Yamaha RD 350 F2 '88 - Part 4 - Simple bolt-on mods

One thing that needed changing in my RD was the narrow handlebar it came with. The old handlebar I had on the bike was only 740 mm wide. Fortunately my local motorcycle parts store had a nice low and significantly wider tapered handlebar made by Emgo for sale with a discount. Emgo's are quite a bit cheaper than let's say handlebars made by Renthal or Magura but with a 50 percent discount this one was bargain not to miss.

I had a problem with fitting stock control switches on the new handlebar since they were too wide. Fatbar handlebars tend to have quite narrow control length since they are mostly used on motocross and enduro bikes. I had to buy a pair of slim bar ends and choose a narrow set of grips to make most of the narrow control length and widen it a bit. Fortunately it helped and everything fitted at the end. Luckily stock cables were also long enough and I didn't have to do any mods to them. You can find those slim bar ends from eBay if you have a similar problem. 

I also wanted to replace those old mirrors I had on the bike. Agila makes a nice looking and cheap pair of mirrors which fitted nicely without any adapters.

New fatbar made by Emgo (7075 CR low bend).

Pair of Slim Bar Ends made by Bike It.

Pair of Agila mirrors.

Left side mirror unboxed.

Pair of Domino grips.

New parts installed. Total width 860 mm with slim bar ends.

Closeup.

GoPro Hero with a handlebar mount?

Billet clip-ons and top yoke - Suzuki T250J

I wanted to create something to my bike with abrasive water jet cutter that we have at our university. I had already machined a billet out of recycled aluminum which was perfect for a top yoke. Size of the billet was 200 x 200 x 23 mm. 

I had previously purchased a pair of billet clip-ons from ebay which I used for an inspiration when I started to design the top yoke. Handlebars sit in a 10 degree angle and they are made out of 22 x 380 mm aluminum tube. Inner diameter of the tube is 16 mm.

Pair of clip-ons I bought from ebay which are meant for 
34 mm tubes. Outside diameter of clamp is 49 mm.

I wanted to implement features from the clip-ons to the design so I designed four symmetrical triangle shaped holes which follow outlines of the top yoke. I also wanted the outside diameter (49 mm) to match.

I used two different softwares to create necessary tool path for the abrasive water jet cutter. Basic outline of the top yoke was designed with CATIA V5. I used CATIA's part design workbench to create a 3D model which I then moved to drafting workbench to create a DXF file. Tool path and DNC file was created with IGEMS.

3D-model of the top yoke without machined features.

Preview of the DXF file.

Last step was to machine all the necessary features with a vertical milling machine and finish the outside surface with flap wheel with shank. I used a round ceramic grinding stick with shank to smooth the triangle shaped holes. I felt that polishing would have taken too much time so I used a finishing pad like Mirlon to get a brushed look.

Workshop drawing.

Top view.

Bottom view.