'99 M750 Clip-On Question

[Rebel7]

Hey guys,

I bought this bike used with clip-ons included a few months ago and am worried that they may have been installed incorrectly. To preface, I am a noob and this is my first bike, I've been trying to soak up as much as I can from forums. From what I have researched on this and other forums, the clip-ons on my bike were installed over the triple, however I'm not sure if the forks were moved. I also have no idea what clip-ons these are, but I have a feeling they might be the MotoWheels Billets. From the pictures below, are these installed correctly or am I riding a death machine? Since this is my first bike, and I started on a 250 Nighthawk, I don't really have the expertise to tell if anything is wrong, the turn radius does seem smaller than the Nighthawk, but I chalked this up to the clip ons. Would risers be appropriate for these to give me a bit more turn radius? Thanks for the validation and additional info in advance.

http://imgur.com/a/Bn65W

[stopintime]

The fork clamps on those clip ons are not as high/thick as most clip ons. This means they can be mounted over the top triple without sliding the fork legs "too high" up in the triple trees.

Sliding the fork legs "too high" is subjective. Too much is when the bike becomes so unstable at speed and/or difficult to control that it results in a crash. High fork legs = lowered front. Your bike isn't lowered that much. I wouldn't call it dangerous. Do you find it unstable?

The one unusual thing on your bike is that the handle bars sweep back angle is generous. It may feel comfortable for your wrists, but will limit the steering input power. Situations where you need power to control the bike, mid corner bumps, fast movements in traffic, will suffer.   

This angle also limits the steering bars movement - increasing the turning radius. I don't know if riser clip ons will help, but you can check that out just by looking at the bars/tank interface.

It's up to you, but for a noob I'd suggest reducing the sweep back angle to see if that makes riding more controlable. If so, make sure to adjust the steering stops accordingly so that you get some of that smaller turning radius you're used to.

[Howie]

Those clip-ons look like the ones Motowheels used to (maybe still do) sell designed slim enough to fit the forks at stock height.  Any way, though technically not the way to do it, but a quick way to check, you want about 17mm of fork over the triple.

[Rebel7]

Thanks for the good news. If I want to make the bars extend out a bit more, is there a specific measurement to do this, or do you just eyeball it and move it to where one prefers? I don't really like how swept back the bars are and would like to reduce the amount, especially since I'm new, like Stopintime said. Do I just loosen the clip-ons and move them to preferred position? Sorry if this is a silly question. Thanks again.

[ducpainter]

That's pretty much it. Move the bars to where they're comfortable. Check to make sure all cables, wires, and hydraulic lines are free and clear of the steering stops. Adjust the stops as necessary to give the bars some clearance at full lock so you don't damage the tank but get as much turning radius as you can.

Nothing to it.

[Rebel7]

Perfect, I wondered about this because I noticed that if the bars are at full lock, the ignition button actually hits the tank and turns the engine. I was like, 'That cannot be right...'

[ducpainter]

Be aware you might have to physically adjust the throttle cables routing so the throttle returns properly at all handlebar positions. You just need to check that all is well.

The starter button will stop hitting when you move the bars forward.

[Rebel7]

Will do, I am actually going to put a new throttle tube on after I adjust these because the throttle wasn't returning anyways