short clip-ons, big bike, wide rider...possible issues?

[Nein_Collins]

Hey guys,

I'm working on my cb900f project and one thing has popped up that's nagging me a little. The CB's forks are 39mm, an odd size pretty much reserved for Harley's and it took some searching to find an affordable (i'm on a budget) clip-ons from partsnmore.

Here is what they look like on the bike...(not a great angle, sorry)

Anyway these clip-ons are about 8-9 inches long, so they are pretty short, I can just get all of my hardware mounted on the throttle side(new cbr1000rr throttle tube, start/stop switch, nissin remote reservoir bmc) so that's a non issue. What's nagging me is that I see all the other bikes with longer ones (i guess you can say i've got long clip-on envy..lol) and I worry that these are too narrow for a bike the size of the CB and for someone who is wide in frame like me. I really do not want to run a set of clubmans though I do have some, but if I have to, I have to. Any suggestions guys? am I just worrying needlessly?

Thanks in advance.

Gray

p.s. this is probably the first in a long list of questions/threads i'll be posting as my build progresses...

 

[bbillington]

I have a similar setup on a gs850 and think it feels and handles amazingly with short clipons when compared to the stock setup. How much have you lowered the front end? I think once you ride the bike with that setup, you'll really appreciate it. Just be aware of the controls positioning with the bars at lock or close to it, as well as pointing straight ahead. My initial setup had my starter button hitting the tank

edited to add that your bike looks amazing. well done.

 

[Nein_Collins]

Thank you for the compliment on my bike even though I haven't really done much other than take stuff apart...lol. The vision of the finished product i've got in my head looks pretty cool imho though..lol

I've raised the forks about a half an inch in the triples, any more than that and I think it would look silly. I also plan to get a longer set of shocks in the back since I'm going to eventually run cbr600 17" wheels. I do want a good handling bike so I guess I'll stick with the clip-ons . I've checked clearances so far and I think I'll just need a small dimple on both sides of the tank. I still need to order my controls for the clutch side though (can't find a headlight/horn/turn signal switch that's all low-pro and slim like the cbr1k switch on the other side) so I have no idea how much "clearancing" I'll need to do there.

more progress will be coming soon

Gray

 

[AHawks]

I would ride it first and see how it feels. It is easy enough to extend them later if you still have long clip-on envy.