My Beach Bar installation

MilwDave

MilwDave

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I have begun my journey and I'll share some info here in case anyone is thinking of heading down this road.

First of all the width is not all that much wider but the reach is decreased and the grip angle is changed (my motivation for the swap).

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The extended wiring harnesses are more than long enough to accommodate internal routing. In the video on YouTube they have to zip tie the considerable remaining length underneath the tank.
Removing the right side harness from the bars was tight (slathered with lithium grease from the factory) but I just needed to take my time to arrange the connectors properly before pulling them past the bends and not cause any damage. The beach bar has far gentler bends so getting the wires past the them will go easier.

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Here is where I have questions. You have to ask yourself why the beach bar does not come with the slots milled from the factory to allow for internal wiring?
If you look closely you can see the ridge on the beach bar near the reduced grip area. I am not certain if this is a pressed-in segment. I did run a length of wire through the bar to make certain there is no solid sections inside the bar. But I will have to mill the slot near or over that seam. My next step is to endoscope the inside of the bars to see what I'm up against there.

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Can't wait to see them on your bike.I really like the beach bars for a bobber solo seat set up.Good job!
 
R18C said:
Can't wait to see them on your bike.I really like the beach bars for a bobber solo seat set up.Good job!
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I have ordered the LMC Lang Motorcycles Swing Seat. My bike is not a First Edition so I am having it stitched with a silver/grey thread that Hans says will match up well with the grey engine case.

I have to say that Hans was very easy to deal with after I downloaded the Mate app for my Mac and it translated English into perfect German to get my order in.

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MilwDave said:
I have ordered the LMC Lang Motorcycles Swing Seat. My bike is not a First Edition so I am having it stitched with a silver/grey thread that Hans says will match up well with the grey engine case.

I have to say that Hans was very easy to deal with after I downloaded the Mate app for my Mac and it translated English into perfect German to get my order in.

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Thats Bad A$$!
Looks like a show piece(y)
 
So I ran the endoscope through the inside of the bars. I cannot find any seam inside the bars where the ridge appears on the outside. I wanted to check and make sure the inside I.D. would allow the connectors to slide through. I was a little concerned the bars would be made from thicker steel but the shot inside of the welded-in thread boss for the bar-end weights looks to be of a similar I.D. of the OEM bars. It would really suck to cut into a brand new set of bars and find an obstruction or too narrow of an I.D.

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So tomorrow it's off to my brother-in-law's tool and die shop to mill the slots into the bars. Hopefully we can get it done without scratching up the painted surfaces otherwise it will be off to have them powder coated again.
 
R18C said:
Thats Bad A$$!
Looks like a show piece(y)
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The seat is a springer that operates off of a billet lever at the front. The lower billet cover has slots to allow for a little over 2-1/2" of fore and aft adjustment. I am pretty please that Hans said the springs improve the ride of the R18 considerably as I'm currently hope recuperating from a lumbar fusion.

Here is a picture of some raw machined parts.

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MilwDave said:
So I ran the endoscope through the inside of the bars. I cannot find any seam inside the bars where the ridge appears on the outside. I wanted to check and make sure the inside I.D. would allow the connectors to slide through. I was a little concerned the bars would be made from thicker steel but the shot inside of the welded-in thread boss for the bar-end weights looks to be of a similar I.D. of the OEM bars. It would really suck to cut into a brand new set of bars and find an obstruction or too narrow of an I.D.

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So tomorrow it's off to my brother-in-law's tool and die shop to mill the slots into the bars. Hopefully we can get it done without scratching up the painted surfaces otherwise it will be off to have them powder coated again.
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Maybe you could reinforce the slot holes you plan to cut out then have em powder coated.I was an airframe tech in the military always raises concerns about strength to weight ratio.These 2 wheeled machines are similar to aircraft:)
 
R18C said:
Maybe you could reinforce the slot holes you plan to cut out then have em powder coated.I was an airframe tech in the military always raises concerns about strength to weight ratio.These 2 wheeled machines are similar to aircraft:)
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I may look into that but the slots in the OEM bars are pretty large and if we milled up a set of bosses to weld on it may be unsightly. Plus they couldn't intrude at all into the I.D. as those connectors are a bit bulky.
But when we're done if it looks compromised I will have to talk to Tom about what he thinks. He's the master craftsman in the family.
 
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Me2 but hang in there. The beach bars on my Road King are still my favorite way to pose on a bike but I really enjoy cruising the City on my R18 and feeling like I AM the king. That seat from Hans is to die for and I hope to see it on the bike. I might even reach out to Hans and practice my Deutsch.
 
dfinkelsteinmd said:
Me2 but hang in there. The beach bars on my Road King are still my favorite way to pose on a bike but I really enjoy cruising the City on my R18 and feeling like I AM the king. That seat from Hans is to die for and I hope to see it on the bike. I might even reach out to Hans and practice my Deutsch.
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I rode a Yamaha Roadliner that I put beach bars on all over the country for eleven years. To me they offer the most relaxed riding position of any style handlebars.
 
MilwDave said:
I rode a Yamaha Roadliner that I put beach bars on all over the country for eleven years. To me they offer the most relaxed riding position of any style handlebars.
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Yeah,I'm more of a Beach than an Ape,LOL!
 
Nice job!They look strong enough to handle the openings.

Hopefully you are going to a warmer climate on vacation .
 
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R18C said:
Nice job!They look strong enough to handle the openings.

Hopefully you are going to a warmer climate on vacation .
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They are plenty beefy. I haven’t had the time to measure the I.D. yet but I’m hoping that it is not narrower than the OEM bar.
 
So my alarm did not go off this morning and we arrived at the airport 15 minutes too late to board our flight. So while my travel agent tries to get us another flight I played around with the bars to get my mind off of this FUBAR.

The wall thickness of the beach bar tubing is greater but the wiring will slide through. I attached a length of string to the harness and lubed the inside of the bars with lithium grease. The right side with the throttle control wiring is bulkier and I started with that harness. As I mentioned earlier the minimal bends of the beach bar made it go easier but that bulkier harness took a little patience to avoid stressing any of the wiring. But after getting the right side in the left slid right through.

So we can safely say that BMW dropped the ball by not slotting the bars for the wiring.

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