Touratech Bridged Bar Risers can make all of the difference in riding comfort on your BMW F850GS. In this video, Iain will take you through installation step but step!
TRANSCRIPTION:
Iain with Touratech-USA here, and these are the bar risers for the BMW F850 GS. This is the 35 millimeter bar riser. It gives the handlebars, it brings them up and a little back toward you when they’re all mounted on the motorcycle. It makes it more comfortable while you’re riding, either sitting or standing.
The parts are pretty simple here. You’ve got the bar riser. It’s a bridged system, so the handlebars will resist twisting in falls. You’ve got the bolts that fit with it. You got four washers. And then this one, because it’s a 35 millimeter rise, you have to move the wiring around just a little bit. So, we have a protective loom, and a zip tie for the wiring.
As you can see here, this F850 GS is equipped with the BMW GPS Prep. If your bike doesn’t have this GPS bracket on here, you can skip forward in the video to the steps where we’re actually removing the handlebar clamps.
If you do have GPS Prep on your bike, first thing you have to do is remove the two bolts at the side that hold this GPS locking mount onto the bracket. You’ll use a Torx T25 wrench to remove these bolts.
Now, we can use the same Torx T25 wrench to remove the four bolts that hold the GPS bracket onto the handlebar clamp bolts.
On this bike with the GPS Prep, now you need a 12 millimeter socket to remove this four large bolts. If your bike does not have the BMW GPS kit, it’ll use a slightly different tool to remove these bolts, but the procedure will be the same.
I recommend protecting the instrument cluster with a small towel when you lay the handlebars up over the handlebar clamps here.
With the handlebars out of the way, we’re ready to position the Touratech 35 millimeter bar riser in place. Now, you can take the handlebars and set them down into the bar riser and put the BMW bridge back in place.
Since our bike is equipped with the BMW GPS Prep, we’re gonna use these different bolts here. These are sold separately by Touratech and they include an M5 internal thread that will allow the BMW bracket to be screwed back in place. These bolts install with a 13 millimeter socket, just like the ones that you took off which used a 12 millimeter.
Whichever bolts you use, don’t forget to install the four washers that are included with the bar risers between the head of the bolts and this clamp for your handlebars.
The factory BMW handlebar is equipped with a small white mark here that allows you to get the handlebar evenly spaced from side to side on the motorcycle and twisted to the correct orientation. So, just take your time and make sure that you get it lined up just right. Tighten the bolts at the front first until they bottom out, and then tighten the bolts at the back lightly until they hold the handlebars in place.
All four of these bolts should be torqued down to 15 foot-pounds.
It’s now safe to remove the towel that was covering your instrument cluster. Since our bike is equipped with the BMW GPS Prep, now is the time to put the bracket back in place.
Any time you’re installing handlebar risers, it’s a really good idea to check and make sure you can turn the handlebar full lock both ways without putting any unnecessary strain on wires or hoses.
Touratech believes that this position here on the right-hand side of the motorcycle is putting a little too much strain on the brake hose and the wires, so they’ve included a safety wrap as well as a new zip tie. So, what we’re gonna do is clip this zip tie from the factory position, we’re gonna wrap safety wrap around these wires, and then we’re gonna re-zip tie it just a little bit further up from where it was before to make sure there’s plenty of slack.
Okay, bar risers are installed. You should notice, when you go for your first ride, make sure that the handlebars can turn full lock side to side without hitting any of the fairings or anything like that.
But while you’re riding, pay attention to your riding position and make sure that it’s more comfortable for you, especially in your shoulders and your lower back while you’re sitting, and when you’re riding standing it’ll be more comfortable in your legs and in your shoulders with the reach to the bars in a better place.
So, go enjoy the ride. Visit our website if you need any more products or if you’re interested in seeing what else we have to offer. And let us know on some of the social media websites if you like the products, that’d be great.
