Or rather, they reduce the rock.

I just received my new Extra Heavy Universal Bar Ends from HVMP at a hefty 18 ounces - over a freakin’ pound EACH! Looking them over reveals them to be quality made, with a smooth mirror finish on the steel and HVMP (for Hudson Valley Motorsports Parts) stamped into the end. The rubber dampening piece that holds the bar end in place and from my observation helps provide the dampening affect, or rather the transfer of vibration to the bar ends, seems to also be quality rubber component.

Installation took me all of 5 minutes on the left side. 4 minutes of that was using an exacto knife to cut out the end of my traction grip so I could insert the bar end. Tightening the bar end was simple, using the hex wrench that HVMP thoughtfully provided in the package.

The throttle side took me a few minutes longer as my first attempt bound the throttle up. I simply had to clean up the grip a bit more to provide enough room for the bar end not to snag, and then it worked perfectly.

Today happened to be one of those wonderful spring like days in Columbus so I took my Buell around the block at low RPM to test out what vibration control the bar ends possessed.

O…M…G…!!!

I can see, I can see!!! My mirrors, that is. Or rather, reflections in my mirrors.

My Buell (along with everyone else’s from what I gather), with the powerful torque of the Thunderstorm 1203, has a strong vibration at low revs. These vibrations are strong enough to really shake my hands and arms, and shake the mirrors enough that I’ve given up seeing anything in them below 3,000 RPMs.

But with these HVMP bar ends, my hands aren’t numbing up from the vibrations and the mirrors aren’t shaking. Even at a lowly 1,500-2,000 RPMs I can see clearly in my mirrors! Yeah!!

Lisa says that they also add a slightly meaner look to the bike, and I agree. While at first glance they seem almost too big, these things actually add a great new look to the bike.

While on my short test ride I reached over to feel the bar ends compared to my grips. Wow, what a difference! The bar ends truly do take the majority of the vibration. I could feel in them the shakes that I used to feel in my grips.

I’m excited to get my bike out on the open road and see, or rather feel, more of this fantastic difference!

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Posted: March 10th, 2009 at 7:51 pm.
Filed under: Motorcycling.
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