Any feedback on the Upgraded BajaRon 3 piece Sway Bar for F3 (and RT)?

[BajaRon]

I have been getting some questions which indicate that there may be some misunderstanding about the statements I made in the previous post concerning this new 3-Piece bar kit.

#1- 'Are you saying that the original BajaRon Bar is No Good for aggressive, 2-up, or heavily loaded riders?'
No, I am not saying that at all. What I meant to convey is that the new 3-Piece bar is BETTER than the original bar for these riders. The 1-Piece bar makes a big difference for these riders. Always has, always will.

#2- 'Do I have to replace my original BajaRon bar with the new 3-Piece?'
No. If you are happy with the performance of the original bar, there may be no reason for you to change it out.

#3- 'Why did you present the new bar before having sufficient stock to provide for sales to everyone?' Which would include a similar question. 'Why didn't you announce the new bar sooner? I just bought one of the original bar kits.'
Well, you've got me there. It's a Catch-22 moment. Of course I needed to do quite a bit of testing to be sure this new bar was worth putting into production before saying anything. We released information when we did to let those thinking about a bar kit know that it was coming. We'd hoped to have it all ready to go by this time (riding season). But that didn't happen as quickly as we'd have liked.

As always, if you have questions, let me know.

 

[chunkmonk]

So (a) I don't do farcebook - haven't in a few years. got tired of being jailed and scolded for my opinion when liberal progressive positions were allowed at all ends of the spectrum. (b) those ends on the new kit appear to be solid rather than heim joints, which is exactly like the kit that spyderaccessories sells... I'm now wondering if those heim joints are as purpose built as they are advertised to be...
The height issue is still an issue. You can cut the old bar if you're not going to sell it (the rubbery end joints are junk unless they are pretty new, as they were in my case), but you will need 24" of ground clearance to install the new bar. The only 2 lifts I know that do that are the K&L (max lift height 31") and another one that is something like J&K which has a max of 36". The K&L one sells for around $900 USD, and the other one is around $1,600USD. My bike lift will pick up 1,600 lbs at a height of 18" and that was all I needed on any of my big touring rides. For this, I'm going to wind up having a shop install it - if I can ever find a trustworthy shop in this area...

 

[chunkmonk]

Ron - Any plans to work on an active anti-swaybar kit for spyders?

 

[coolie]

How will we know if we are getting the new Sway bar kit? Are these available from all of the usual vendors?

 

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

My initial thought was this design makes it look like you won't need to get the Spyder raised as high to do the replacement. That said, you still need to get the OEM one off. Hmmm ?

Well if you are tossing the OLD one .... just cut in half or three pieces .... good luck .... Mike :thumbup:

 

[UtahPete]

How will we know if we are getting the new Sway bar kit? Are these available from all of the usual vendors?

Its a 3-piece design and costs more.

 

[CloverHillCrawler]

So (a) I don't do farcebook - haven't in a few years. got tired of being jailed and scolded for my opinion when liberal progressive positions were allowed at all ends of the spectrum. (b) those ends on the new kit appear to be solid rather than heim joints, which is exactly like the kit that spyderaccessories sells... I'm now wondering if those heim joints are as purpose built as they are advertised to be...
The height issue is still an issue. You can cut the old bar if you're not going to sell it (the rubbery end joints are junk unless they are pretty new, as they were in my case), but you will need 24" of ground clearance to install the new bar. The only 2 lifts I know that do that are the K&L (max lift height 31") and another one that is something like J&K which has a max of 36". The K&L one sells for around $900 USD, and the other one is around $1,600USD. My bike lift will pick up 1,600 lbs at a height of 18" and that was all I needed on any of my big touring rides. For this, I'm going to wind up having a shop install it - if I can ever find a trustworthy shop in this area...

If you have a pickup you can use ramps to get the height you need . Make sure to take the tailgate off and use safety chains on the ramps and you should have no problem.

 

[Peter Aawen]

.... (b) those ends on the new kit appear to be solid rather than heim joints, which is exactly like the kit that spyderaccessories sells... I'm now wondering if those heim joints are as purpose built as they are advertised to be...
The height issue is still an issue. You can cut the old bar if you're not going to sell it (the rubbery end joints are junk unless they are pretty new, as they were in my case), but you will need 24" of ground clearance to install the new bar. The.....

If you have a pickup you can use ramps to get the height you need . Make sure to take the tailgate off and use safety chains on the ramps and you should have no problem.

Re the first bolded bit above.... which pic of BajaRon's New 3-piece Sway Bar were you looking at chunkmonk?? :dontknow: . The one I saw (I think in post #20 of this thread ) clearly shows the latest Heim Joint End Links from BajaRon in the centre middle of the pic between the new solid end bars, altho it is true that the new 'Ends' of the 3-piece Sway Bar are solid, just not the End Links! . The straight Centre section of the New 3-piece Sway Bar has solid End bits that affix to each end of the torsion bar; then the Heim Joint End Links connect those ends, the 3-piece Sway Bar Ends, to the frame; just like the same Heim Joint End Links will connect the 1-piece Bar Ends to the Spyder's frame . :thumbup:

Re the 2nd bolded bit above, Clover provides info on just one of the many alternatives to lift your Spyder that high without a lift, but surely that 24" lift requirement is only necessary to fit the 1-piece Sway Bar from BajaRon?? . From what I can see, it's not necessary to lift the Spyder that high to enable fitting the New 3-piece Sway Bar, it's a straight 'slide the bar in, then fit the Ends & Heim Links to each end', rather than having to thread the 90° end of the one piece bar onto the frame; altho it would still be handy to lift the Spyder a little just to make getting the placcy bar/frame channel bits fitted properly a tad easier; the rest of fitting the New 3-piece Sway Bar looks fairly straighforward & easy enough to do with the Spyder still on the ground! :thumbup:

Now I could be wrong about this, but in the absence of any correction, it certainly looks to be as I've outlined above, in that the New 3-piece Sway Bar DOES have the Heim Joint End Links, and you DON'T need to lift your Spyder 24" off the ground to fit the New 3-piece Sway Bar. Just Sayin' :thumbup:

 

[adipaola]

Just installed the 3 piece bar yesterday and took my usual 60 mile ride today, full of twisties and long fast sweepers.
I was going to cut the old one off, but I couldn't find the removal thingamajig for my angle grinder, so I used the CloverHill method above, and the bar fell right off.

Results are impressive. Holds a corner very tightly and wallowing is gone. (the stock plastic end links must flex like crazy)
Sweeping curves at moderate speed, it seems to steer itself, almost.
The harder you turn, the firmer the front end holds.
Price for all that goodness: more harshness over bumps. Nothing is for free.
It's an acceptable trade off for what I consider a dramatic improvement.

 

[coolie]

Just installed the 3 piece bar yesterday and took my usual 60 mile ride today, full of twisties and long fast sweepers.
I was going to cut the old one off, but I couldn't find the removal thingamajig for my angle grinder, so I used the CloverHill method above, and the bar fell right off.

Results are impressive. Holds a corner very tightly and wallowing is gone. (the stock plastic end links must flex like crazy)
Sweeping curves at moderate speed, it seems to steer itself, almost.
The harder you turn, the firmer the front end holds.
Price for all that goodness: more harshness over bumps. Nothing is for free.
It's an acceptable trade off for what I consider a dramatic improvement.

Awesome. Where did you buy the new 3pc set?

 

[BajaRon]

OK, time for another update. I keep putting this off because I hope to have better news. I do not mean to be mysterious about this. It's a matter of supply chain issues. Just as we were preparing to go big on the new 3-Piece bar kit. We've had some material issues. The billet aluminum and spring steel we can usually get easily was an unexpected difficulty.

Everyone wants to know the difference between the original BajaRon Bar and the new 3-Piece (we are calling it the Ultra Bar). It's hard to describe without getting technical and putting people to sleep. I love the technical part. But it is definitely not a universal sentiment.

In short. Anything that reduces the efficiency of the torsion section of the sway bar will give you an accelerated reduction in performance as the side load increases. So, with a light, single rider, or a person who rides conservatively, the loss in performance is not great because there is not that much stress on the bar and not much deflection in the spring steel arms.

Since the 'Arms' on the 1-Piece bar are a continuation of the same spring steel. I've always known this configuration would give some reduction in performance. But frankly. I was very surprised at how much of a reduction it was. Especially for 2-up riders, and those who like to go through the twisties.

We had veteran riders who put a lot of miles on their Spyders test out the new bar for us. These were F3 or RT owners who have been running the original BajaRon bar for several years. They were either 2-Up, heavy, or spirited riders. I always tell my test riders to give me the truth, good, bad or ugly. I do not want to produce a product that doesn't make enough difference to be worth the money and effort required to install. Every one of the test riders were impressed.

Right now I have a very few RT bars in Black only. We will have all of the colors (Red, Blue, Silver & Black) hopefully soon. I have no F3, 3-Piece (Ultra) bars left in stock right now. We have the bars, we are waiting on the billet arms. We are working hard to get ahead of this. I hope my next update is better news.

If you have questions or would like to order anything from us. The easiest way is to call 423-609-7588 between 8-5, EST.

 

[trikermutha]

Reminds me of a torsion bar. They been using them for years on trucks. Is there one for the RT models 2014 and up?

 

[BajaRon]

Reminds me of a torsion bar. They been using them for years on trucks. Is there one for the RT models 2014 and up?

There is a 3-Piece bar kit for all 2013 and newer Spyder & Ryker models.

 

[adipaola]

I ordered the bar for my 2015 F3-S directly from Ron by emailing him.
I guess I was lucky to get it, given the supply issues he has mentioned.

 

[fullyallamathic]

Just had it install on my f3 today. Man ohhh man!!!!!!!! The difference is amazing!!!!!!

 

[coolie]

Nice mine just came in the mail today. Now to find a place to do the install for me.

 

[fullyallamathic]

Its amazing!!!!!!!

 

[Peteoz]

Just had it install on my f3 today. Man ohhh man!!!!!!!! The difference is amazing!!!!!!

The difference to what, Fullyalla? I.e., are you comparing it to Ron’s previous bar, or to the stock bar?

Pete

 

[UtahPete]

Took mine for a little spin today to check out the sway bar. It does make a noticeable difference in how the bike handles at speed in the twisties. It's steadier and flatter. I don't get the diving and rebounding any more.

After checking it out on the back roads, I tried the highway. There's a section of I-80 east of US-40 that enters a very twisty section where the advisory for trucks is 35-45mph. There's been two truck accidents there in the past week where the trucks tipped over, spilling their loads; one was bees and the other chocolate.

Anyway, I ran that 5 miles well over the posted speed limit (80+) and the bike was steady as a rock. A Mazda gave chase for awhile but chickened out in the twistiest stuff.

I'm happy with the sway bar upgrade.

Let the tut-tutting begin...

 

[Pirate]

Took mine for a little spin today to check out the sway bar. It does make a noticeable difference in how the bike handles at speed in the twisties. It's steadier and flatter. I don't get the diving and rebounding any more.

After checking it out on the back roads, I tried the highway. There's a section of I-80 east of US-40 that enters a very twisty section where the advisory for trucks is 35-45mph. There's been two truck accidents there in the past week where the trucks tipped over, spilling their loads; one was bees and the other chocolate.

Anyway, I ran that 5 miles well over the posted speed limit (80+) and the bike was steady as a rock. A Mazda gave chase for awhile but chickened out in the twistiest stuff.

I'm happy with the sway bar upgrade.

Let the tut-tutting begin...

Compared to the stock bar or the previous Ron bar?