| | Hi Rex,
With the police bars my back got sore between my shoulder blades. My
theory is that the angle of my hands/wrists/arms with the police bars
was pushing my shoulder blades together and straining muscles in that
area. If you look at the pics on the Moto Guzzi Classics site, both
the Special and Police bars look like they angle your hands at more
than a 50* angle (lots of pullback) whereas the civilian bars are much
less severe, probably around 30*. The police bars were probably
designed more for good control at "patrol speed" and for relatively
short distances. The civilian bars seem more suited to extended
periods in the saddle. For me the most comfortable bikes I've had
didn't always have the greatest seats (Morini 500 Strada and 350K2)
but had bars with moderate pullback and leaned me forward about 15*
with the pegs almost directly under my hips. YMMV. Cheers,
Charlie
Rex Clark <rccla-@comcast.net> wrote:
| | Hi Cam,
I just talked to Josh at Moto Guzzi Classics. It seems that their
website has
the bars reversed. What they list as the "Special" bars on their
website is
actually the "Police" bars and vice-versa. They weren't aware of the
mistake
until I inquired about it. Hope this helps.
Rex
| | I now realize I have the "Special" bars on my police bike too.
Wonder if
that was an option when new. Mark, what's the deal?
rccla-@comcast.net wrote:
| |
Hi Paul,
Well I just went out and checked after looking at Mark's website. My
back
doesn't have either the civilian bars or the police bars. I have the
third
option which he calls special bars. No doubt about it. I don't know
whether
thoise were original to my bike or not. Thanks for helping.
Rex
| | Rex,
Look at this link to Marks website and you can see the difference
in the
police versus civilian bars and the special bar.
http://www.motoguzziclassics.com/MGCParts2.asp
Paul
rccla-@comcast.net wrote:
| |
Hi Charlie,
Thanks for your reply. Now I'm not sure which bars I have. I have
only
had
this bike for a few months and have never really seen another
one, but a
s you
state it seems that your hands are at an odd angle. I have a 1972
California
model which as I understand it is basically a police bike with
chrome
fenders.
Therefore it has floorboards instead of pegs, the Harley style
kicklstand and
the side mounted ignition switch and no tachometer, just the
single
mounted
speedometer. I take it from that that I also have the police style
handlebars.
Therefore with the slightly higher seat my hands are only about
three
inches
above my knees. I noticed today while riding my GL1100 that my
hands are
a
good 8-10 inches above my knees and that I don't have to lean as
far
forward
to hold onto the bars. I thought maybe that there might be some
kind of
risers
or a different handlebar that wouldn't look too wierd and still
bring my
hands
up and/or back a few inches. Bruce Giller (on the list) sent me an
e-mail
today and said that I had described his problem almost perfectly
and he
was
also trying to arrive at a solution. Thanks again. All ideas or
comments
are
gratefully accepted.
Rex
>Hi Rex,
I never liked the police bars, they seemed to put my hands at an
unnatural
angle. Of course, they were on peg equipped bikes and not board
ones.
For the first five years I had my '69 Ambo, it had GS1000 Suzuki
bars on
it that
the original owner had installed. With those bars I got lots of
wind
noise from
the police fairing and my back (especially the tailbone) got
sore on
extended
rides. A crash on my SP in '85 resulted in a badly sprained but
otherwise
undamaged back, but it still bothers me from time to time. I
switched
back to
the stock "civilian" bars and I'm now down out of the wind and
my back
no longer
bothers me. More weight is now bore by my thighs and the lean
forward
helps keep
my back curvature more correct. The Ambo also seems a lot more
sporty
(if Ambo
and sporty can be used in the same sentence!:-)) kind of like an
SPs
grandpa.
It could be a switch to the civilian bars may help you as well -
hope
so!
Cheers,
Charlie
Rex Clark <rccla-@comcast.net> wrote:
> Hi everybody,
>
> I have a '72 Eldorado California with footboards and police
> bars (at
> least I
> believe they are the original style bars) I am 6'3" with a 34"
> inseam
> and had
> Rich Maund build a seat to accomodate my size (the original
> foam was
> pretty
> well gone anyway) After riding a short time my back is hurting
> pretty
> badly. I
> have a 1981 Honda GL1100 with a backrest I can ride all day
> (400 miles
> or so)
> with no problem at all. My question is this. The handlebars on
> the
|
|
|
| | | | | | >>
> only
> bring my hands up to about 3 inches higher than my knees but on
> the
> Honda the
> bars are much higher in relation to the rest of my body. It
> seems to me
> that
> my backache might be at least partially caused by the much lower
> position of
> the handlebars. Of course part of the problem is that I'm 56
> years old
> and had
> some disc damage sustained in an auto accident a few years ago.
> And the
> backrest on the Honda helps a lot also. But I'm just trying to
> help the
> situation as best I can. I wonder if anyone an opinion or
> suggestions
|
|
|
| | | | | | >>
>
> things to try. I wuold like to ride to some rallies but right
> now would
> probably have to take the Honda:-( Thanks in advance.
>
> Rex Clark
>
>
>
>
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|
Paul
Midlothian, Va
73 Eldo "Elvira" at a halt in favor of "Daisy"
74 Eldo "Daisy" new project |
|
Cam in NJ
'74 Eldo Police |
|
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