Q: How high do my handlebars need to be?

A: Half your height

But how do I measure that?

I rode with Alan recently and noticed his body position seemed a bit stooped and he wasn’t able to control his 1190 R as well as he might have been had he that extra few inches of bar height.

I have been riding for roughly 4 years and even with 2” risers (Rox), Jimmy Lewis said I could use another inch of height. Now I’ve also lowered my pegs by about 20 mm, so I was looking for a way to do that, which I found with this new set of prototype risers from RRR Tool Solutions that has given me that extra inch (plus some cool extras like a dual usb, voltage meter and powered as well as two ram ball mounts).

Riding big bikes off road means using your body more to help control and stabilize the bike as well as giving you better traction. It’s also a great way to see farther down the trail for any obstacles, as well as simply get some air flow and cool yourself off. Do this all day with bars that are too low and chances are you’ll have a sore back and be very tired.

On center stand, measure vertical height (to the ground) of top of peg (16”)
With front wheel perfectly straight ahead, measure vertical height of center of grip (54”)
Subtract those two (38”) and take that as a percent of your height (76”; 50%)

Alan’s was 34.5” (17” peg height; 51.5” grip height) but at 6’ tall, or 72” he’ll need a height of 36” or another 1.5” in height.

How do I get additional height on my bike?

• Rotate your bars up (may want to rotate back down for highway)
• Get risers
• Get lowered pegs
• Get high bend bars (If you are 6'4" or taller most likely)