Triumphrat

propforward

This thread is a series of notes and pictures to give you an idea how the Renntec wrap around engine bars fit, and what is involved in installing them.

The bars do come with fitting instructions from the factory, but it is nice to see how these things go together and look before you buy them.

I bought mine from one of our site supporters, www.newbonneville.com.

The bars are good and sturdy and very high quality. I did not find that I had to do any drilling or opening up of holes at all. This is quite typical of Renntec quality, fit and finish is usually very good. My bars had one minor blemish on, which you will see in the pictures. I decided not to return the bars though, as it was a very minor blemish in a difficult to see area, and I easily took care of it.

Here is a view of the kit of parts as received:



and the fasteners included (observe the nyloc type nuts, which I heartily approve of):



Note that I ended up with a few spare washers and shorter screws. There were excess included.

Installation is straightforward. The basic concept as with all things of this nature is to make sure you leave everything fairly loose until all parts are in place, then tighten all nuts and bolts up gradually. I also recommend applying a small amount of grease to the threads of the various bolts when installing them.

Start with the lower brace. This goes underneath the frame at the front of the bike. This picture shows its orientation:



And these pictures show location and mounting





Remove the engine mounting bolt at the front of the bike (you can actually see the mounting lug of one bar assembly here)



Position each side of the engine bars in turn, and loosely attach to the lower mounting bracket

Bars





Bracket attachment location

__________________
"A long distance motorcycle trip, outside of your comfort zone, will probably be a defining experience in your life. It's miles cheaper, easier and safer than the celebrities and tour operators want you to think it is. Do a big trip, come back and encourage someone else to do theirs. Remember the kindness shown to you by strangers, then pass kindness on in your world thereafter. Simple"

Austin Vince

propforward

Nuts and bolts loosely in place



Other side next to starter motor



Note that the two halves of the engine bar have a tube section in front of the cylinders, where one half "slides into" the other half. In this picture you can see the blemish I mentioned earlier. Stands out like a sore thumb with the flash photography, but is not so bad in real life. It was caused by a bit of left over brazing flux from brazing the sliding tube into one half, which then prevented paint sticking. Nothing a bit of scotchbrite and rustoleum couldn't sort out.



Now install the new engine mount bolt, which is supplied with the kit - a smear of grease on it is a good idea:



And then fasten the bar halves together behind the cylinders and underneath the carburettors. This was the only fiddly part of the process, and I put that down to my big arse FCR39 carburettors. I think it wouldn't be such a tight fit with stock carbs.

Then it is a matter of tightening everything up gradually. Start with the engine mount bolt, and get that torqued properly.

then snug up the nuts and bolts behind the cylinders, then the nuts and bolts that fasten the lower mount points to the lower frame bracket. Then snug up the nuts holding the lower frame bracket to the frame.

Then go around and make sure everything is tightened fully, and voila! Lovely engine bars, that blend in to the bike quite nicely.

__________________
"A long distance motorcycle trip, outside of your comfort zone, will probably be a defining experience in your life. It's miles cheaper, easier and safer than the celebrities and tour operators want you to think it is. Do a big trip, come back and encourage someone else to do theirs. Remember the kindness shown to you by strangers, then pass kindness on in your world thereafter. Simple"

Austin Vince

boofhead

Fitted mine this morning , Easy as
Good quality gear only 1 bolt a bit difficult to fit , Behind the carbs?
Very happy

Plantbi

Thanks Prop

This will be up on my computer while I install my bars!

propforward

I always thought these engine bars would be great for mounting auxiliary lights to, which is the main reason I bought them, but I haven't got around to that yet. Don't know if I will.

__________________
"A long distance motorcycle trip, outside of your comfort zone, will probably be a defining experience in your life. It's miles cheaper, easier and safer than the celebrities and tour operators want you to think it is. Do a big trip, come back and encourage someone else to do theirs. Remember the kindness shown to you by strangers, then pass kindness on in your world thereafter. Simple"

Austin Vince

Dan McGrath

Propforward, thanks for posting this up. Good description on how to do it and the photo's add much detail, well done.

Von Dutch

Nice writeup Prop!
Looking at these Renntec engine bars they look good and stout.
I did a search to see IF these will fit a Thruxton.
My search did not find any posts for fitting to a Thruxton here.
I Emailed Newbonneville, waiting for reply with ants in my pants.
(Newbonneville has these bars listed for Bonneville/Scrambler)
So my question is will they fit a Thruxton?
Anyone here put these Renntec engine bars on a Thruxton?
If so any fitment problems?
Thanks for any reply.

Von Dutch

Never mind.
I received an answer from Newbonneville and
YES they tell me these engine bars fix the Thruxton.

echoraven

Thanks Prop! I love these. The Triumph ones look like they belong on a cruiser, not a Bonnie, this fits in perfectly!

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...exposing Forchetto's real identity since 2011...

rwantin

Thanks much for posting Prop (nice-looking bike, too). I've been pondering these for a while now. This looks like the way to go.

Recently, bought a similar set on Ebay. I liked the closer fit look and not having some bars hanging way out. Unfortunately, even though they were advertised for a Bonnie (by a Triumph dealer no less), when I got to fitting them, they would not clear the exhaust down pipes. That was because, ahem, they were for a Scrambler. We traded for an OEM flyscreen. No harm, no foul, but still want/need some bars.

__________________
Robert
2007 Bonneville T100 - Ricor Intiminators, Ohlins 36E's, TOR's, Burton DS003 and other geegaws.