Post by Dandy Dan on Dec 19, 2005 10:40:49 GMT -5
I've been doing some research about our options for installing aftermarket handlebars.
In order to install aftermarket bars you need to install a 'stem' which is a part that attaches to the top of the fork tube on one end and clamps to your bars on the other
Currently there are 2 catagories of stems we could use.
1) The first catagory of stems are the ones designed specifically for our scooter. To my current knowledge 2 companies make these. The first company is Daytona and their stem can be had for 82$ from battlescooterstore.com. I believe this part is only part billet which makes it cheaper than a full billet unit.
This Daytona part does not include a bracket that enables you to mount your stock speedometer. You can purchase one for 26.30$ or you could attach your speedo via zipties, a bracket from a hardware store or a homemade mount. Alternatively, you could ditch the stock speedo and mount a nice Veypor VR2 unit directly to your bars.
The second company that makes a stem that perfectly fits our Ruckus's is Kitaco. This stem is available from the Classic Honda store (http://www.hondaminitrail.com/ZOOMER%20RUCKUS.htm) for 123.55$. This unit is more expensive because it's a full billet unit and it does include the gauge mount bracket. Additionally, Kitaco is normally a bit more expensive than Daytona. One thing to consider if you are going to use a Veypor VR2 unit is that the Daytona stem would likely suit this better as you could center it easier I'd imagine.
2) The second catagory of stems are cheaper but harder to fit. This catagory consists of stems from mtn bikes.
The steerer tube on our scooters (where the stems mount) is 15/16" which equals 23.81mm in diameter. Currently, the vast majority of mtn bikes use 1 1/8" diameter steerer tubes which equals 28.56mm. Attempting to clamp one of these directly on would be very dangerous. However, there are still some mtn bike stems being made that are 1" in diameter (25.4mm) which is much closer. It may be possible to clamp on of these on directly but ideally you'd make some sort of metal shim that fits around the steerer tube to increase the diameter to 1". One thing to consider when buying a 1" stem though is that the handlebar clamp may not be the appropriate diameter as back then they sometimes used thinner bars too. I'm not sure what the correct handlebar diameter is but it's atleat 1" (25.4mm). A second factor to consider is that most mtn bike stems that are 1" will be very long so your handlebars would be quite far forward which may not appeal to everyone as it changes your steering but does provide more cockpit room. Below is the best 1" clamp stem I've been able to find so far. It's a 1" steerer tube clamp so with a thin metal shim it should clamp fine but it does have a 22.2mm handlebar clamp which may work still with larger bars and perhaps could be modified. This stem is the shortest 1" stem I've ever heard of with a reach of 35mm. Typically these stems are 50-110mm.
Another option for mtn bike stems is that you could buy a regular 1 1/8" stem and just add about 5mm of shim so it clamps tightly. I know of a nice shim that makes 1 1/8 stems fit a 1" steerer for just 6$ so if you went with that you could try that solo or add a bit more shim to get it fitting snuggly to a 15/16" steerer.
If you do this you'd suddenly have the full world of mtn bike parts available to you including the tough, sexy and short DH and Freeride mtn bike stems. These stems will have the proper bar clamp. The only drawbacks with doing this are:
1) You need to shim from 23.8mm to 28.6mm
2) Your bars are slightly forward compared to scooter specific stems.
3) These stems don't use the steerer tube through-bolt as a security but if you clamp it properly they should be fine.
The benefits of doing this is that you can get a very attractive stem for less than scooter specific ones. As well, some people may perfer there bars further forward for a more spacious cockpit. Here are a couple nice examples of sexy mtn bike stems:
The first two stems are 30mm forward I think and the last one is 50 or 70mm as shown but it comes in a 30mm size. If you go with a 1 1/8" stem you've got hundreds of options though so customize the reach and height of your handlebar clamp.
One other thing to consider about mtn bike stems is that mtn bike forks have sort of a threaded nut jammed down into them and then there is a cap that goes on top of the steerer tube with a bolt going down through it into this nut. That holds everything super tight. Our forks however are permanently mounted without this so you'd likely have to just roll without which means you'd either be able to look down your steerer tube or you'd need to make some sort of a cap. You could try jamming this special nut down into our steerer tube simply so you could attach a nice cap on but it definately would be a tight squeeze and in order to get the cap you might need to buy a full 'headset' which includes fork bearings etc and runs you about 40-100$. This cap is shown in the middle mtn bike stem shown but without the nut it would stay there. I think you can buy just the nuts for about 5$ and I'm pretty sure that the middle stem includes that part to complete the look so that's an option...it's safer too.
Once you start buying all this stuff you don't come out much cheaper though so you really gotta like the look. The stems I've shown are pretty much the top end mtn bike stems and they are about 55-75$ but you could get a decent one for 30$. If you went with that middleone shown you'd have a sexy stem and nice low bars with the only drawbacks being the shimming and ramming the nut in.
In order to install aftermarket bars you need to install a 'stem' which is a part that attaches to the top of the fork tube on one end and clamps to your bars on the other
Currently there are 2 catagories of stems we could use.
1) The first catagory of stems are the ones designed specifically for our scooter. To my current knowledge 2 companies make these. The first company is Daytona and their stem can be had for 82$ from battlescooterstore.com. I believe this part is only part billet which makes it cheaper than a full billet unit.
This Daytona part does not include a bracket that enables you to mount your stock speedometer. You can purchase one for 26.30$ or you could attach your speedo via zipties, a bracket from a hardware store or a homemade mount. Alternatively, you could ditch the stock speedo and mount a nice Veypor VR2 unit directly to your bars.
The second company that makes a stem that perfectly fits our Ruckus's is Kitaco. This stem is available from the Classic Honda store (http://www.hondaminitrail.com/ZOOMER%20RUCKUS.htm) for 123.55$. This unit is more expensive because it's a full billet unit and it does include the gauge mount bracket. Additionally, Kitaco is normally a bit more expensive than Daytona. One thing to consider if you are going to use a Veypor VR2 unit is that the Daytona stem would likely suit this better as you could center it easier I'd imagine.
2) The second catagory of stems are cheaper but harder to fit. This catagory consists of stems from mtn bikes.
The steerer tube on our scooters (where the stems mount) is 15/16" which equals 23.81mm in diameter. Currently, the vast majority of mtn bikes use 1 1/8" diameter steerer tubes which equals 28.56mm. Attempting to clamp one of these directly on would be very dangerous. However, there are still some mtn bike stems being made that are 1" in diameter (25.4mm) which is much closer. It may be possible to clamp on of these on directly but ideally you'd make some sort of metal shim that fits around the steerer tube to increase the diameter to 1". One thing to consider when buying a 1" stem though is that the handlebar clamp may not be the appropriate diameter as back then they sometimes used thinner bars too. I'm not sure what the correct handlebar diameter is but it's atleat 1" (25.4mm). A second factor to consider is that most mtn bike stems that are 1" will be very long so your handlebars would be quite far forward which may not appeal to everyone as it changes your steering but does provide more cockpit room. Below is the best 1" clamp stem I've been able to find so far. It's a 1" steerer tube clamp so with a thin metal shim it should clamp fine but it does have a 22.2mm handlebar clamp which may work still with larger bars and perhaps could be modified. This stem is the shortest 1" stem I've ever heard of with a reach of 35mm. Typically these stems are 50-110mm.
Another option for mtn bike stems is that you could buy a regular 1 1/8" stem and just add about 5mm of shim so it clamps tightly. I know of a nice shim that makes 1 1/8 stems fit a 1" steerer for just 6$ so if you went with that you could try that solo or add a bit more shim to get it fitting snuggly to a 15/16" steerer.
If you do this you'd suddenly have the full world of mtn bike parts available to you including the tough, sexy and short DH and Freeride mtn bike stems. These stems will have the proper bar clamp. The only drawbacks with doing this are:
1) You need to shim from 23.8mm to 28.6mm
2) Your bars are slightly forward compared to scooter specific stems.
3) These stems don't use the steerer tube through-bolt as a security but if you clamp it properly they should be fine.
The benefits of doing this is that you can get a very attractive stem for less than scooter specific ones. As well, some people may perfer there bars further forward for a more spacious cockpit. Here are a couple nice examples of sexy mtn bike stems:
The first two stems are 30mm forward I think and the last one is 50 or 70mm as shown but it comes in a 30mm size. If you go with a 1 1/8" stem you've got hundreds of options though so customize the reach and height of your handlebar clamp.
One other thing to consider about mtn bike stems is that mtn bike forks have sort of a threaded nut jammed down into them and then there is a cap that goes on top of the steerer tube with a bolt going down through it into this nut. That holds everything super tight. Our forks however are permanently mounted without this so you'd likely have to just roll without which means you'd either be able to look down your steerer tube or you'd need to make some sort of a cap. You could try jamming this special nut down into our steerer tube simply so you could attach a nice cap on but it definately would be a tight squeeze and in order to get the cap you might need to buy a full 'headset' which includes fork bearings etc and runs you about 40-100$. This cap is shown in the middle mtn bike stem shown but without the nut it would stay there. I think you can buy just the nuts for about 5$ and I'm pretty sure that the middle stem includes that part to complete the look so that's an option...it's safer too.
Once you start buying all this stuff you don't come out much cheaper though so you really gotta like the look. The stems I've shown are pretty much the top end mtn bike stems and they are about 55-75$ but you could get a decent one for 30$. If you went with that middleone shown you'd have a sexy stem and nice low bars with the only drawbacks being the shimming and ramming the nut in.
Very interesting research DD, i wonder if you could use a 1" copper water pipe as a sleeve to fit the bigger MTN bike handle bar on the ruckus stem, cutting a slit lenghtwise should make it fit, however my peace of mind will always demand a cross bolt 