rbernie
Member
In the FWIW department - the HDB weighted brass handlebar end inserts use a different thread pitch and tap than their standard ones.
This means that you should definitely NOT get the taps mixed up if you have both. It also means that you should NOT expect to convert from one type to t'other. Oh, and the brass of the weighted inserts is very soft and their 8mm socket head will deform/strip easily after you get the brass insert screwed halfway into a bar that's been tapped for the standard inserts.
Yes, I should have checked thread pitch and didn't. The brass started in OK but the pitch is clearly different and ultimately the brass insert seized up inside the bar. Mea culpa - sometimes I'm just a moron like that.
The HDB folk have been super great in my dealings with them (and I mean that - I screwed up an order a while back and they were very gracious in their response), but this proved to be an unexpected lesson. At least I'm only out the cost of the brass inserts and the cost of the bar (now worthless until I can figure out how to grab the insert with an ez-out).
As it turns out, I actually like the design of the non-weighted inserts better from one perspective; because they're bottomless (hollow cylinders that are ID/OD threaded), their installation depth and the bar end bolt OAL is less critical than it is with the brass weighted inserts.
And that is officially more than I ever wanted to know about handlebar inserts.
This means that you should definitely NOT get the taps mixed up if you have both. It also means that you should NOT expect to convert from one type to t'other. Oh, and the brass of the weighted inserts is very soft and their 8mm socket head will deform/strip easily after you get the brass insert screwed halfway into a bar that's been tapped for the standard inserts.
Yes, I should have checked thread pitch and didn't. The brass started in OK but the pitch is clearly different and ultimately the brass insert seized up inside the bar. Mea culpa - sometimes I'm just a moron like that.
The HDB folk have been super great in my dealings with them (and I mean that - I screwed up an order a while back and they were very gracious in their response), but this proved to be an unexpected lesson. At least I'm only out the cost of the brass inserts and the cost of the bar (now worthless until I can figure out how to grab the insert with an ez-out).
As it turns out, I actually like the design of the non-weighted inserts better from one perspective; because they're bottomless (hollow cylinders that are ID/OD threaded), their installation depth and the bar end bolt OAL is less critical than it is with the brass weighted inserts.
And that is officially more than I ever wanted to know about handlebar inserts.
