Bad Vibes

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Guido

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I have the dreaded handle bar vibes. I was looking at bar end weights and stumbled upon this "Bar Snake" site.
Just wondering if anyone has any feed back on the "snake" vs the weights.
I was also thinking of just filling the bars with silicone.
What have you all done that works?
 
Any mass you add to the handle bars will help . It seems to me that more weight at the ends will do the most good as this is the part of the bars that has the most freedom to move , the center being held by the clamps . I would go with the heaviest internal set that will fit at the ends of your bars .
 
Steel handle bars are made of thin round cube steel 1.6mm thick wall, no wonder they get vibs at the ends, I replaced my handle bars with Rentral Alloy bars they have a 6mm thick wall and got rid of the vibs and didn't cost that more than the Euro bars I had on and are the same shape as what I replace.
 
My P11 vibrates more than a Commando. It's a high frequency vibration that makes my hands start to ache (boo hoo) after about 100 miles on the HWY. I filled my bars with silicon. Helps a little, like a placebo. If all my riding was in the twisties, I probably wouldn't feel the ache. I'd be too busy enjoying the ride.

The bar snake is kind of a PITA to feed into the bars, if I'm remembering correctly. I used a bar snake on one of the bikes I owned, and have the sticker on my tool box to prove it. I don't think I used it on the Norton though.

I like Ashman's solution.
 
I filled my bars with lead shot - works well - see Apr 28, 2021
I looked at Barsnake but their shipping costs to Australia were prohibitive.
Oh - and I have Halcyon bar end mirrors - they're stainless stee, so reasonably heavy - good for damping vibes
Cheers
 
Anything will vibrate when a harmonic frequency reaches a wavelength that is equal to the length between the object's fixed end and its unfixed/unsupported end. Bar snakes dampen the resonance and may be the right solution for you, solid bars, essentially do the same job, different materials and different wall thickness also work by changing the energy level required to initiate vibration. The assumption here is that all bars are the exact same length with the same bends at the same places which is rare. I spent a lot of time looking for bars for one of my builds and found that all the acceptable choices had minor, but measurable differences.

Before you purchase new bars or accessories for same try this: loosen the bar clamps and slide the bars as far right or left as you can and see if the vibration changes, it should. You can fine "tune" by moving the bars back toward center a mm at a time and see how the the vibration changes. If and when you get a "dead" side measure the distance between the center of the clamps, multiply by 2 and that should be the correct overall length. To proof this testing do the same on the other side and see if you get the same results.

The tension on your ISOs, the type and condition of your headsteady, the torque on the cradle to engine bolts, your weight and the RPM all play parts in this drama. An unbalanced engine will produce vibration similar to what is referred to a "rocking couple" or over a greater deviation from a vertical plane, a balanced engine produces vibration that doesn't deviate far from the vertical plane, but there is no such condition as perfect balance across the entire RPM range especially when you have so much weight rotating and reciprocating. It amazes me that a Norton crankshaft at 7000 RPM has more energy than a hand grenade.

The goal should be to choose a set of bars and/or accessories that keep the bars in a "comfort" zone until the ISOs step up.

Best.
 
Anything will vibrate when a harmonic frequency reaches a wavelength that is equal to the length between the object's fixed end and its unfixed/unsupported end. Bar snakes dampen the resonance and may be the right solution for you,
Bar snakes or filling with lead shot and heavy bar-end weights all serve the purpose of lowering the natural frequency of the bars to an extent they hopefully won't get "excited" by engine vibes. You might also be unlucky enough to hit 2nd, 3rd or 4th harmonic.
Worth a try anyway!
Cheers
 
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Bar snakes or filling with lead shot and heavy bar-end weights all serve the purpose of lowering the natural frequency of the bars to and extent they hopefully won't get "excited" by engine vibes. You might also be unlucky enough to hit 2nd, 3rd or 4th harmonic.
Worth a try anyway!

My point exactly; I like the way you added another perspective. My suggestion of varying the bar center is very easy and should help riders understand the nature of harmonic, sympathetic vibration.

Best.
 
I love all the science in this. I appreciate all the feed back.
I think I will try the bar ends. But which ones as they vary greatly in prices.
I have seen them for as little as $10 to over $100
 
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