How To Stop After Market Bar Ends From Falling Out

[Dpalmer_220992]

Morning all!

My ST1300 came with aftermarket bar end weights, the kind that have the expandable rubber insert, not the ones that effectively screw into the bars. My question is does any one have any tips to stop them from wriggling their way out all the time as I lost one a month or so back and now the bikes off the road for a bit of maintenance I thought I'd replace them.

I have already tried roughing up the rubber and the inside of the bar slightly to create a bit more grip and no joy.

I did however come across these on ebay and wondering if these would be any better than the expanding rubber type bar ends...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Oberon-l...h=item3376ad85ec:g:ZeAAAOxyW7tRgxZ1:rk:8:pf:0

Cheers, Dan

 

[ST Gui]

Hairspray. Auqa Net is cheap and plentiful. LOL Can you confirm that they are expanding and the screw/bolt isn't stripped/slipping? Cleaning the rubber insert with alcohol might help. Or the rubber was just tire and fresh ends will work better. You could also 'shim' the rubber end by wrapping it in something as long as you can get it inside the bar.

 

[Dpalmer_220992]

Yeah they are both working as they should be, I say I lost one, what I meant to say is it fell out and I retrieved it, but it's pretty banged up now haha

I'm in England so I don't think I'll be able to get hold of that, but the cheaper the better for this kind of job, right?

 

[ibike2havefun]

In addition to hair spray (brand doesn't matter), bicycle shops often use a dab of soap (liquid dish soap or hand soap- don't add water!) when installing handlebar grips and such. When wet it acts as a lubricant and makes it easier to slide the rubber over the handlebars; after it "dries" it reverses function and acts as a weak glue, holding the grips in place.

The same technique might work for your bar end problem. It'll also make the insertion step easier.

Just looked at your eBay link. Those look like they should be easier to insert, and you can pick the color to match your bike-- a nice accent touch not available from Honda.

 

[Dpalmer_220992]

I think I'll try the hairspray trick for now and see how I get on as I have some spare rubber style ones I can fit now.

And I think I may order a set of the expanding metal type ones as per the link incase I have trouble with the rubber ones again!

 

[ST Gui]

If they keep twisting or loosening lubrication then isn't the issue. Working with what you have I'd get some coarse sandpaper and put it in the handlebars. Then I'd put a cylindrical object (maybe even the bar end) in side the handlebar and twist it to get some concentric grooves in inside. Remove the object and the paper. Clean with alcohol or water anything that doesn't leave a residue. Make sure it's dry.

I would not have roughed up the rubber plug on the supposition that the rough edges might actually reduce the surface area in contact with the grooves. (Untested hypothesis.) Clean the rubber with alcohol and dry.

Next the hairspray. (And of course the brand doesn't matter probably.) And a thin shim like a strip of rubber over the front and sides of the plug would probably help. But it could be the plug is just old and needs to be replaced. I'd still use hairspray not soap.