HANDLEBARS – AFTERMARKET ACCESSORIES FOR YOUR YAMAHA TW200

The stock Yamaha TW200 comes with mild-steel handlebars and for some, these handlebars are just fine. Taller folks may like how low the stock bars are and some smaller people may find these bars suits them just fine, even while standing up on the mini dualsport motorcycle. We, humans, come in all shapes and sizes, yet the TW200 machine is manufactured in one size only – since 1987!

So who changes their handlebars or better yet, why do people change their motorcycle handlebars? If you changed your handlebars please comment below; what bars did you go with and why?

BEFORE WE CHANGE ANYTHING!

Let’s talk about the stock TW200 handlebars! They are made of steel and are just a scratch over 31″ wide with a decent sweep for both street and trail riding and have a 7/8th clamp tube size. There is not a lot of technical info on the factory TW200 handlebars but this is what I have collected so far:
Width: 790mm, Height: 120mm, Sweep: approx 90-100mm, Clamp Width: 170mm. Side note: The average handlebar width is 800mm or 32″ wide.

If you like and need a new pair, you can find them here: https://www.yamahapartshouse.com/oemparts/a/yam/560180da87a86615687b0041/steering-handle-cable

The stock Yamaha TW200 handlebars get the job done, they are not sexy, but they are painted silver and again, get the job done. Like we said in our Footpeg article, if you can custom fit your motorcycle to you, you will be more comfortable and may ride more! So most people who change handlebars are looking to better fit the motorcycle to the human.

Steel is real and aluminum is…

Steel bars can bend easily in a decent “get-off” and there are two schools of thought on materials. A stiffer material upon impact can transfer the hit further into the bike; such as twisting the fork tubes in the triple clamp. This will most likely be the most extensive impact on the bike and is fixable with loosening and readjusting the fork tubes in the triple clamp. This can also happen with aluminum bars as well.

But, sometimes a more severe hit could cause a broken triple clamp and a bent frame headtube. Those harsh hits can happen with either stock steel or aftermarket aluminum bars! EVERYTHING is relative and on a sliding scale!

WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING FOR?

Most of us in TW-land, when it comes to handlebars, we are looking for taller. Handlebars come in a lot of different bends and heights, but other items to consider such as sweep or pull-back, material and clamp diameter. So while you are looking for your perfect bar height, do they fit your TW200’s 7/8th bar diameter clamp size?

To 7/8th or 1-1/8th?

You can actually choose either the factory 7/8th size or the 1-1/8th inch size. But you will have to use adapters to allow your 7/8th bar clamp that is molded into your triple clamp to accept 1-1/8th inch bars. You can also use these adaptors to also aid in raising the overall bar height as well. More on that further down. Let’s get our Air Jordan Ape Hangers on!

We have to post dedicated to each bar size choice:
FACTORY 7/8″ HANDLEBAR SWAP + BAR RISE FOR YOUR TW200
CONVERT FROM FACTORY 7/8″ BARS TO 1-1/8″ BARS ON YOUR TW200

How High is High enough?

Tall people who own TW200’s may want what is traditionally “ATV” sizes such as Pro Tapers “ATV HIGH” at 160mm or Renthal’s Honda TRX250 bar at 179mm. These are extremely high and I personally do not recommend running them, but at the same time I have no evidence nor technical advise against running them.

Seven / Eighths for good measure

The handlebars that came on my TW200 were Pro Taper SE‘s as the previous owner swapped the bars. I think they bent the stock bars and made the switch to something close to the stock bars.

The Pro Taper SE (Seven Eighths) bars that were on my bike were the CR-High Model. The CR-High model has the following measurements;
(Width) 800, (Height) 95, (Rise) 67, (Clamp Area) 233, (Sweep) 60, and with a (Control Area) of 186. We will get into all the details, but the height of 95mm is what we are focus on at the moment.

WHAT IS THIS FLATNESS ALL ABOUT?

In the chart below, note the blue highlighted area. Column “B” is the indicated heights and you can see the CR High is 95mm in comparison to the KX High at 107mm, making the KX High an instant choice winner.

BUT looking down at column “E” indicates the sweeps with the CR High at 60mm and KX High at 54mm of sweep, thus making the KX High a “flatter” bar. I like the KX’s height but didn’t want a flatter bar. Flat = LESS SWEEP or pull-back.

TO SWEEP and SWEEP SOME MORE!

Sweep also know as pull-back, is how much your handlebars sweep back and has varying effects for different situations or types of riding. MX’ers, typically want to be positioned up over the bars for better corner traction, thus a flatter bar. Street / touring bikes will have bars that sweep back further for long-distance comfort.

For us dualsport enthusiast, it’s a choice contrasted on how aggressive we ride against what distance we are riding.

Think of your pull-up bar hanging in your hallway as 0mm of sweep.

How to figure the numbers? Think of your pull-up bar hanging in your hallway as 0mm of sweep. The beach cruiser bicycle in your garage… well that has a lot of sweep, like maybe 175mm of sweep!

In the image above, Column “E” you will see the sweep numbers. In the H-bar game, you will spend quite a bit of time looking at these charts and even within the same brand, the different models of handlebars can have different numbers.

How much sweep do we want for our TW200’s?

Now you are getting to the technical nanny goats of the whole situation… It all depends on your body type, riding position and type of riding you think you will be doing.

What I’ve learned from collecting tons of opinions over the years is, “more standing, go flatter”, “more sitting, go with more sweep,” doing both, find a happy medium.

MY TW200 HANDLEBAR EVOLUTION

Like I stated above, my bike was purchased used and came with the Pro Taper SE (Seven Eighths) with a height of 95mm and a Sweep 60mm. After several rides, I am a 5’10” rider who simply wanted more height from the bars as I stand up while riding quite a bit.

RISE UP!

To keep the Pro Taper SE bars that are already on the bike, I purchased the ZETA ZE53-0130 30mm bar risers! The 22.2mm is 7/8th of an inch so we are in business!

Here is just the ZETA 30mm bar riser base in the factory triple clamp.

Do the numbers stack up? With the 95mm bar height added with the 30mm riser hight, I am now sitting a measly 5mm over the stock 120mm bar height. But it’s 125mm and it is what it is and it’s time to go ride!

OH wait! One more issue with raising the roof!

CABLE LIMIT

I simply rotated my throttle controls 180-degrees to put some slack back into the cables.

3 MONTHS LATER…

Three months later and I’m switching it all up! This set up has been great, so why am I switching bars now?

I wanted to add Acerbis handguards, but the factory levers & controls take up so much bar real-estate! I needed to switch to a bar without the crossbar for more space and better adaptability! This is why “Control Length” is also an important measurement to consider!

I’m sticking with Pro Taper brand and moving into their 1-1/8th Contour Handlebars. According to Pro Taper, “the Contour is ProTaper’s most popular handlebar. Oversized diameter handlebars, without crossbars, were invented and patented by ProTaper in 1991. This design allows the handlebar to flex more and absorb impacts better than conventional bars, offering the rider more comfort and less fatigue without sacrificing bar strength. The Contour Handlebar utilizes a computer-profiled 5mm wall design and is up to 20% lighter than other bars, yet up to 40% stronger. It is the most affordable way to get your hands on the most sought after handlebar design in the world.” SOUNDS GOOD ENOUGH FOR ME! But which ones?!

I chose the Pro Taper Contour KX High handlebar with 108mm of rise. It’s not their tallest MX bar, as their tallest model (not counting the ATV’s) is the Pastrana FMX model with 121mm of height. Why did I give up a possible of 13mm of more rise? Sweep! The Pastrana FMX sweep is 55mm vs the KX High of 56mm. Yes, I know, it’s ridiculous that I let 1mm of sweep short me 13mm of overall height! Maybe later-later… But I made my decision (for now) and moving on!

FROM ONE RISE TO ANOTHER

With the switch from a 7/8th (22.2mm) handlebar to the 1-1/8 handlebar, I needed new bar clamp-risers that would fit into my factory triple clamp. Pro Taper offers its Universal Solid Handlebar Mounts so you can mount 1-1/8th bars to your 7/8th TW200 factory triple clamp. The Pro Taper Universal Solid Mounts also adds a 3/4″ or 19.05mm of handlebar rise.

This new setup at 127.05mm of overall bar height netted me 2.05mm over my previous set up of 125mm with the Pro Taper SE’s on ZETA 30mm risers.

If I feel the need, I can come back and add some more bar height with the ZETA BAR RISE KIT for 1-1/8″ (28.6mm) bars available in 30mm. With the Pro Taper Contour KX High bars (108mm), I can achieve an overall height of 108mm + 30mm = 138mm. That is 10.05mm over my current 127.05mm setup.

GO CRAZY – WITHIN LIMITS

Yes, I could get crazy and add the Pro Taper Pastrana FMX bars for an additional 13mm to net a total of 151mm high (for you tall folk trees out there!) The Pro Taper Contour Pastrana FMX’s 121mm with ZETA 30mm risers equals 151mm.

So, just to flip back into Engerish’mesurmentation: 120mm = 4.72441-inches thus 151mm = 5.94488-inches. What the heck Willis?! What we are talking about is the Pastrana/Z30mm combo is only a 1.22047-inch increase over the stock Yamaha TW200 handlebars. But that is a whopping 30.999938mm’s and that might be all the difference needed! hehehhe

Splitting hairs – splitting hairs.. but when fatigue sets in and you know you wanted a little more bar height, then you have to sort the solutions. Long term riding “testing” will tell!

With the bar swap, now I can add the ACERBIS Rally Pro Handguards. I’ve used this particular style of handguard on all my dualsport bikes with the exception of using the ACERBIS Rally Brush Handguards. Just how do you pronounce “ACERBIS?!!!” Is it “Acer-Bis,” “Acher-bees,” or “Ahcere-bes?”
It’s actually “ah-chair-bees,” so there you have it! With the Pro Taper Contour handlebars, I can add the Acerbis Rally Pro Handguards!

Bars, guards and grips all in place and with the crossbar out of the way, allow space for other items!

Can I cut out the bar pad, embed my MAGPUL case protected iPhone (for navigation) and add two big rubberbands or straps around the pad? Might have to revisit this one day… But for now, I have a more important reason for bar room space!

By adding the Giant Loop ZigZag handlebar bag, I can carry more precious items like…

MY SEEING EYE DAWGS!!! Yes, I wear glasses, but only for close up items, so the Giant Loop ZigZag bag allows me to have the glasses handy! I have to be able to read the lunch menu!

BRANDS OF HANDLEBARS

The big dog of handlebar manufacturers are; Renthal, Pro Taper, and Magura. There are the staples of Moose Racing, ODI and Fly Racing. Additionally; Neken, Meka, and TORC1 and surely there are many more so hopefully you will comment below and let me know who is missing! Hopefully, you are using the bar and can mention them.

HISTORY IS KNOWLEDGE

Renthal started in 1969 from Manchester, UK. Magura started in 1893 from Bad Urach, Germany, and yes, you read that correctly – EIGHTEEN93! Pro Taper started in 1991 from Irvine, California. If you hit those dates above, it goes to their history pages and PT only has a paragraph of history located on the bottom of their home page. Just an FYI, motocross started in Europe, then came to the USA. Here is some history reading: https://www.motosport.com/blog/the-history-of-motocross-american-style

H-BAR MFG’s by ALPHA ORDER

FLEXX Handlebars:
https://www.fasstco.com/products/flexx-handlebar

Fly Racing Handlebars:
https://www.flyracing.com/moto?taxonomyterms=643

MAGURA Handlebars: https://www.magura.com/en/components/powersports/handlebars/

MEKA METALS Handlebars:
http://www.mikametals.com/handlebar-bends-information.html

MOOSE RACING Handlebars:
https://www.mooseracing.com/category/9958

NEKEN Handlebars:
https://www.nk-neken.com/en/radical-design-handlebars

ODI Handlebars:
http://odigrips.com/store/moto/handlebars

PRO TAPER Handlebars:
https://www.protaper.com/

RENTHAL Handlebars:
https://www.renthal.com/moto/handlebars

TORC1 Racing Handlebars:
https://torc1racing.com/collections/handlebars

TUSK Handlebars:
https://www.rockymountainatvmc.com/search/go?w=Tusk+handlebars

VORTEX Handlebars:
https://www.vortexracing.com/shop/product/26764/1715/109/53/

WRP Racing Handlebars:
https://www.wrpracing.it/index.php?langsito=en

Another great resource of information and availability:

Handlebar Information