my final word on bar-end weights ;-)

For somewhat tedious reasons, I run two cb500s. One has bar-end weights, one doesn't. I've now reached the conclusion that the only difference is the mirrors blur a bit more at 80 and above on the one without. Aside from that the difference is imo totally negligible. Discomfort from tingly vibes etc. - hardly any difference.

Why have u two cbs one for week and other mint for wkd use..  i like a couple cbs if i could afford it

I find that I use the bar ends to rest part of my hand/wrist on, but I didn't notice any difference with vibrations when I didn't have any fitted.

My bike came with only one internal weight and no end weights. I found a massive difference when I installed the other internal weight and the end weights. Maybe that indicates that the internal weights are more important than the external. My bike is high miles so maybe vibrates more than others so maybe the difference was more pronounced.

wornsprokets wrote:Why have u two cbs one for week and other mint for wkd use..  i like a couple cbs if i could afford it

I crashed (the) one (without weights), so badly that it was going to take a while to get it back on the road - in the event it took about a year. The bike *had* to be salvaged though because it was so excellent internally, and also had never seen any real work (weather, punishment, etc.). Scrapping it wasn't an option as far as I was concerned. But how could I be without a cb?!? Very soon a £750 bike came up on eBay and I bought it - that one had bar end weights. However and to be fair, they aren't OEM weights and look a bit insubstantial to my eye - i.e. shite. So in fact it may actually be that I'm effectively running both bikes without weights.

Picking up on liverpool_f_'s point about internal weights, I can't say for sure apart from RE the bike I crashed - I replaced the bars with non-Honda parts and I'm fairly sure they have no weights inside them. Certainly I haven't fitted them.

So perhaps, then, the key variable regarding degree of vibration in the bars isn't bar end weights but the bike itself - and how wear and tear, and minute variations in the mass of internal parts, and the kinds of gyroscopic forces they create once moving, is the primary culprit?

I got by CB500S second hand and the bar end weight was loose when I bought it. It fell out one day, now my right hand never gets numb, my left hand, on the other... hand, gets numb, especially around 5k revs I find. Weird eh

So is it the left hand side of the bars that has no weight?

Sorry, should have said, it's the right hand bar end weight that fell out. Left one is still in, and that's where I feel the vibes

Huh - yeah that is weird. On a slightly different tack but vaguely relevant, I've recently started to find my right foot getting numb. Not sure what that's about although I have got some new knee armour cos the inserts in my Spada trousers were all knackere (after numerous crashes and wear and tear).