before hitting and ruining allen screw....

Go it! - One shot of WD40 and a smaller allen wrench scooped it right out. Tilted the bars back...which I think just rolls them down, not so much back on the M50 because of there shape.

Just returned from a little test ride. Nothing fell off...that's good. But I think I'm going to need more pull back. I kind of suspected that going in, but I wanted to give these spacers a shot. Suppose I'll wind up with a completely different bar...which will probably mean new cables...which will mean paying the dealer because I have no idea about all that. But it will be worth it because my lats and lower back are really upset with me. I just don't prefer quite the aggressive posture these bars dictate...but I LOVE the way they look, so I'll be sad to see them go.

If anyone has suggestions for bars that pull back 2"-3" beyond stock but still retain a bit of the aggressive look, let me know. Based on the stock bars pullback of 10.5" I think I'm going to need total pullback of about 12-13". C50 bars are certainly an option, but they are SO WIDE. I'm guessing the spacers give maybe 3/4" extra pullback, so I could still use those with a new bar.

Thanks again Ken! The spacers are great, just not quite enough for my body geometry.

Would you be willing to set another set of the spacer blocks on top of the ones you have now and determine if your cables, hoses, and wires will accept the extra rise?
if so, I can begin working on a taller design.
Send me an email.

Best,
Ken

[CooleyM50]

Originally Posted by ranline

Risers received in a timely manner, very good quality machine work! I installed on 2008 M50 yesterday with no problems. It did take a bit longer as I took my time so I would not scratch or dent. Went solo on the intall, using closed end 17mm wrench, 17mm ratchet/socket, rubber mallet. The rubber mallet I used to give a rap (not to hard) on the wrench to loosen the stud...worked great. Towels, packing bubbles and my fingers were you used to keep from banging tools against forks, bars, etc...

I'm very pleased with the results, rode immediately after installing.

thanks Ken!

Signed "Short Arms" Randy

That's good Randy. I'm happy you are enjoying them.
Ride safe

[BING]

Installed on my wife's 2007 M50. I did it solo only took about 30 minutes the fit was very good, finish was great! Thanks Ken!

Want to give a shout out to BigBear777 for his confidence building and helpful answers to questions prior to install! Thanks Bro!

BING

[BigBear777]

Originally Posted by BING

Want to give a shout out to BigBear777 for his confidence building and helpful answers to questions prior to install! Thanks Bro!
BING

Just glad you got them on without any issues!

BTW, Has she commented on if she likes the change or not?

[Quantumcat]

I got mine on tonight and I really like the new riding position.

I used a little heat and I had no problem at all getting the studs out using the lock-nut method. No breaker bar. No aftermarker stud puller. No headache.

Unfortunately I overtightened the right riser bolt and stripped the riser (heavy hand due to a dense mind). That's a $200 mistake according to the OEM order list from the local dealer.

Big kudos to Ken and Jeff. Thanks guys.

Mantissa: In case you haven't got the studs out yet, I had the bar resting on the tank with a bunch of padding. I did apply some heat (about 20 sec. per side of the stud). I applied the nuts & lock-washer then stood on the left side of the bike with the left grip clenched between my thighs. With a couple taps of a rubber mallet on the box-end wrench the stud came right out. My voice is still just as deep as it always was.