ABM Top Yoke Conversion

Easier-Rider

There’s a problem with modern bikes, especially the sporty ones; they are designed for twenty-somethings whereas most actual riders are (rather less flexible) forty or fifty-somethings.

If you fit into the latter categories, have a bike that has a cramped riding position and perhaps have already tried conventional bar risers to little or no effect, then you may want to consider a top yoke conversion.

ZZR1400

The Big Zed is a great bike, but it is also a long, long machine with clip ons that slope downwards in the classic ‘dropped’ manner. This leaves most riders stretched out and with too much weight on their wrists.

Some riders solve this problem with spacer type risers like Genmar’s excellent product. These are cheap and easy to fit.

However they were not enough for me, so I decided to try my hand at fitting an ABM Top Yoke kit. This switches the standard clip ons for a conventional handlebar – raising the rider’s wrists up and back by as much as 5 inches compared with the Genmar’s 1 inch improvement. Its a radical step as it does affect how the bike looks, but it was either that or change the bike.

Quality

The quality of the German-made ABM stuff is apparent the moment you set eyes on it. Beautifully machined out of solid billet and with a quality feel, the top yoke is a lovely drop of engineering.

The bars and bar ends we ordered were also great – the alloy bars coming in a range of colours and with a sturdy thick-walled section.

The only thing that let the side down slightly were some cheap looking brackets for fixing the reservoirs to the bars, but we quickly found our own fix for this in the shape of some nice chrome ‘P’ brackets we bought separately for £6. That and a complete lack of English instructions.

Fitting the Kit

The story of how I, a completely untrained amateur, managed to fit the bar kit, is told in the video accessible from our technical pages (or click above).

Despite my fears, it proved to be a relatively simple job taking about 4 hours.

Fitting in detail

The quality of the ABM product is more than skin deep. Design is clever too – the new top yoke plate that bears the lugs to hold the bars is shaped so that it neatly fits on top of the existing yoke. Some kits require removal of the old yoke first, which is a time -consuming process as the ignition barrel has to be removed using a special tool. With the ABM product you just gently tap the new yoke down on top of the old with a rubber hammer. Excellent!

From then on its a matter of taking the switch gear, throttle and levers off, removing the OEM clip ons, fitting the new bars and then putting all the stuff back on again. Throttle cables simply go on upside down (which frees up enough slack), an extra long brake line is supplied, and the clutch line is re-routed. If you have Hel replacement lines you don’t need to do the latter as the Hel item is long enough. There is a slightly tricky part in drilling the bars to take the locating pins inside the switch gear, but it’s no sweat really. Once re-routed or replaced the hydraulic lines must of course be bled of air.

Performance

When fitted, it’s relatively straightforward to adjust the bars by loosening the clamps and gently rotating the bars round. fairing clearance is fine, although the brake lever can just touch at full lock. You can play about with lever positions though.

Once you have them how you like ’em (and get over the change in appearance) …the effect of the conversion on riding comfort is profound and highly beneficial.

Riding position is more natural than standard, with more even distribution of weight between feet, rear end and wrists. I used to get a pain in the shoulder blades and numb right hand after about 100 miles. Reckon I could double or even treble that now – so a big improvement in usability something that might be enough to make it unnecessary to change the bike if back ache has been a problem.

There are however, a couple of unintended consequences, as there usually are when you make changes. The first is the blast of air hitting you in the chest (I think this is mostly useful as it helps keep speeds down) and the second is a pronounced increase in the tendency of the bike to wheelie under acceleration. Raising the bars up and back must reduce the weight over the front end quite considerably…Nevertheless – so long as you are aware of this is OK. Some irresponsible types might even like it. Tsk tsk, how shocking…

Value for Money

I bought the kit from Simon at Bikermart – whose services I can thoroughly recommend.

Price was £229 for the top yoke stuff in, plus £49 for my choice of bars, and then a reasonable £21 for bar ends. Total around £300, plus some brake fluid.

This compares with about £97 for the Genmar risers (though some brands are cheaper). But given the difference the ABM kit makes to rideability and increased range (not to mention safety through removing distracting discomfort), this is big ‘bang for your buck’ mod – and one that’s worth every penny.