How much work is a handlebar swap?

Hi chaps,

Long story but basically I planted my left handlebar in a grass verge at about 15mph, bending it out of shape slightly.

I've ridden another 200 miles since, no evident problems, but could this have compromised anything other than the bars?

And how much work is a full handlebar swap? I have a feeling I'm in for some long weekends...

Then again these chrome bars do look cool -

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HONDA-CB500-CB-500-94-03-CHROME-HANDLEBARS-NEW/291118188760?hash=item43c7ff08d8:g:V5MAAOSw3v5YteS3

A bar swap is pretty swift. Undo switch gear, undo lever/mirror brackets. Undo handlebar bolts. Swap out, replace. 

I never bother swapping grips over, just put new ones on. 

One thing which can take time is if you swap over the internal bar weights. They can be tricky to remove in one piece. I've also found bars sold for the cb500 sometimes aren't drilled for switch gear pegs, and aren't open ended for replacing the bar weights. Some people have replaced with renthals

Handlebar swap is pretty easy to do. Use Wd40 and a screwdriver to lever the left grip off. Piece of string to hang the master cylinder from, or to tie it upright to the headlight assembly...
New bars don't come pre drilled for the switchgear so you'd need to do that (4.5mm metal drill).

Have some patience with the new set up too as it'll feel odd to start with.

muttley1

Beresford, odd looking set. Got a link? I googled sundely but didn't find anything looking like that...

here's something similar or maybe the same

By the way, I find renthal bars (35 pounds) to be really comfortable on my cb. They are of different internal size, though, and fitting proper bar ends is a bit of an issue.

You have my sympathy, I dropped mine on a grass verge about 6 months after I bought it and did exactly the same. I replaced with an original, it's surprising how a slight bend in the bars throws your riding off.
Not a difficult job, the most fiddly bit is the throttle tube, good opportunity to check that both cables are in one piece, the throttle close cable can snap and you'd be none the wiser apart from slight drag when you rotate the sleeve.
Make sure you tie up the master cylinder upright otherwise you may get some fluid leakage!
Bar end inserts not too bad to remove, you can ease that by removing the bar end, and sticking the screw through the middle of a piece of bar & screw back on loosely so you can get a bit of slide hammer action on it.

great thanks chaps

I've renthals and no need for weighted bar ends imo but renthal do little bar end stops, not weighted ends and these fit by allen key tightening.

muttley1