Wrecked my bike, need some advice

So I was on my wrr on a gravel road, tried sliding through a 90 degree turn too fast, panicked, grabbed front brake and lowsided hard.

Only real damage to the bike is bent my handlebar and some of the plastic is scraped up.

So my question is, I live in Canada and the OEM bar is $50... a renthal bar is $130...

is an aftermarket bar really worth it? I could buy two OEM's instead of the renthal and the renthal could bend just as easily if I drop it hard again.

Also, are all 7/8" handlebars the same shape? Will it mess up my mounting for my controls/clutch cable travel? Or will my stuff bolt onto a aftermarket 7/8" bar just as easily as OEM?

Anyway, I went down hard on my right side... yet the only damage anywhere on my body is a broken left thumb... still trying to figure out how that happened.

Sorry to hear about your crash. Glad you didn't get hurt worse.

You will get a lot of opinions here. I find aluminum bars to be tougher and not bend as easily as steel bars. I didn't really like the stock bars so I put some Tusk brand aluminum 7/8" bars on my bike. I went with 7/8" because I didn't want to change mounts but I like the bend better. I got CR High because I have used it before.

I had 1" risers on my bike and had no issues with the cables/wire routing. But I cut my bars down width wise because the woods are tight around here. I think that gave me enough slack. I have since taken the risers off since the new bars are tall enough I don't need them.

I have used 1-1/8" bars on other off-road bikes and they are tough for sure but require new mounts.

If you're hellbent ( ) on running the stock bars and risers, I'll sell you mine for real cheap. I won't be needing them.

Glad to hear you are relatively okay shep. Broken thumb though is a tough one to live with. Went down on a gravel patch too and bent the stock bars. Not bad enough to replace but you can tell the left side is raised a bit. If shep doesn't want your bars a risers turb I will buy them.

Thanks for the offer but like I said since I live in Canada the shipping would be too much.

And yeah broken thumb really sucks especially I'm an aircraft mechanic... gonna be stuck doing paperwork for weeks

In my experience, the material used to make the stock steel bars might as well be cheese.... this applies to the KLR as well as the WR. Aluminum Renthal bars *can* bend, but they will take a lot more abuse than the stock bar before doing so.

Bends of 7/8" bars abound. I hate the stock bend, so can't tell you which model of Renthal is closest to stock We both have risers on our WRs, with 7/8" Renthal bars, and the cables route just fine. As I recall there's a little nubbin inside the switch gear to match up with a hole drilled in the stock bar to stop rotation, but that's easily removed with a utility knife.

Where you at in Canada, shep? If you're close enough, I've got a stock OEM bar we can talk about.

PM me with location.

Hey Sturg, thanks for the offer but I picked up a moose racing bar for $20!

I'm in Halifax btw...

Once my thumb is better ill post some pics once she's all better

shep546 wrote:

Hey Sturg, thanks for the offer but I picked up a moose racing bar for $20!

I'm in Halifax btw...

Once my thumb is better ill post some pics once she's all better

OK. I'm in Ontario but just spent last week near Pictou.

for your thumb