Hey all,

I recently was parking my bike, and had to walk/push it over a bump - I pushed too hard, and my handlebars shifted forward. Not a huge deal.

The problem is, I think it softened the rubber mounts of my risers or something, because now they just feel loose - like the whole handlebar + risers set up now has half an inch of play in it, that I can easily push or pull while parked or even riding. The handlebars don't actually roll forward or back unless I force them, but the risers still feel like they're mounted onto rubber that has lost its firmness (hence 'squishy').

It's still more than rideable, but it's kind of annoying - makes me trust the bars less when hitting bumps. Is this a common issue, and should I look into replacing the rubber mounts? I'm pretty noobish when it comes to how that all works.

 

Personally, I would replace the mounts/rubber bushings. It takes less than 10 minutes (including a smoke break) and it's never a bad idea. IIRC, it's just one bolt per riser, with a bushing on the bottom and one on the top. They're just washers with rubber on them. I've heard good things about going with the polyurethane bushings over rubber.

If your bars are actually rolling forward/backward WITHIN the risers, then you may have bigger problems. Every set of bars I've owned had "teeth" cut into them for mounting on the risers, and if you've stripped those teeth, you're probably looking at needing new bars or risers, whichever stripped out.

Risers alone are easily replaced, but the bars take a little longer, since you'll have to remove all the controls. Not a tedious task, unless you've got internally wired bars. If you don't, use the opportunity to clean up the front end and run the wires through the new bars, if that's your thing.