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Post by steadythebuffs on Oct 8, 2007 17:12:35 GMT -5
Took the bike to work today - thought I'd catch a dry commute, before the winter sets in and I get wedded to the car - and it was so uncomfortable I was dreading the ride home. My commute includes 50 miles of mway/dual c - dull stuff - and even with a givi screen it's agony. I need higher/nearer bars, a lower seat, lower footpegs and a fairing that you don't have to crouch flat on the tank to get any benefit from. I feel generally tipped forward too. Cheap fairings are very hard to find. Anyone ever tried lowering the seat or changing the bars? Buffs
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Post by McF on Oct 9, 2007 0:52:52 GMT -5
It was a nice day for it too yesterday, certainly in North Yorkshire anyway. I regret I had to use the car, but spent most of my journey thinking (wish I'd used the bike). The mods you're describing Buffs sound more like a new bike required! I've tried several different bars on mine; beware! Any tinkering in this department will have you spending hours rerouting the cables, especially the throttle cables. Your family and neighbours will hear a new language as you struggle. At one point I ended up bodging a spacer to lift the front of the petrol tank and ran the cables between tank and frame. Take a look at the amount of obstruction around the head stock, the space available for a smooth lead in to the carbs and you'll know what I mean when you try to get effective lock to lock operation. I thought smart too and measured the cable lengths I wanted, went to my local bike emporium and gave them the dimension. "What bike is it for?" "Don't know, don't care, but I need these lengths and these fittings on the end" "Sorry mate, don't carry them in stock, have to order them so I need the part number or the bike they're off....." Higher bars is going to expose you to more wind, so you will need to sort out the fairing, perhaps a trip to that well known and REVEREd (pun intended) manufacturer of bespoke fairings Derbsyshirebill is the best solution. Lowering the footpegs I suspect is a home fabrication job and then carries the risk of grounding on corners (I assume you do not have worn knee sliders at present). I did see a thread on this topic elsewhere. I'll see if I can retrace it and post later. Lowering the seat, main option is to remove some foam. You will then find less between your butt and the plastic base. I think that would be less pleasant then your current problems. I hate to repeat it, but if it's as bad as it sounds, perhaps a different bike is the answer...
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Post by dpmiller on Oct 9, 2007 1:51:00 GMT -5
On mine at least, spacers under the standard bars *just* fitted OK. I ended up grinding the (fairing mount?) tab off the front of the steering head to slacken the throttle return cable a touch tho. Keep an eye on ebay, there's a german chap that sells footrest lowering kits from time to time. They'll let you place the 'rests anywhere in a 2" or so radius of the standard spot, IIRC.
But yes, the NTV is a bit odd-shaped. Consensus certainly seems footrests too high. I was on a medium- sized Kawa recently- an ER5 or somesuch- and it felt much more "normal". Crappy bike tho.
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Post by steadythebuffs on Oct 9, 2007 7:57:28 GMT -5
thanks for your thoughts, chaps I've had all I want of fiddling with cables! I've turned the bars so that they are less of a reach (but consequently lower, of course) and some variation of that looks the way forward as far as the bars go.
I think the lower seat/ home-made fairing is the best I'll get on the cheap, without swapping bikes. All I need is a spare seat to butcher - anyone know if Honda fittings are standard across similar size bikes from the same era? A CX500 seat for example - NTV650 seats seem quite pricey on ebay. The other option is to go single-seater with top-box rear-seat, and cobble together something - sounds like the winter project!
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Post by Jake on Oct 9, 2007 8:13:37 GMT -5
CX500 seat won't fit the NTV, mate....
Funny, I lowered the footpegs by raising the seat.
Also fitted 30mm and then later 50mm bar raisers from M&P. Used longer throttle cables, and clutch cable off a Deauville.
New riding position feels great now I'm used to it....
Jake.
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Post by steadythebuffs on Oct 9, 2007 8:21:10 GMT -5
It didn't occur to me to raise the seat - that would re-distribute the weight betweeen feet and backside. As that's easy to do for testing purposes - strap on a pillow - I'll give that a go before I try anything else. cheers Jake
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Post by Jake on Oct 9, 2007 8:39:38 GMT -5
You're welcome, mate.... By the way, if I remember correctly I didn't need to alter the cables when I fitted a 30mm bar raiser but I already had a longer brake hose installed..... I also use a Airhawk seat-pad (the cheaper plastic version from Busters). Jake.
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Post by hovis on Oct 9, 2007 10:16:06 GMT -5
Comfort ??, Now i have just sold my Revere and would comfirm,it was not comftable !!!!!!!!!!!!,foot pegs to high,seat was awful,i even had firmer foam fitted but didn't make much difference,at least on the 650 you have scope to change/raise the handlebars which you can not do on the revere, Good luck Hovis
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Post by sheekbiker on Oct 9, 2007 16:16:18 GMT -5
Hi All, I know what Hovis means when he says you can't change the 600 Revere I'm desperatly trying to see ways of raising the bars on mine + move the footrests forward. As the Revere was comfortable when I bought it in 03 and nothing has been changed on the bike it must be me getting older and needing a more upright position thats caused the problem but we can't modify me. I've worked out a bar mod but as you say the cables and hose will need altering to do a proper job then to alter the footrests I will probably need to extend the gear and back brake levers . Why have manufactuars never got round to making all these things adjustable. Sheekbiker.
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Post by sheekbiker on Oct 10, 2007 16:20:31 GMT -5
Hi All, For you guys who have the 650s with normal bar fittings and wish to alter your riding position you could try fitting Laverda Jota bars, they are multi adjustable. You can find pattern ones on the internet but they are a bit pricey at about £60 . Sheekbiker
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Post by dpmiller on Oct 10, 2007 17:00:04 GMT -5
I had a pair on my TDM and, when my mate finally digs them back out from the depths of his lock-up I'll have'em on the Auntie.
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Post by dugardc on Oct 11, 2007 16:00:31 GMT -5
The joys of ntv650, the 600 you can't do anything with the handle bar set up
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Post by ntvnick on Oct 12, 2007 9:04:04 GMT -5
Sorry to hear about your problems Buffs, I hate to say it but if the bike is that bad a fit for your journey, then maybe another bike is the answer. I find my bike fine round town, which is where it does most of it's miles. On the one long trip (200 miles) that I have taken it on, windblast above 80mph was the worst problem (not an issue in London) and I have now put back the headlamp fairing that I removed when I bought the bike. However at legal speeds it is fine. I'm 5' 10". I have a set of Jota bars on my Jota and though the number of adjustment positions is limited by the castellated elbows, they do offer a useful range. I have mine set on the high side as the pain on my wrists in the dropped position was too much. Heresy I know, but other ( Cheap ) bikes to consider are BMW K75 with a fairing if you want the shaft drive or Diversion 600 if you don't. The most popular dispatch bikes in London at the moment are the 600 Fazer and the CB500. I think that the two of them probably account for about 60% of the dispatch bikes that I see. It has been a while since there were droves of NTV's and even longer since they were all CX's. The cushion sounds like an easy test, but I bet you get some laughs from your neighbors, thinking the old Nobby Stiles are acting up. hope you get it sorted Nick Oh and Hovis, sorry to hear that you have left the fold, what have you replaced it with?
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Post by steadythebuffs on Oct 12, 2007 9:13:00 GMT -5
It's the wind blast more than anything - so I'll keep pursuing the fairing. And I'll get one of those throttle rest things. I'm not ready to give up on the bike just yet - and can't afford another anyway! It's got to be shaft drive - I've looked at xj900, K75 and K100 on ebay, but they are all the best part of £1000 or up - plus whatever it costs to get the right, plus extra insurance. Better the devil you know, at the moment
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Post by Jake on Oct 12, 2007 9:26:28 GMT -5
Hi Buffs, Posted this a while back on another thread for all you Revere owner's considering handeblar mods. Not sure if it will work but if it does, then you'll have buy suitable bars in addition Raask risers.... possibly those off a standard NTV. (See below) Have you considered the “Raask” bar raisers as an alternative to a yoke conversion? The Raask bar raisers work by clamping to the top of the forks, where they pass through the yoke. You can then fit tubular bars, through the bar raisers themselves… Only drawback is, that the forks have to protrude through the yoke by a minimum of 25mm otherwise you can’t attach the bar raisers… I’m not totally familiar with the bar layout on the Revere so I’m not sure if the Raask alternative will work. But you can buy them from M and P or Busters….. www.busters-accessories.co.uk/proddetail.asp?prod=RAAwww.mandp.co.uk/productInfo.aspx?catRef=523065hawkworks.net/manual/12.html#12-3-handlebar-removalJake.
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