Finally got the bars mounted on the V11 Sport.  As it turns out, the part that I was most worried about (drilling the top triple-clamp) was the easiest part of the whole operation.

The biggest part of the job, was finding creative ways to route the throttle cable, clutch cable and the front brake cables for adequate clearance.  I essentially had to disassemble the entire headlight/gauge cluster housing.  I had to remove the top triple clamp at least 4 times to re-route cables.  Trial-and-error took place for about 2 hours until I finally found the best way.  I also found that the stock bar-ends and napolean bar-end mirrors would not fit into the new handlebars.  I could make it fit by machining out the ID of the new bars;  maybe some other time.  I’m ready to ride now.

The Test Ride

Things are immediately better.  Its still a fairly sporty “attack” position, however I no longer feel it in my wrists, and my back doesn’t feel like I just lifted a refrigerator up a flight of stairs.  I think the biggest single gain in this modification has to be turning.  Before I really had to fight with the bike to turn in, whereas the wide leverage the handlebars now mean effortless turning;  it almost turns itself.

In one simple modification, I was able to combine everything I loved about my old Ducati M900 and everything I love about my V11 Sport into one nice package.  Money well spent. For those law-abiding citizens out there who might notice my lack of mirrors, don’t fret.  Nate at the Bike Shack put in a order for a set of CRG “Lane-split” mirrors, and even let me borrow one of his personal bike to keep me semi-legal until they came in.