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Posts Tagged ‘dresser bars’

I didn’t think it would be too big a deal…pull out some bolts, stick the bars on, and put the bolts back in, right? Well, yeah, except for stabilizing the bike in an upright position, making sure it wouldn’t fall over, and being careful not to cross-thread or over-torque anything. Piece of cake.

The fiasco last weekend has turned me into a belt AND suspenders type of guy. Robin walked out to the driveway this evening and just started hooting like a hyena at the way I had BB (pet name for my bike) all hung up with a strap from the shop crane, the front wheel pinned in a trailer stand mounted on a full sheet of 3/4 inch cabinet grade plywood, and a 4 ton floor jack shoved under the engine with a slab of high dollar cherry hardwood in between.

I was taking no chances.

Evidently Triumph is taking no chances with the redesigned front engine dresser bars I was installing, either. The things are massive. Once they were bolted on (sounds easy, and it was, but it was also VERY scary) they were astonishingly rigid. I must admit I was a little leery before I opened the box, having read how the first version of factory dresser bars Triumph sold for the Rocket III was flimsy and disappointing to many owners via the forums.

The installation became a bit intimidating when I realized what the instructions meant by removing the front engine bolt. It is a massive hex head bolt that goes through the right side of the frame, through the entire engine, and out the left side of the frame. It pins the engine into the frame.

So, the instructions said to use a jack to lift the engine a little to put just enough pressure on the engine to free up the bolt where you can slide it out.

They said nothing about what to do should something slip in the process and the hole going through the engine becomes misaligned with the holes in the frame. I suppose that’s why the label on the box said, “…to be fitted by trained mechanic.”

So I was sweating bullets as I removed that bolt and gingerly positioned the bars. I finger tightened the four new slightly longer bottom bolts that came with the kit replacing the ones that had previously held the front of the foot board bars. The bottom brackets of the crash bars fit right on top of the front foot board bars. Every time the bike moved a little as it hung there, partially suspended by the handles bars and pinned by the front tire I said a little prayer under my breath that the frame and engine wouldn’t move separate ways.

It was time to put that monster front engine bolt back in. I shoved it in from the left side, and it stopped dead about a quarter inch into the engine. No amount of twisting and pushing would make it go any further. Finally, I gave the jack handle a half-foot pump and tried again. This time the bolt slid straight through like an ice pick through whipped cream.

Putting the nut on the other side was a bit frustrating…there wasn’t much room for fingers in the recess and I couldn’t get a socket over it because of the clutch cable and radiator shroud. After much patient and ginger twisting and fumbling I finally got it threaded on and was able to get a socket and extension on it. With Robin holding that side firm (she’d had to do the same when I took it out) I tightened the bolt and nut, then dug out the old torque wrench and carefully tightened all five bolts to specs listed in the instructions.

I can’t wait to put a set of highway pegs on those bars…but that’s another $160.00 down the road. Like they say, buying a motorcycle is nothing more than a down-payment on accessories.

For folks planning to install dresser bars on their own Triumph R3, here’s a few pics that might be helpful.

Left side upper bolt (front engine bolt) part of the dresser bar:

Right side upper:

Lower bolts over foot board bar:

Tomorrow when the sun is out and after I’ve wiped off all the fingerprints and grease smudges I’ll get a photo posted of the whole bike with the new bars on.