• Ciao Guest - You’ve landed at the ultimate Guzzi site. NEW FORUM REGISTRATIONS REQUIRE EMAIL ACTIVATION - CHECK YOUR SPAM FOLDER - Use the CONTACT above if you need help. New to the forum? For all new members, we require ONE post in the Introductions section at the bottom, in order to post in most of the other sections. ALWAYS TRY A SEARCH BEFORE STARTING A NEW TOPIC - Most questions you may have, have likely been already answered. DON'T BE A DRIVE-BY POSTER: As a common courtesy, check back in and reply within 24 hours, or your post will be deleted. Note there's decades of heavily experienced Guzzi professionals on this site, all whom happily give endless amounts of their VALUABLE time for free; BE COURTEOUS AND RESPECTFUL!
  • There is ZERO tolerance on personal attacks and ANY HYPERLINKS to PRODUCT(S) or other competing website(s), including personal pages, social media or other Forums. This ALSO INCLUDES ECU DIAGnostic software, questions and mapping. We work very hard to offer commercially supported products and to keep info relevant here. First offense is a note, second is a warning, third time will get you banned from the site. We don't have the time to chase repeat (and ignorant) offenders. This is NOT a social media platform; It's an ad-free, privately funded website, in small help with user donations. Be sure to see the GTM STORE link above; ALL product purchases help support the site, or you can upgrade your Forum profile or DONATE via the link above.
  • Be sure to see the GTM STORE link also above for our 700+ product inventory, including OEM parts and many of our 100% Made-in-SoCal-USA GTM products and engine kits. In SoCal? Click the SERVICE tab above for the best in service, tires, tuning and installation of our products or custom work, and don't miss our GT MotoCycles® (not) art on the BUILDS tab above. WE'RE HERE ONLINE ONLY - NO PHONE CALLS MADE OR RECEIVED - DO NOT EMAIL AND ASK QUESTIONS OR ASK TO CALL YOU.
  • Like the new V100, GuzziTech is full throttle into the future! We're now running on an all-new server and we've updated our Forum software. The visual differences are obvious, but hopefully you'll notice the super-fast speed. If you notice any glitches or have any issues, please post on the Site Support section at the bottom. If you haven't yet, please upgrade your account which is covered in the Site Support section or via the DONATE tab above, which gives you full site access including the DOWNLOADS section. We really appreciate every $ and your support to keep this site ad-free. Create an account, sign in, upgrade your account, and enjoy. See you on the road in 2024.

Audace Handlebar thread

Nice setup. Clean. Matris shocks . The ride is a little choppy with the stockers. I adjusted the collars on mine down a turn or two for two up riding , and it was ok for a fully loaded trip from Washington to Wyoming last year. My 175lb 26 yr old son didn't complain. I'm 240 lbs.
I might try them out. What advantages do you notice on the Matris? More travel? Better spring rate? More BMW like ride?
The Matris shocks are dampened perfect. No harsh rebound or compression. Really smooths the ride out. In the corners she stays planted and does nothing silly. I did not mind the stock suspension until I rode with the Matris shocks.
 
So having fitted the home made risers to my 2016 Audace, I still wasn't entirely happy with the pull back which was still a little bit of a stretch to relax. In the end I bought the new Audace bar that is fitted, I believe, to 2017 models. The photo shown here shows the old and new bars lined up next to each other. As you can see the new bar has much more pullback and is easier on the wrist position resulting in less of a stretch on full lock turns.

The risers on the new bar are also a little taller too, which you can't see in this vertical shot which has allowed MG to angle the bars downwards at the ends instead of being flat, again to make it more comfortable. The good news is they are drop in replacements for the old bars (as far as I can tell) - I didn't need to change anything that was already there, bolts, bar ends, controls etc. I still have my own additional risers fitted to give extra rise and reach and had to relocate the throttle cable because of that, but it all feels real good - way more relaxing to ride, easier to turn and change direction with due to being able to put more weight on bars, and I sit more upright.


View attachment 12619

Here's the shot of the bars and my risers on bike
View attachment 12620 View attachment 12621 View attachment 12622
Are the Audace bars 7/8 diameter (at the controls) or 1"?
 
So having fitted the home made risers to my 2016 Audace, I still wasn't entirely happy with the pull back which was still a little bit of a stretch to relax. In the end I bought the new Audace bar that is fitted, I believe, to 2017 models. The photo shown here shows the old and new bars lined up next to each other. As you can see the new bar has much more pullback and is easier on the wrist position resulting in less of a stretch on full lock turns.

The risers on the new bar are also a little taller too, which you can't see in this vertical shot which has allowed MG to angle the bars downwards at the ends instead of being flat, again to make it more comfortable. The good news is they are drop in replacements for the old bars (as far as I can tell) - I didn't need to change anything that was already there, bolts, bar ends, controls etc. I still have my own additional risers fitted to give extra rise and reach and had to relocate the throttle cable because of that, but it all feels real good - way more relaxing to ride, easier to turn and change direction with due to being able to put more weight on bars, and I sit more upright.


View attachment 12619

Here's the shot of the bars and my risers on bike
View attachment 12620 View attachment 12621 View attachment 12622

Paul, Your pictures showed the extra pullback of the 2017 model bars very well but you mentioned that they were a little taller than the 2016 ones even without your spacers. o you know how much taller approximately?
 
I just got my next small batch order in to go to the anodizers. I have one inquiry for the Audace in black. Any others? Otherwise, they'll all go to the anodizer for clear. Thanks for the input.

GT-Rx I realise this post was a year ago... I'm curious though because I am looking for bar options for my Audace and you mentioned black riser extenders for that model. Obviously the Audace has T bars with integrated risers and so I assume you are using these with conversions to the Custom or Touring model risers and bars. But if so black riser extenders aren't going to go with those silver models. Maybe you have different conversion option in mind?
 
I'm curious though because I am looking for bar options for my Audace and you mentioned black riser extenders for that model
Yes, I mistakenly thought the Audace had similar risers, which it doesn’t of course. Seems like there is an easy solution per this thread. If people would like for me to offer an option here, I think $60 in black powder-coat could be done. Post away if anyone’s interested.
 
Paul, Your pictures showed the extra pullback of the 2017 model bars very well but you mentioned that they were a little taller than the 2016 ones even without your spacers. o you know how much taller approximately?

Well I measured them both this morning and the two vertical mounting tubes of the 2017 bars are about 0.5 inch longer than the 2016 model. You would think this would gain you some wrist height, BUT, the 2017 bars are angled downwards quite significantly to give a more relaxing wrist position. I tried to line them up today and get a photo, but without taking the bars off the bike for a side-by-side comparison, it's hard to accurately compare. Best I could do is tape some wood to the horizontal/flat part of the 2017 bars and measure the drop at the wrist position.

As you can see in the photo I would say the ends of the 2017 bars actually lose about 1.5 to 1.75 inches in height just before the bar ends. That translates to an overall LOSS in wrist height of about 1.0 to 1.25 inches compared to 2016 model. Bottom line is that if you want extra wrist height, you need to add risers. However the extra pull back and downward angle of the bars brings them closer to you, making it less of a stretch and a lot easier on the wrist, elbows and back and feels like you've actually gained bar height.

You could try experimenting by putting spare nuts and spacers under the bar mounts and using longer bolts from a hardware store until you found the height that works for you and hopefully doesn't stretch the cables.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_3154.JPG
    IMG_3154.JPG
    96.7 KB · Views: 89
Last edited:
Thanks for the great detail and photo Paul. I'm still unsure which way to go with this but need to do something.
 
Yes, I mistakenly thought the Audace had similar risers, which it doesn’t of course. Seems like there is an easy solution per this thread. If people would like for me to offer an option here, I think $60 in black powder-coat could be done. Post away if anyone’s interested.

GT-Rx What option(s) are you thinking of?
 
GT-Rx What option(s) are you thinking of?
The simple bar risers shown earlier in the thread. Sounds like the better option may be the newer style bars at a decent cost.
 
I finally got my 2017 bars today (back ordered for nearly months) and fitted them straight away. Tomorrow I'll try it out but it looks like a big improvement. In the meantime I ran 1.5" spacers under the orig bars. They have been useful and by the way 1.5" is the unstressed limit to the throttle cable routed the standard way.

I see why Paul still wanted spacers with 2017 bars. As per his photos the main change is to increase the pullback angle from about 10 degrees to 20 or so. Due to the rake of the bars being in alignment wit the forks that extra pullback creates a slight down angle at the same time. The Guzzi engineers could have cancelled this effect and kept the bars flat if they rotated the main handlebar beam to compensate for the rake before welding them to the risers. Maybe for the 2018 model... I'm thinking I might re-engineer my original bars to achieve my vision of the perfect bend capturing the best traits of the 2016 and 2017 bars just for the heck of it.

A really minor thing I discovered while mounting the new bars is that they do not have a the locating hole on the top of the left bar to locate the switchblock. Easy to fix - either file off the plastic spike from the switchblock or drill a 5/32" hole. I chose the latter.
Thanks
 
I mounted the c-bow mounts on my Audace. I believe it was the same as the custom. I did make sure I got the black not the chrome. The bars sound interesting. I like the stock ones but I sometimes do get wrist pain. I also installed the Matris shocks. The stock ones weren't bad but the Matris really smoothed out the ride.

Hello, Could take a photo of the mounts (without the bags) so we can see how they mount up. I am looking for a way to add bags to my new Audace as well.

Thank you,
Brent
 
Hey Paul, I wonder if you could post few picture of your Audace, I like to see how the bike looks with the windshield. Which windshield did you install and would love to hear your experience riding with one. Thanks!
 
Hey Paul, I wonder if you could post few picture of your Audace, I like to see how the bike looks with the windshield. Which windshield did you install and would love to hear your experience riding with one. Thanks!

Hi

I bought one from af1 racing. Its a guzzi made sport or short screen version which bolts on and also accommodates the lights if you ever fit them. At that time there was no fly screen option around because the Audace uses the traditional round light, but I notice Todd has an Audace specific screen on offer via the site which might be a good lower cost option. The Af1 screen ended up costing about $800 cdn after exchange rates, taxes and shipping etc

All screens are a compromise of protection, noise, buffetting and breeze and these all depend on your height and the look you are after. The quietest was actually no screen at all and there was no buffetting either, but the breeze ripped your head off much above 100kph or 60 ish mph. I wanted to maintain the semi naked look so went for the short one which is good for about 140kph. There's no buffetting on my 5 foot 8 inch frame and the breeze is nice in hotter weather, but noise increased noticeably. I wear ear plugs so it's not a huge deal.

I tried a bigger screen from another bike. It may not have been ideal, but buffetting was a problem and it made it look more like a touring and was noisier but was godd for 160 kph

So much has been written on bike forums about screens, it's like the search for the holy grail, everyone has a different opinion and set of priorities and hardly anyone has tried more than one. All I can say is I am happy with mine and not looking for an alternative. If the wind was howling I might regret my choice and wish for more protection but you can only fit one.
 
Hi

I bought one from af1 racing. Its a guzzi made sport or short screen version which bolts on and also accommodates the lights if you ever fit them. At that time there was no fly screen option around because the Audace uses the traditional round light, but I notice Todd has an Audace specific screen on offer via the site which might be a good lower cost option. The Af1 screen ended up costing about $800 cdn after exchange rates, taxes and shipping etc

All screens are a compromise of protection, noise, buffetting and breeze and these all depend on your height and the look you are after. The quietest was actually no screen at all and there was no buffetting either, but the breeze ripped your head off much above 100kph or 60 ish mph. I wanted to maintain the semi naked look so went for the short one which is good for about 140kph. There's no buffetting on my 5 foot 8 inch frame and the breeze is nice in hotter weather, but noise increased noticeably. I wear ear plugs so it's not a huge deal.

I tried a bigger screen from another bike. It may not have been ideal, but buffetting was a problem and it made it look more like a touring and was noisier but was godd for 160 kph

So much has been written on bike forums about screens, it's like the search for the holy grail, everyone has a different opinion and set of priorities and hardly anyone has tried more than one. All I can say is I am happy with mine and not looking for an alternative. If the wind was howling I might regret my choice and wish for more protection but you can only fit one.

Thank you Paul for details. I ordered Dart Cal 1400 Audace Marlin Flyscreen https://www.guzzitech.com/store/product/dart-cal-1400-audace-marlin-flyscreen/ from Todd and I hope I will like the look when installed on the bike. It apparently should reduce the direct air hit on the chest but being 5'11" not sure how effective it will be. This is just an experiment and if I don't like it I will try to sell it :) I actually like the fact that Audace is a naked bike, in comparison to my Cal_Vin with OEM windscreen, Audace is way better at high speeds, no buffeting, no view obstruction. I tried once a bigger windscreen on the Cal-Vin, one with couple 'vents' which should reduce/eliminate buffeting but it was pure disaster. The buffeting wasn't reduce at all, and riding twisty road on the sunny day with trees on both sides reduced visibility to zero when sun hit the screen. I removed it and put back the OEM one, at least I can see road well looking over the screen. Now I have to wait for Dart Flyscreen delivery and good weather to complete the experiment :)
 
Back
Top