:weld::weld:hahaaa believe me if i were riding and my handlebars came off it would only happen once
Weld...yes, the best solution....but then they wouldn’t be "removable" as boasted in the H.P.E Cat catalog and ads.
Why was that a feature to boast about? Maybe so you could fit the bike in the trunk of a car to transport to riding grounds?? I don't know. The cost of having chrome handlebars was certainly reduced as no need to chrome entire forks to achieve that end.
Mine did have a 3-4" long single bead weld across the front but that obviously wasn't enough. Does anyone know if this weld was factory as I'm thinking maybe others experienced the detached handle bar adrenaline rush and perhaps Cat started adding a weld across the front?
Last night I transformed the old 400X (yes the same one) from pieces in boxes to an actual rolling mini-bike (no engine) loosely bolted together to prevent parts loss, keeping the thing together until I can get back to finishing the resto work I started 15 years ago.
When I went to bolt on the handle bars I went to my supply of new bolts, naturally grabbing a couple of 3/8 bolts, and to my surprise the holes are only big enough to accommodate 5/16 bolts. How wimpy is that?
Short of welding, a minimum upgrade would be drilling out to 3/8, or better yet; 7/16 bolts. You would have to use socket-head bolts, as the plate the Cat sticker is on would present a clearance issue with standard hex-head bolts.