Does the Rally need a better sway bar than the stock one? I see Can Am lists one for $149.00
Actually, many say it does. The stock sway bar and the plastic end links is what causes the twitchy steering at higher speeds. I'm sure you've noticed that twitchy feeling. A stiffer sway bar helps a lot. Those plastic end links flex too much, also causing twitchyness. Baja Rons sway bar is probably one of the better ones out there, along with his billet aluminum end links. I replaced my end links first, just to see if it would make a difference, it made a huge difference. I did it in the first hundred miles.
The first thing that I noticed once I removed the factory plastic end links, was that the eyelets were frozen and wouldnt move (even trying to twist it with a screwdriver inserted). On the new BajaRon end links, they moved freely like the factory ones should have. These are the one's I installed, takes maybe 10 minutes. I never replaced the sway bar, the new end links made a big enough improvement that I decided I didnt need to. One of the thin plastic factory end links that I removed below:
Baja Ron recommends replacing both, not just the sway bar or just the end links. If it were me, I would purchase the CanAm upgraded sway bar and purchase the Baja Ron links.
I bought and use the Baja Ron Links only. I'm happy with that set up also as RykerRick is also. (post #2) The Baja links are obviously more beefed up the the thin composite ones. It seems a lot of ryders like using and see big improvements while using the Baja sway bar also while winding up and down curvy mountain roads. I don't have foot hills OR mountains here in Northern Illinois so I went with the links only. They DO make a more comfortable ride. If you pull high G's on the curves then you may want the Baja sway bar also. Don't quote me on this but I think Baja Ron will sell the complete set minus the links (if you bought them earlier) with the price of the links knocked off.
Peggy has a 2013 STS-SM5, not a Ryker, and they may be worlds apart, but the cornering at any, and I mean any, speed is noticeably
improved with the BajaRon swaybar installed. I put the links on too, as part of the package. It was a worthy addition to Peggy's Spyder.
I can't say how much it will improve the cornering on the Ryker though.
Peggy has a 2013 STS-SM5, not a Ryker, and they may be worlds apart, but the cornering at any, and I mean any, speed is noticeably
improved with the BajaRon swaybar installed. I put the links on too, as part of the package. It was a worthy addition to Peggy's Spyder.
I can't say how much it will improve the cornering on the Ryker though.
The cornering is night and day. The bike stays firmly planted.
I only upgraded to the Baja Ron end links for now and I noticed a huge improvement when cornering and changing lanes on the highway. I used to feel the whole bike dip/drop down on the outside wheel before it would respond to my input. That was a weird feeling.
Now it just turns with only a slight dip....which is SO much better.
My plan was to do the end links first and then upgrade to the full bar if needed.
Keep in mind that the Can AM upgraded sway bar is one piece and requires a major undertaking to swap it out. The Baja Ron is a 3 piece that gives yo the same result (if not better) while making it much easier to change out.
The hardest part is probably having to cut the original sway bar out.
I only upgraded to the Baja Ron end links for now and I noticed a huge improvement when cornering and changing lanes on the highway. I used to feel the whole bike dip/drop down on the outside wheel before it would respond to my input. That was a weird feeling.
Now it just turns with only a slight dip....which is SO much better.
My plan was to do the end links first and then upgrade to the full bar if needed.
Keep in mind that the Can AM upgraded sway bar is one piece and requires a major undertaking to swap it out. The Baja Ron is a 3 piece that gives yo the same result (if not better) while making it much easier to change out.
The hardest part is probably having to cut the original sway bar out.
While I do agree that the BajaRon anti-sway bar works wonders. I do have to disagree with your comment about installing it. It has
to be installed just like an OEM anti-sway bar, i.e. as a one piece bar. The Spyder has to be raised about 2 feet off the ground to
do the anti-sway bar change. The BajaRon anti-sway bar is one piece, just like the OEM, but it is much more robust.
That was my experience with Peggy's Spyder anyway.
I was going to mention what Markubis did above. To remove and replace a 1 piece Swaybar on the Ryker is a massive undertaking. Cutting out the old one and installing the Bajaron 3 piece swaybar isn't bad at all - if you can cleanly and carefully cut the old one - lots of things around it you don't want to nick with your blade. Makes a world of difference in the handling. I work on Spyder and Ryker for folks (hobby mechanic - non-warranty items) and won't do a 1 piece swaybar swap for folks on the Rykers - I will only do it if they choose the Bajaron 3 piece version.
Ah, the Ryker anti-sway bar is much different from the Spyder's. Good to know.
By "three piece", are you referring to the links that attach to the end of the anti-sway bar? The Ryker
OEM bar is one piece with the links permanently attached to the anti-sway bar?
Ah, the Ryker anti-sway bar is much different from the Spyder's. Good to know.
By "three piece", are you referring to the links that attach to the end of the anti-sway bar? The Ryker
OEM bar is one piece with the links permanently attached to the anti-sway bar?
The Ryker Swaybar does not "come out" as easy as the Spyders - terrible design for replacing. LOL! 1 piece vs. 3 piece - assuming you've replaced one on the Spyder - you have a long bar running across - and then you have a bend in each end with a shorter 4" (guessing) drop. The "Drop" then attaches to the plastic stock links or upgraded CNC links. The Bajaron 3 piece bar is 1 piece of long straight - with 2 pieces of CNC that go onto that long straight (normally the bends and 4" down). Then the links attach to the "downs". Making 3 pieces out of a 1 piece swaybar.
Instead of a big U you have a long straight and 2 bolt on pieces to make the U. Hope that makes sense. Means you can cut the old one out - and then slide the new one in - without fighting the U shape.
While I do agree that the BajaRon anti-sway bar works wonders. I do have to disagree with your comment about installing it. It has
to be installed just like an OEM anti-sway bar, i.e. as a one piece bar. The Spyder has to be raised about 2 feet off the ground to
do the anti-sway bar change. The BajaRon anti-sway bar is one piece, just like the OEM, but it is much more robust.
That was my experience with Peggy's Spyder anyway.
This is a Ryker forum. The Can Am Ryker replacement sway bar from Baja Ron is a 3 piece design.
There are several major differences between the 3-Piece BajaRon Sway Bar Kit for the Ryker. And the BRP 1-Piece upgrade bar kit. They have been well outlined in the posts above. But let me try to consolidate all the information in 1 place. Not to bore you. But a little background as to how we arrived at our present configuration.
In developing a sway bar for the Ryker. The 1st thing we did was to purchase a factory BRP upgrade bar kit and install it. As is the case with all of our products. If we can't improve on what is already available, we don't make it.
We found the install of the OEM bar to be quite difficult. This did not bode well for a future BajaRon Bar Kit. Some fairly major components have to be disassembled to get this job done. Most notably, the lower A-Arm. Then we found it extremely difficult to install the new BRP bar without scratching it up badly. The BRP bar does improve handling a good amount. But we found that adding additional strength in the bar assembly increased handling and stability even more.
A number of my vendors also do sway bar installs. Several of us were networking on this initial BRP bar install hoping to find a better, easier way to get it done. Not only for ourselves, but also knowing that DYI customers were not going to be happy with the factory method. After a few days of back and forth. Each one of these vendors told me they were not interested in doing any sway bar installs of the BRP or similar sway bar. It just wasn't worth the aggravation to them. This is when I knew I'd have to hit the drawing board, or abandon the project altogether.
I was already familiar with 3-piece sway bars. These are usually reserved for racing or high end applications, as it is a more expensive production process. But we found that by making the torsion portion of the bar just 1 straight piece, we avoided all of the serious component removal issues. And, if care is taken, the scratching of the bar can also be avoided. You don't even have to remove a wheel with this approach. But none of this did us any good if we had to remove the old bar as is. All the same components would have to be removed to do this. Erasing all the advantages of the 3 piece bar install process. So, we decided to cut the OEM bar which made removal very easy. It comes right out. But would customers be willing to cut the old bar? The old bar has no value, so that was not an issue. But even I was a bit nervous about the prospect. Fortunately, we found it to be much simpler, safer and easier than we'd expected.
The key here is, if you use an angle grinder, (the quickest, easiest method). It is imperative that you use a Cut-Off disk or blade, NOT the grinding wheel that came with your grinder. Some customers (and at least 1 video I've watched) struggle with this 'Cut the Bar' step because they use a grinding wheel instead of the recommended cut-off wheel.
The best way to go is a metal, diamond cut-off disk. These are very thin. Usually about 1/16". These go through the stock bar like a hot knife through butter. And the grinder is easily controlled. Here is an example. You can get these for under $15.00 Blade1.jpg
The next best thing is an abrasive cut-off disk like this. Not quite as nice as the diamond wheel above. But do-able. These are typically 1/8" wide and can be had for around $5.00. Blade2.jpg
What you don't want is a grinding wheel. Typically these are at least 1/4" wide. It's just too much surface area making it difficult to control the grinder. This is what causes people difficulty. These wheels are designed to grind with the face of the wheel. Not cut with the edge.
Abrasive Cut-Off disk on the Left. Grinding Wheel on the right. The Metal/Diamond blade is about 1/2 the width of the abrasive cut-off disk pictured here. Blade3.jpg
But for those squeamish about Plan A, there are several alternatives, depending on what you have for tools. A cheap and easy alternative is a tight space hacksaw. These come in many configurations. This will take a bit longer. But even this manual approach doesn't take all that long. There is an example pictured in the post above. Again, there is a video out there showing the poor guy taking forever with a hack saw. First, he uses a full size hacksaw handle, which is really too big for the space available. And I'm not sure what he was using for blades. But a good blade designed for metal, installed the right direction (hacksaw blades are directional) makes the job quite reasonable.
Other than ease of installation, there are other functional differences between the 1-Piece BRP upgrade bar and the 3-Piece BajaRon bar. These include Billet Aluminum Arms. Of course they look great being anodized and etched to match the end links. But beyond the bling, they are quite functional. Because a 1-piece sway bar, being all spring steel, the bends (or arm portion) also flexes. You really don't want the arms to flex as it diminishes the function of the sway bar by absorbing energy that the bar is attempting to transfer to the other side. This unwanted flex is compensated for by increasing the strength of the bar steel on a 1-piece bar.
With a 3-piece bar. A relatively smaller diameter bar will work like a larger diameter bar because the arm flex has been reduced to zero with the billet arms. This also applies in a similar way to the end links. The BajaRon Billet Aluminum and Chromoly Steel End Links eliminate the stretch and compression which occurs in the factory plastic end links, increasing response and efficiency of the sway bar system. Not to mention that they look pretty good and you also eliminate the possibility of breakage.
Here is a picture of one of our prototype Ryker Sway Bar setups. Here you can clearly see that the billet arms mount to the straight sway bar. And the Billet End Links attach the arms to the Ryker's suspension.
Here is a question that I get all the time. 'Will the BajaRon End Links work with the stock sway bar or the BRP upgrade sway bar?' The answer is yes, they will work great with the BRP bars. Though I have to say that many come back, after a time, for the rest of the bar kit because they find that they want all the improvement they can get from the system.
Ron, I was just watching an installation video of your sway bar on a Ryker 900. This person removed the entire front end including the radiator/fan assembly for the install. If I read you right, the whole purpose of your 3-piece design was to eliminate having to remove all that and just cut, remove the old one and install your sway bar. Now, I'm interested in your bar but I'm not if I have to go through all that long process to get there. Please tell me how you would install the it.
Paul
Ron, I was just watching an installation video of your sway bar on a Ryker 900. This person removed the entire front end including the radiator/fan assembly for the install. If I read you right, the whole purpose of your 3-piece design was to eliminate having to remove all that and just cut, remove the old one and install your sway bar. Now, I'm interested in your bar but I'm not if I have to go through all that long process to get there. Please tell me how you would install the it.
Paul
Maybe I was inadvertently misleading with my explanation. You still have to temporarily relocate the radiator and other items. You can't just cut off the original bar and replace it with mine. You have to be able to access the bushings. Which is required no matter which way you go because they hold the bar itself. All these components come off or move out of the way relatively easily. The bolts holding the bushings are the most difficult step when installing my bar kit. The nuts on the back side are somewhat difficult to get to. But quite do-able. This is not the most difficult portion of the install when installing the BRP bar. That install is not for the weak of heart.
I know several customers who started the BRP bar kit install and they ended up putting everything back together and taking it to the dealer for the install.
What you avoid is the more difficult and serious removal of the lower A-Arm and other components. Plus, you don't scratch up the bar struggling to get it into the frame.
I am happy to send a copy of the install instructions to anyone interested. Just PM me here, or email me at fyredad@hotmail.com. If you PM me, I'll need an email address to send the instructions to.
I changed on my 900 (no Rally) from the red "stronger" BRP sway-bar to the BajaRon System .. much better feeling - would change it again (a lot of work) !!
We got a new "Rally" version (no stronger s-bar) to test for a weekend - the shocks where adjusted for 2up - horrible hard and total uncomfortable on the side of our 900 !! So I would say: with a stronger sway-bar you can adjust the front-shocks of the Rally to the softest position and still would have a stable front - that's it .. and you will love it !
My girl said - its impossible to make longer tours with this "2up Rally-Version" - (..we use longer shocks on the front of our 900)
Greetings and THX to Ron from the Austrian Alps !!
Outlander fairing - Fox-shock - BajaRon Swaybar - Hankook tire/ back - 165/50 Imperial tires front & longer front shocks - GIVI Topase - Shad sidecases -heated grips - new seats
Does the Ryker Rally need a better sway bar?
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Originally Posted by Spyderdale
