PAP's - Renegade - (Anything Goes)

I tried a trick I saw on the web for dampening vibrations through the handle bars by inserting a rubber hose inside the bars. I filled the hose with lead shot and plugged the ends. It seemed to help, so I added a couple of bolt on lead weights to the cross bar on the handle bars, which did help on the vibration issue. I think I'm going to remove the hoses and just fill the handlebars with some lead shot. I went for a speed test using a TomTom and got a solid 45 mph. I thought that wasn't bad for a 160 lb machine and 240 lbs of me with a stock motor.
 
I tried a trick I saw on the web for dampening vibrations through the handle bars by inserting a rubber hose inside the bars. I filled the hose with lead shot and plugged the ends. It seemed to help, so I added a couple of bolt on lead weights to the cross bar on the handle bars, which did help on the vibration issue. I think I'm going to remove the hoses and just fill the handlebars with some lead shot. I went for a speed test using a TomTom and got a solid 45 mph. I thought that wasn't bad for a 160 lb machine and 240 lbs of me with a stock motor.
^^^that's an interesting solution. I just rebalanced/retrued the spoke wheels on my Gilson trail bike in an effort to deal with vibration--haven't been able to test since the rain has been non-stop for almost two weeks. Your work is impeccable--wish I had the equip and skills to do what you did.:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:
 
I went ahead and filled the handlebars with shot, and it reduced the bad vibes dramatically. They are not totally gone, but now tolerable. Before, I couldn't go around the block without my hands going numb.
Coincidently, an old friend that I hadn't seen in a while stopped in the other night. I showed him my project, and we were discussing the issue of vibrations. He has a lot of experience with motorcycles, and his brother owns a HD dealership in FL. When he worked for him, he said the first thing they would do is fill the handlebars solid full of silicone caulk. I figured I would try the lead shot first, at least I can empty it back out. I did fill the hollow in the foot pegs with silicone plugs, but I couldn't tell much difference there.
 
I went ahead and filled the handlebars with shot, and it reduced the bad vibes dramatically. They are not totally gone, but now tolerable. Before, I couldn't go around the block without my hands going numb.
Coincidently, an old friend that I hadn't seen in a while stopped in the other night. I showed him my project, and we were discussing the issue of vibrations. He has a lot of experience with motorcycles, and his brother owns a HD dealership in FL. When he worked for him, he said the first thing they would do is fill the handlebars solid full of silicone caulk. I figured I would try the lead shot first, at least I can empty it back out. I did fill the hollow in the foot pegs with silicone plugs, but I couldn't tell much difference there.
Hey PAP, when I built my recording studio I floated and isolated the inner walls with foam rubber. I told my neighbors to let me know if our classic rock band was ever too loud and they said they didn't even know we were rehearsing. The key is to decouple the vibrating mass from the vibration source. The greater the mass of the part you want to stop vibrating the better. Once you establish that mass then the decoupling rubber or other compliant material is best carefully chosen; not real stiff, but it obviously can't let things flop around, either.

In the old days of record players I had great success in reducing tone arm feedback due to vibrations from the speakers coming through the floor and through the stand the turntable was on (very loud rock and roll). :rockon: I put a plank of wood on the floor, then a sheet of rubber on that. An empty speaker box was placed on the rubber. Then I put a concrete block in the speaker box with the turntable on top of the box. This treatment was very successful.

The shot in your handlebars makes sense. Maybe some thin rubber wrapped around the bars where they are connected to the tree would work, but I don't know how doable that would be.
 
Most handles bars are 7/8", with an 1" diameter section where they clamp. I made my clamp blocks for the 1" section, only to find when I got the handle bars they were 7/8" where they clamp. So I made a split bushing from PVC that went from 7/8 to 1". If I could find something a little softer than PVC, I'd give it another shot.
 
Well, the inner tube rubber is a no-go. I can't get it to clamp down tight enough to hold the bars tight, because it is too squishy. However I did find a piece of clear tubing, similar to clear fuel line. It was 5/8" i.d., 7/8 o.d.. So I slipped it over a 5/8" shaft and turned to .750". I turned 2 pieces and then split them for a top and bottom. It seem to tightened up good, so a test ride tomorrow.
 
Well, the inner tube rubber is a no-go. I can't get it to clamp down tight enough to hold the bars tight, because it is too squishy. However I did find a piece of clear tubing, similar to clear fuel line. It was 5/8" i.d., 7/8 o.d.. So I slipped it over a 5/8" shaft and turned to .750". I turned 2 pieces and then split them for a top and bottom. It seem to tightened up good, so a test ride tomorrow.
What about a piece of Delrin or the like?

Doug
 
That's a good point, Doug. Maybe there is some elasticity there. The spec's say it is stiff, but how stiff can it be when used as a (I guess) somewhat compliant component of a suspension?
 
Delrin crossed my mind, but I didn't have any in that size. But I did scrounge up a piece HDPE. I checked the hardness with my Shore hardness tester, and came up with the following: PVC=77, Delrin=73, HDPE= 60, and the piece of clear tubing I finally used came in at 27. I found a combination that works to the point that it ain't getting any better than this. I ended up removing the extra lead weight that I bolted to the cross bar, because it got better without it after I used the clear tubing on the handlebar clamp.
I guess this qualifies as a science experiment...hope you took notes!:wink:
 
There is still some, but it's tolerable. While we were doing the video I almost had an "Oh shit" moment. I had to put the PVC bushing back in.....the clear tubing worked ok till I stood on the brakes hard, all the momentum moved the handlebars forward. Gotta love these brakes!
Now if I could just get this video to load....:doah:
 
I almost had an "Oh shit" moment. I had to put the PVC bushing back in.....the clear tubing worked ok till I stood on the brakes hard, all the momentum moved the handlebars forward. Gotta love these brakes!

PAP Could you pin the bars to the risers and isolate the pin to eliminate hard contact but control rotation at the same time? :shrug:

Doug
 
I had put some thought into that, but it would put the bars into one position only. I'll ride it a bit, and when I feel everything's comfortable, I might pin it.
Did the video work?
 
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