M Bar Riders Please?

A

Arkwright

Two Stroke
I know there are dozens of posts talking about Norman Hyde M Bars, but as much as I've tried, I can't find an answer to the following two questions and was hoping those of you who have M Bars on their Bonneville could help out.

1. What is the width of the M Bars?

2. Do they work with the stock foot controls or do you need rear sets.

Many thanks

Arkie
 
redual

redual

Scooter
About 720mm. Pretty much the same as stock bars. M bars can be fitted upside down also and the width is still the same! They can be used with standard pegs or rearsets. I've got both but tend to prefer the standard footrest setup. It's a matter of your own preference and riding style.
 
loxpump

loxpump

Rocker
Well here's my 2 cents. I have M bars, mounted upside down with rear sets. I find the rears sets shifting my legs back to be more comfortable with the lower bar position. I'm kind of short legged though. 5'-6". Maybe that matters.
 
BlueJ

BlueJ

Blue Haired Freak
You don't *need* rearsets with the M bars. Depends on your size and leg length and personal preferences. I run M bars, right side up, with footpegs in the stock position on my '07 Bonnie, although I do have the pegs lowered just over an inch with the Modre peg lowering kit. I'm 6'2, 34" inseam, the peg lowering helped me a lot. I don't think I'd like the rearsets, seems like it would have me leaning too far forward. I find the M bars to be MUCH better than the stock bars for that slight bit of forward lean, but not so much that I feel like I'm resting my weight on the bars at all.
 
S

Sixty-6

Scooter
I run my M bars upside down. I am 5' 11" and have the standard pegs on the Bonneville. I find them to be comfortable and IMO give the bike a bit of that "lowered" look.
 
K

kdlutes

Scooter
I've had M bars since 2004 and still have stock pegs. If I'm feeling "racey" I'll put a boot up on a passenger peg.
 
D

drlapo

Hooligan
M bars were designed to mimic clip ons, they were built to fit through the P clamps on Meriden Triumphs
right side up is in the low position while updside down gives the bar some rise instead of drop
I tried them on my Thruxton and found them to be much too wide
 
Bonniebret

Bonniebret

Rocker
My m-bars are mounted upside-down with mid-controls and at 5'8" they feel very comfortable. When I first put them on I had to adjust the drop so I wasn't creating a pressure point on the palms of my hands. (I use football grips)
 
C

Chris in NC

Street Tracker
I have two Bonnies, and '01 and a '07. Until recently I had M-Bars installed on my '07 T100 in the 'up' position, and a pair of HD flattrack bars installed on my street tracker. After putting 5,000 miles on my T100 I recently swapped out the flattrack bars for another set of M-Bars on my street tracker - does that now make it a 'cafe tracker'...

I'm an old guy.. I prefer the bars in the 'up' position. My son, who's 36, has a pair on his Bonnie. He runs them in the 'down' position.
 
H

henrys

Street Tracker
I'm 5'8" and m-bars are a little too low for me (even mounted in the more upright position). They are great around town but more than 30 minutes on the bike and I'm starting to ache. I'm planning some longer distance rides this spring so I'll be switching to more of a dirtbike style bar. I bought a set of bikemaster superbike bars but I have not installed them yet..
 
bluesforchallah

bluesforchallah

Rocker
drlapo said:
M bars were designed to mimic clip ons, they were built to fit through the P clamps on Meriden Triumphs
right side up is in the low position while updside down gives the bar some rise instead of drop
I tried them on my Thruxton and found them to be much too wide
Click to expand...

Bonniebret said:
My m-bars are mounted upside-down with mid-controls and at 5'8" they feel very comfortable. When I first put them on I had to adjust the drop so I wasn't creating a pressure point on the palms of my hands. (I use football grips)
Click to expand...

drlapo said:
are "upside down" M bars mounted with a drop or a rise??????
Click to expand...

Bonniebret said:
In my case I'm saying with a drop.
Click to expand...


So they would actually be right side up vs. upside down. :D
 
msc66

msc66

Two Stroke
Bonniebret said:
My m-bars are mounted upside-down with mid-controls and at 5'8" they feel very comfortable. When I first put them on I had to adjust the drop so I wasn't creating a pressure point on the palms of my hands. (I use football grips)
Click to expand...

So when you say adjust the drop do you mean rolling the bars back so the grips go down? I have that pressure point but I have superbars.
 
Easy13

Easy13

Street Tracker
I've tried my M-bars both grips-up and grips-down with Thrux rearsets. Both work well, but I prefer grips-up. I'm 6'3", 35" inseam.
 
bluesforchallah

bluesforchallah

Rocker
sweatmachine said:
My vote: M-Bars upside down + NH Rearsets

I ran 'em with stock foot pegs but I liked it better with the rearsets.
Click to expand...

Jeff, Do you run stock Bonnie length shocks? I've been considering going with NH rearsets, but with Bonnie length shocks and a 34" inseam, wonder if it'll be too damn cramped for my legs. Thoughts?
 
bluesforchallah

bluesforchallah

Rocker
redual said:
Different length shocks make no difference to riding position.
Click to expand...

Huh? I don't see how that statement could be correct. Longer shocks raise your ass. Therefore putting your feet further away and giving more stretch. Keeping stock length shocks and using rearset keep your ass at the same height where the rearsets bring your feet upwards and back. At least this is how I understand it. Am I wrong?
 
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