Riser Comparison
Rating: +1
Original riser, the Aero riser and the 750 spirit riser.
After many questions and good advice from the group, I've just completed the changeover to stock Aero risers, part # 53231-MBH-000, $42.50 each from the local Honda dealer. So here's my experience with this most popular Sabre modification.
Some reported cable rerouting necessary, some reported unnecessary to reroute cables. I looked closely at my '01 and decided that rerouting choke and brake cables were mandatory, throttle, clutch and electrical cables might just make it. That turned out to be true in my case, which is good because the disconnects seemed like I didn't want to go there.
I rerouted the choke cable so it came out behind the neck to the side it needs to go to, and ran the brake cable behind the triple tree. I had covered the tank with a towel (and a rag to protect the towel). I lost only a few drops of brake fluid. I was prepared to bleed the brake line, but it wasn't necessary.
The job took most of the afternoon. I was very cautious because I'm new at motorcycle mechanics and haven't done my own auto mechanics in over 20 years, but I do have adequate tools, which is just a set of metric hand wrenches and allen wrenches, screwdrivers and pliers.
The result is that the handlebar, measured from the center of bar to the sissybar is 1 1/4 inch closer and 3/4 inch higher. I think the height is insignificant because you can easily gain height by simply rolling the bar. Getting the bar back is the biggy.
I hoped to gain 2 - 2 1/2 inches as one owner reported, but that won't happen with these risers. Just as well, because that would probably have required all cables to be rerouted, PLUS the bar would then cover the neutral and bright indicators. As it was, the turn signal indicator is now covered by the bar, but seeing it's reflection in the speedo bracket gave me an idea. I found a $3 purse mirror (Conair brand) in the drug store, cut away some plastic, and superglued it to the speedo bracket. (I would have used mounting tape if I had some. )_It worked great. I have a very good mirror image of the turn signal indicator and it looks as least as good as the speedo bracket. The neutral and bright indicators are not positioned where the fix would be so easy.
To finish: The 1 1/4 inch reach difference is appreciable but not radical. I think it was worth the trouble, if only just to know I gave it a try.