900LT - Will Lowers hit the Highway Bars?

[TejasDevil]

Well, I just added highway bars to my 900LT, and I think they look great. Went with the MC Enterprises bars, since I liked the shape a little better.

The question I have for the board is that I've also ordered OEM lowers for the 900, below is a picture, and I'm a bit worried that the lowers are going to hit the highway bar when the wheel is turned all the way to the right or left. If the lowers are aligned in the middle of the fork tube, I don't see how they won't hit the highway bar, if they are aligned at the front of the tube maybe they won't hit, but it looks to be close.



Note the following picture from Kawasaki where they show the lowers installed and you can see a highway bar behind them. So they are implying that it will work, but I don't know, still looks close to me. Maybe the MCE bars stick out more forward or something.



One way or another I'll find out when the lowers show up in a week or so.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Tejas

[BOURBON BOY]

I made some larger lowers for my Nomad, and yes they would hit the bars. I had to cut a small radius to make everything clear. You can use a dremmel or a jigsaw with a fine tooth blade. The safe easy way to do this is before mounting, trace the outline of the lowers on some cardboard, and mark the holes.Then put the holes through your pattern and mount them into the brackets. if they will hit take a marker and scribe where the bars are and cut the area. Retry and see if it works, if it does, put the bolts through the lexan and mark it, just flip the pattern and do the other side to mark it OR bolt both pieces together and cut/grind them both at the same time so they match.Once you have the brackets you can make custom lowers by buying lexan around your area, my oversized lowers cost a whopping $6.00. It's actually a lot easier than it sounds. BB

[GrayDragon]

I have Memphis lowers on my 900 LT. Yes they hit at max turn ..if I angle them back to far. Not a big deal I adjusted the angle 2-3 deg so they do not hit.

[TejasDevil]

Originally Posted by GrayDragon

I have Memphis lowers on my 900 LT. Yes they hit at max turn ..if I angle them back to far. Not a big deal I adjusted the angle 2-3 deg so they do not hit.

Thanks, but I'm not sure I can angle back the Kawasaki OEM lowers. I think they are on a fixed bracket that bolts onto the windshield bracket. If there's any play there, I'll give it a try.

TD

[powday]

I have the MC bars on my 9. I had the Memphis lowers and they would just touch in full turn. I felt like I wanted more chrome, so I changed out the Memphis for the Custom World ones. One side doesn't touch in full turn... but the other one just touches. Memphis lowers seems to offer better buffeting protection, but the Custom World definitely look cooler. Good luck!

[mwmalotte]

Which Custom World ones did you get and do you have any pics of them on your bike?

[TejasDevil]

Originally Posted by TejasDevil

Well, I just added highway bars to my 900LT, and I think they look great. Went with the MC Enterprises bars, since I liked the shape a little better.

The question I have for the board is that I've also ordered OEM lowers for the 900, below is a picture, and I'm a bit worried that the lowers are going to hit the highway bar when the wheel is turned all the way to the right or left. If the lowers are aligned in the middle of the fork tube, I don't see how they won't hit the highway bar, if they are aligned at the front of the tube maybe they won't hit, but it looks to be close.



Note the following picture from Kawasaki where they show the lowers installed and you can see a highway bar behind them. So they are implying that it will work, but I don't know, still looks close to me. Maybe the MCE bars stick out more forward or something.



One way or another I'll find out when the lowers show up in a week or so.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Tejas

Ok, folks, I need your help/opinions. I got my lowers from Beartooth. Good news/bad news. The good news is the plastic part of the lowers doesn't touch the highway bars at a full turn (but just barely), they are a lot more forward-setting than I thought. The bad news is that the actual metal bracket they attach to does touch the highway bars, about a quarter-inch prior to the full-turn stop (almost at the very end of a full-turn). I guess the MCE bars were not designed with the OEM lowers in mind.

So, what's your thoughts?? Would this be something that would keep you from installing the lowers? I can say that I have done the full-turn during tight slow turns (mostly practicing figure-8's), but is this something that you would be worried about for daily use? Maybe I should keep them, but only use them for longer trips where they are needed. But that would be a hassle to keep putting them on and off.

Any ideas?

Thanks,

TD

[TejasDevil]

Ok, after the barrage of responses, I've come up with a plan. I'm going to test the lowers to see if they significantly cut down on the buffeting (I'm having a lot of wind coming up from both sides of the bike when riding at high speed, which hits me in the chest area, and when it's really bad it hits me under my helmet which knocks me around quite a bit). If the lowers do make a big difference on the buffeting, then I'm going to sell the MCE bars and find some bars (likely OEM) that will work without hitting the lowers brackets (the bars will be set bac farther somehow than the MCE bars). If they don't make a big difference, then I'll sell the lowers and keep the MCE bars.

So that's my plan and I'm sticking to it.

TD

[Ronin1970]

I have the OEM lowers with Cobra Engine Guards. The lowers do not touch the guards. They definitely make a big impact on wind buffeting.

[TejasDevil]

Originally Posted by Ronin1970

I have the OEM lowers with Cobra Engine Guards. The lowers do not touch the guards. They definitely make a big impact on wind buffeting.

Wow, didn't know that. The MCE's must be oriented more forward. Would you have a pic you can share of where they are mounting to the bike so I can see? Would really appreciate it before I go out and buy a new set.

Thanks,

TD

[powday]

Originally Posted by mwmalotte

Which Custom World ones did you get and do you have any pics of them on your bike?

I got the only Custom World ones that I found which are the triangular shaped ones. Here's the link: Custom World Lowers for VN900

No pictures yet, but I'll work on that later this week/weekend.

See Ya,
Justin

[TejasDevil]

Originally Posted by Ronin1970

I have the OEM lowers with Cobra Engine Guards. The lowers do not touch the guards. They definitely make a big impact on wind buffeting.

I took a closer look at my MCE bars, and it looks like there is about a 3/4 inch gap between the bars and the frame tubes. If this gap was smaller, I think my lowers bracket wouldn't hit the bar - it's an extra 3/4 inch that I don't have right now on clearance.

Can you take a look at how much clearance you have between your Cobras and the frame? If it's less than 1/2 inch, I think I'd have enough clearance.

How much gap do you have between your lowers and the Cobras at a full turn?

Thanks,

TD

[TejasDevil]

Originally Posted by Ronin1970

I have the OEM lowers with Cobra Engine Guards. The lowers do not touch the guards. They definitely make a big impact on wind buffeting.

Ok, given that I just don't like the OEM highway bars that much since they have that pinch in the middle, I'm going to go for the Cobras and give it a shot. Hopefully as you say they will work without the lowers hitting. I'll end up selling my MCE's hopefully I won't lose too much dinero on the transaction.

TD

[TejasDevil]

Originally Posted by Ronin1970

I have the OEM lowers with Cobra Engine Guards. The lowers do not touch the guards. They definitely make a big impact on wind buffeting.

You are absolutely, 100% correct, sir!!!

Just got the Cobra's today, and they do attach about 1/2 inch farther back towards the radiator than the MCE's. Makes all the difference in the world with the lowers. Whereas with the MCE's, the OEM lowers metal bracket hits the lowers before the final part of a full turn -- with the Cobra's, not only does the metal lowers bracket not hit the bars, but it swings by and the plastic lowers themselves come about 1/4" from hitting on a full turn. So overall the installation is perfect!!

Now I just need to sell my MCE's on ebay, no problem!

Thanks!

TD

[TejasDevil]

I really like how the lowers are working, the wind coming up and hitting my legs and chest is much reduced, not completely, but much less. The true test will be on a longer ride when we hit some serious head winds.

But overall I love the fit, finish and function of the OEM lowers. It's nice how the styling mimics the stock windshield side-brackets of the LT. I'll get some pics posted when I have a chance this week sometime.

Note as a result I'm selling the MCE highway bars on ebay, which I owned for all of two weeks. Here's the link if anyone's interested: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...262714052&rd=1

Thanks,

TD

[Ronin1970]

Glad the combo worked out as well for you as it did for me...

[TejasDevil]

Originally Posted by Ronin1970

Glad the combo worked out as well for you as it did for me...

Funny, I emailed Cobra before I bought them, and they said they did not know if they would work with OEM lowers either. I replied later that they work fine, and they should use this to their advantage in their advertising vs MCE.

TD