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I had an awesome time riding with the crew at last years Ken Mooty memorial ride in November of 2018.  We rode a nice loop from Panamint Springs over Hunter Mountain, Tea Kettle Junction, Race Track then over to Ubehebe Crater.  While riding from Tea Kettle Junction to Ubehebe Crater the decent is very gradual.  The road by any means was not technical, but long and gravelly.  I noticed for the first time that my arms were super fatigued.  Maybe a mix of smaller front wheel than i'm used to 19" vs a 21" on the F650gs Dakar and also the handle bar position and arm pump.  I'm a novice rider when it comes to off road, weekend wrencher and ADV rider. I'm willing to try out the Flexx Bars on the big beast to see if this will help.  I know suspension plays a big role in this along with relaxing on a big bike.  

After taking a look at my wrist position I found it to be more angled in and not neutral which was causing the pain I was feeling.  I also recently changed my clutch cable, well one because it broke and was getting worn the point that I needed to "Hercules" every shift! @Jason R  So this is fixed now and I have a near silky smooth teflon clutch cable action.  

Next I of course have adjusted my bars forward to have more access to my controls when riding on the pegs.  This has worked, but is fatiguing because the oem bars were not meant to be angled this way. They were meant to be more of a classic BMW cruising comfort style.  

I've been corresponding with Cole from Fasst Flexx and we will see what he suggests for me and my riding style.  We have already exchanged a few emails and he has requested for some specs on the oem bars and what I have set up already.

Below are some if the picture I have sent him.  He asked question me some good questions wether I had heated grips or not, oem bar end weights, the bolt size of them, what hand guards I use and do I like the current bend. 

I outfitted my BMW F650 GS Dakar a few years a go with with some Renthal Windham bars and love them.  I guess ultimately that is the rise, bend and sweep I am looking for.

Feel free to chime in and let me know what you are using.  @Eric Hall I know you have the Flexx bars on the 990 project bike.  What model/series did you get if you recall?

@greedyg what is on your KTM?  IMG_3620.thumb.JPG.3f13e03dd614ce8287a2d3d878670ffb.JPG

 More to come on this project.  

IMG_3624.thumb.JPG.871a95cab27f588f91a7e9e567d57782.JPGIMG_3623.thumb.JPG.7e26ce7c7a8bdcf71cd36cff8b0c33b3.JPG

  

Edited by motochefarwi
grammer and spelling
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This is what @Cole Townsend recommended for the 990 back in May of 2017:

I would prefer to send you our 12* Adventure bend, it’s the same dimensions as the 12* Moto High except it’s 1” wider, with the width coming from 1” longer handles on each side, but a loss of 1” in the center section.  If the bar is to wide you can trim to your preferences and still have more handle room than the Moto High.  The Moto High will have about more handle room than your RC High though.  

But keep in mind I'm taller and ride a different bike

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7 minutes ago, Eric Hall said:

I will tell you though that these bars make a HUGE difference in fatigue on those long days off road.  I can't imagine having done five days of rally racing at Baja and Sonora without them, especially at my age ?

Ok Eric, i'm not far from you in age! ha!  Its all about the total package of this and I guess i'm feeling the aches a bit more too after long days in the saddle! 

I have looked abit closer to at the Bends available on the https://www.fasstco.com/pages/flexx-handlebar-bends

There is a wide variety and I do see the Adventure Bend.  I'm thinking I may have to match up with a Roxx riser too to adjust to the 1 1/8" bar size.

 

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  • 4 months later...
On 3/9/2019 at 4:31 PM, motochefarwi said:

Ok Eric, i'm not far from you in age! ha!  Its all about the total package of this and I guess i'm feeling the aches a bit more too after long days in the saddle! 

I have looked abit closer to at the Bends available on the https://www.fasstco.com/pages/flexx-handlebar-bends

There is a wide variety and I do see the Adventure Bend.  I'm thinking I may have to match up with a Roxx riser too to adjust to the 1 1/8" bar size.

 

Arwi, did you end up getting the FLEXX?  I have read several reviews on little bikes but not much on the larger displacements.  I did see that Jimmy Lewis uses them, and almost figured that should be good enough for me.  I have noticed that the 19 bend with OEM causes a lot of discomfort after a while with hard riding or even long distance.  Anyone using the 15 enduro changed up from an adventure bar?

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On July 12, 2019 at 11:00 AM, Le Cler said:

Arwi, did you end up getting the FLEXX?  I have read several reviews on little bikes but not much on the larger displacements.  I did see that Jimmy Lewis uses them, and almost figured that should be good enough for me.  I have noticed that the 19 bend with OEM causes a lot of discomfort after a while with hard riding or even long distance.  Anyone using the 15 enduro changed up from an adventure bar?

Hey Le Cler I ll be honest here. I had some challenges with my commuter bike and so my funds went in another direction.  I put the brakes on buying the flexx bars for the 1100GS. I'm sure it would be a massive improvement.  However after careful consideration even with a 19" wheel plus the flexx bars it was really not worth my time to invest further. I found it better to just buy a bike with suspension that was built to do the riding I love to do.  So I went Orange with a KTM 990.  Event stock handles amazing.  Yeah Jimmy loves the flexx bars and Eric has them too.  If I were you I would invest in them.  I have seen your bike and they way you have it kitted already with the 21" it will be a great fit for your riding style.  Yeah over time once you figure out your arm placement on the bars and get more aggressive or adventurous you out grow the oem set up.

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Thanks, brah.  I appreciate your response.  I was on the fence about changing over to the Orange myself; however, I want to ride rough off-road and still take my long overland journeys.  I was looking at the warranty differences and just think that that the Beemer takes the trophy there.  I did find a local 2006 950 SE that I would love to drop the coin on because I would like to do some racing/rallies.  Wanna loan me $9k :)  OK, will see you next year in the Mojave, if it's still there.

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