Uncle Phil
Site Supporter
Here's the setup I came up with. Mine actually still looks stock.
1. You will need to replace the 4 M8 X 35 stock bolts through the clamps with four M8 X 60's, 4 10mm nuts to use as spacers, and two ST top clamps from Honda (The 1996 and up part number should be 53131-HB6-000, the 1995 and back - 95014-22100). Lowe's Home Improvement was where I found the bolts and nuts. Remove the cover and the four bolts holding the bars. You should be able to lay them slightly out of the way without removing any lines or cables. Put a towel over your tank before you start for protection.
2. The square ignition cover over the hole just pops off (it's sticky taped). Find a closet pole (Home Depot carries them) that is 1 inch in diameter and cut a 1 inch section. Paint it SEM Graphite Gray (many auto parts carry this brand and color). This sleeve will allow you to use the stock key and keep it centered. It is tight, but with the square cover removed, there is clearance. Drill a hole that the below screw into the front strap can go into to secure it. The pole section slides over the ignition lock and looks pretty nice, since it lines up with the round edges of the ignition hole in the cover. It also fills in the gap and help secures the cover. Or you can use a 35mm film canister and just cut the bottom out of it.
3. Take the wire cable keeper at the front and rotate it and bend slightly. Cut a small strap about an inch long and bend into a u-shape around the upturned bar (it bolts back in the same holes to the front of the triple tree). Note the wire (from the front of the bike - from |______| to |````````````| ) There is a strap that clips to this wire. The replacement strap looks like |_| with a hole bored through both legs to match the original screw hole size and the new height. The screw goes through the cover, through the first leg of the strap, over the wire and into the second leg of the strap and into the sleeve -| -|-|-| <-
4. Cut two more straps from the same material about 1 1/4 long. This is for the screws at the back of the cover. Drill holes in each end of these straps big enough for the original screws to go through. Get a slip nut (like the body work uses). These slip over the cover and the screw goes through them. This allows you to bolt the top of the two straps to the two back holes in the cover.
5. Then bolt the bottom of the straps to the bottom of the triple tree where the back screws originally went. If you paint these straps with the SEM Graphite paint, it matches the ST gray perfectly.
With this set up, the only actual change to the cover is to remove the square ignition cover. It is a little tight with gloved hands, but it looks stock and works well. And unless you knew what you were looking for, you would never know the handle bars were raised. And if you wanted to change it back, you haven't destroyed anything. When you are finished, it looks like (from the side) -
(o}x)==== where ( - new top clamp, o - handlebars, } - old top clamp flipped, x - 10 mm nut for a spacer, ) - bottom clamp, ==== - forks. Hope that helps.
1. You will need to replace the 4 M8 X 35 stock bolts through the clamps with four M8 X 60's, 4 10mm nuts to use as spacers, and two ST top clamps from Honda (The 1996 and up part number should be 53131-HB6-000, the 1995 and back - 95014-22100). Lowe's Home Improvement was where I found the bolts and nuts. Remove the cover and the four bolts holding the bars. You should be able to lay them slightly out of the way without removing any lines or cables. Put a towel over your tank before you start for protection.
2. The square ignition cover over the hole just pops off (it's sticky taped). Find a closet pole (Home Depot carries them) that is 1 inch in diameter and cut a 1 inch section. Paint it SEM Graphite Gray (many auto parts carry this brand and color). This sleeve will allow you to use the stock key and keep it centered. It is tight, but with the square cover removed, there is clearance. Drill a hole that the below screw into the front strap can go into to secure it. The pole section slides over the ignition lock and looks pretty nice, since it lines up with the round edges of the ignition hole in the cover. It also fills in the gap and help secures the cover. Or you can use a 35mm film canister and just cut the bottom out of it.
3. Take the wire cable keeper at the front and rotate it and bend slightly. Cut a small strap about an inch long and bend into a u-shape around the upturned bar (it bolts back in the same holes to the front of the triple tree). Note the wire (from the front of the bike - from |______| to |````````````| ) There is a strap that clips to this wire. The replacement strap looks like |_| with a hole bored through both legs to match the original screw hole size and the new height. The screw goes through the cover, through the first leg of the strap, over the wire and into the second leg of the strap and into the sleeve -| -|-|-| <-
4. Cut two more straps from the same material about 1 1/4 long. This is for the screws at the back of the cover. Drill holes in each end of these straps big enough for the original screws to go through. Get a slip nut (like the body work uses). These slip over the cover and the screw goes through them. This allows you to bolt the top of the two straps to the two back holes in the cover.
5. Then bolt the bottom of the straps to the bottom of the triple tree where the back screws originally went. If you paint these straps with the SEM Graphite paint, it matches the ST gray perfectly.
With this set up, the only actual change to the cover is to remove the square ignition cover. It is a little tight with gloved hands, but it looks stock and works well. And unless you knew what you were looking for, you would never know the handle bars were raised. And if you wanted to change it back, you haven't destroyed anything. When you are finished, it looks like (from the side) -
(o}x)==== where ( - new top clamp, o - handlebars, } - old top clamp flipped, x - 10 mm nut for a spacer, ) - bottom clamp, ==== - forks. Hope that helps.
