my garage fitted these but gave me my bar end weights in a bag. should they have been kept on then? what they done different?

To my knowledge, the weights used for the guards are smaller(and lighter) then the ones that came with the bike as new. So it's right you got them when the guards were fitted, keep 'em in case you want to get back to original. I changed from the original handguards to Touratech, which came with their own endweights. So that's the story.
Greetz, Hans.

P.s.: there's no significant difference in vibes between the two set-ups and the original no-handguards set-up, in my experience.

I fitted a pair of black KTM 640 Adventure hand guards to my 08 Tenere. You can still use the bar ends. As the bars on the ktm are fatter you have to pack out the bar attachments with a wee bit of rubber or suchlike. By the way a new set of 640 adventure handguards are only �40. and boy do they make a difference in this cold weather.

I am waiting to have an OP for my CTS in the mean time I went down to a local gun shop and bought some fine lead shot. I bought some 10mm clear plastic tube from my local Hardware store and made my own removable lead bar snake. I would say I have lost 80% of my vibration for NZ$12. I then put bar raises on which cause me to sit slightly more upright, this reduces pressure on the hand. These mods are both easily reversible and allow for fine tuning. I can now ride for 3-4 times as far before my hand says " you have enjoyed your fun, now go home"
For those without CTS they will not understand how quick you hand starts to get painful even with a little vibration.

i haven't heard of this before, sounds good.Thanks for the tip.


I had a CTS decompression op on my right wrist three years ago, best thing i ever had done. it was a real downer before - having to pull in the clutch and coast for a bit every 2-3 miles just so i could hang my hand down to get some feeling back in it. not to mention the sleepless, painful nights....


Just in case you're having any doubts - do it.

I plan on having it done, seeing the specialist next week, it just got worse with riding the XT over Christmas. The main problem I had, was my clutch hand. Riding in rush hour so much between 30-60k I was constantly on the clutch moving between 2nd and 3rd which after 30min was agony.

I did 2 things to ease this before I came up with the lead weighted bar.

1. Dropped a tooth on the front cog, this meant I could go straight to 3rd for most of my traveling and still have plenty of torch at lower 3rd gear revs. This was great, reducing my clutch usage 50%. Yes I could have not used my clutch ( as bike purists do ) but I need better control in heavy traffic.
2. I bought an anti vibration gel glove insert from a safety shop. They are used to reduce vibration using power tools. This is great but has the draw back of having to put an inner and outer glove on each time I ride.

Hence the flexible lead snake bar. Bar end weights did just not cut it for me, even heavy ones.

Jeff :)

I recently fitted the touratw at hand guards and went for a wee spin yesterday. As mentioned before they come with a smaller set of weights. There is slightly more vibration at higher speeds but bearable for me.

Stumpy

Hi All. I fitted these handguards at the weekend.They are Polisport sharp guards,and cost �21.05 from Demon Tweeks in Wrexham.As you can see i have left the cross bar in place,and also was able to use the original bar weights.

http://i117.photobucket.com/albums/o...5022009073.jpg

http://i117.photobucket.com/albums/o...5022009071.jpg

http://i117.photobucket.com/albums/o...5022009070.jpg

Gary

Hi Gary, thanks for the info, they look good, but i'm interested to see how they mount on the end of the bar - can you post a link to bigger pics so i can have a better look please?

cheers,
Pete.

Hi Pete. Have a look at these pictures to see if they help.I made a small spacer to go on the end of the right hand bar so the throttle still returns nice.The reason for this is the oxford heated grips are slightly longer than the original yamaha grips and would touch the handguards.

Gary

http://i117.photobucket.com/albums/o...22009070-1.jpg

http://i117.photobucket.com/albums/o...22009071-1.jpg

http://i117.photobucket.com/albums/o...22009073-1.jpg