Suzuki Intruder Handlebars

A post about Suzuki Intruder Handlebars?

You bet!

You may be thinking to yourself, "Why is he posting about this? What's so siginificant about handlebars that they deserve their own page?" I'll you, there's plenty of significance there, as we will soon see.

Stock Suzuki Intruder Handlebars

If you're intersted in different styles of handlebars for your Intruder, than you don't really have to look any further than the past and present selection of stock handlebars. In fact, just off the top of my head, I can think of three different styles of which you can choose.

1. Drag Bars
2. Chopper Style Bars
3. Low and Wide Bars

I'll try to explain each version in a little more detail.

Drag Bars

I know you've seen this style before: The bar is either a straight or slightly bent piece of usually chromed pipe that extends out a short distance from the risers in a flat path. Generally, a different set of risers is needed when using this setup because most stock risers are too short and will cause the handgrips to hit the gas tank when turning fully.

Not many stock cruisers come with them, but sometimes you can get them as an option. I believe that unless it is a specialty or custom motorcycle then most riders would rather something a little less extreme and since the drag bars need high risers, most companies will only offer one choice. Also, like many things, styles fade in and out of fashion.

An example of a cruiser that offered drag bars as an option was the 1986 VS700 Intruder.


Ape Hanger Handlebars or Chopper Style Bars

These are my favorites and I believe it this style that suits the Suzuki Intruder best.

Ape hanger handlebars are the kinds of bars you see on all the old choppers in all the old chopper movies. You also see them on a lot of custom cruisers (including the Intruders) riding the roads these days, as well. They are tall and need no special risers--the stock ones will do just fine. Of course, if you get custom ape-hangers then you might need longer brake and clutch cables but that's a whole nother story!

Now, the stock Intruder ape hangers are not extreme like what you would see on many customs, but they do fit the chopper-esque profile of the motorcycle quite well. They can be positioned in several ways to afford a comfortable ride for most people.

This is the style that most all of the Intruders came with, including the Suzuki VS1400 and the Suzuki VS800 Intruder.

Classic Style Low and Wide Bars

Ah, my least favorite stock style. I will not dwell on these long as I feel they do not fit in line with a stock Intruder (though I have seen some nice customs that implement them well!). These are a relatively new addition to the Intruders and I believe is Suzuki's attempt at trying to appeal to the "classic" crowd.

A Handy Tip For Custom Handlebars

If you're looking for something a little different (or a lot!) then I suggest you take a look at the American made motorcycles. They have one-inch handlebars just like the Suzuki's do. And if you look up any Harley dealer, you'll find a very wide selection to choose from.

I know this only scratched the surface of Suzuki Intruder Handlebars, but I hope it gave you a good idea of what's on offer.

Don’t be afraid to step out of the box.

When I decided I didn’t want stock handlebars anymore, I started shopping around for something different. I already had the Harley (somewhat drag bars), and I was tired of my shoulders, and neck being stiff from riding in the semi crotch rocket riding position. I felt that everyone else either changes stock handlebars out to drag bars, or ape hangers. O.K. maybe “everyone else” is a bit exaggerated, but I’ve seen enough. No offense to anyone who has either kind and loves them. Most of my riding buddies have one or the other. To each their own. However, anyone who knows me and has seen anything I’ve ever owned knows I’m not a huge fan of anything stock, or anything called “custom” that’s mass produced and then mass used. It all starts to look the same to me. I wanted something truly different.

I went to Stormy Custom Bike Works for a peek at what he might have in stock for me. He said He was building a Chopper for a guy, and he had some bars he was going to use on it but the guy decided he didn’t want them on his bike because he thought the rake of the bars didn’t match nicely with the extreme rake of the forks on the chopper. So here they were, waiting for my dime. They were the weirdest looking things. I’d never seen anything like them before. And when I saw them hanging on his wall at first, I didn't even know tell they were bars, let alone how the hell they go on a bike. He said they might look cool, so we held them up to my bike. Lo and behold they did look really cool. So there you have it, many dollars, and many hours later, they are on my bike. I get looks everywhere I go with the new bars. Hopefully they're good ones. Try something different!

Giving credit where credit is due:

The bars are Chica “Flying V” handle bars from Chica Custom Cycles.

I’ve linked Chica Custom Cycles on my page permanently, and here also.
http://www.chicacustomcycles.com/.

Scott Storms, A.K.A. Stormy, did great work on my bars. This is, by the way only the beginning of the mechanical work, and other custom work done at Stormy Custom Bike Works on my bike, and many others. He works on all makes.
Call the shop at (763) 785-1600 or stop by and Check em out for yourself at 10501 Central Ave NE, Blaine, MN 55434.
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There's a great similar article that you must read about "one offs" and "innovation" and "copy cats" on Custom Motorcycle Talk by BeachCruiser Custom motorcycles - Your one stop resource! The article I refer to is called The Greatest Compliment Of All
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Mr. Motorcycle