Hey Ron,
You know I am looking at a sway bar at this point there is no point in hiding that. Like a true information freak I have been reading everything I can find on sway bars both spyders and how they work and other applications and results. So I am trying to hammer down a few things.
Between it and the now gone Evo, there has been very little on bike testing that is apples to apples per our convo. What is the difference in specs, to clear up this question, like technical data of Stock versus Evo versus the BajaBar. And I know you talked about testing the bar, did the manufacturer or welder or bender or whatever you call a sway bar maker run it around a bit on a spyder to get a good feel before they sent it to you?
Guess I am just trying to wrap my little mind around the whole situation. Stock, Evo, BajaBar, and the Kangaroo Bar (Rabbit's) seem to be the only options and I am trying to get as much data as possible to solidify what I think will effect my riding experience the most, kinda like looking at Elka's from a stage 1 through stage 5 to get the most data possible.
Thanks in advance Ron, you are always filled to the gills with information.
To my knowledge there has been no 'Scientific' testing for any of these bars, but the effects of a sway-bar are well documented and understood by manufacturers. And there have been hundreds of thousands of miles put on at least the EVO bars with generally, very good results and happy customers.
I have been told by the experts that each mm increase in bar size (all other things being equal) will give a 5% increase in stiffness. 5% does not sound like much, but with a very light vehicle, a very short sway bar and narrow A-Arm width, a little translates into a lot of difference on the ground.
The harder you ride corners the more you will notice the effects of a stiffer sway-bar. A few have said they don't see any difference. The only way this can be true is if you are not riding curves/turns very hard. If you are a very conservative rider this modification may not be beneficial for you with 1 exception. In an emergency or evasive maneuver the Spyder will be much more stable. Personally, this is a feature I think everyone can use.
Differences between these bars? I do not have any of the Aussie bars to compare but as long as the diameter of the bar, attachment points and steel quality are the same, the effect will be identical. I assume the Aussie bars are of very high quality, as are mine.
The EVO bars came in at least 3 different versions over the time of their production. I purchased the last version with the double bend and have been very happily riding this bar for several years. In the process of producing my own bar I discovered a few things about the EVO bar.
First, the bends on the EVO bar are not uniform. This was very surprising to me.
Now I only have the 1 bar so I cannot speak to the entire volume of EVO bars out there, but you would have to suspect this to be a universal issue with the EVO bar. This is going to cause uneven force to be exerted by the bar, which is not what you want.
Admittedly, I did not notice this in actual riding, but that does not diminish the fact that this is an unwanted feature.
Second, some EVO bars had issues with contact to body parts on some Spyders. This could be due to a lack of uniformity in production of the EVO bars or differences between individual Spyders. Because my EVO bar is not uniform I suspect this is where the problem lies.
To avoid any contact issues, my Performance bars are in the style of the OEM bar with a single bend. EVO started out with a single bend bar with washers welded to prevent movement. Not good to be welding on spring steel so EVO went to a double bend to counteract the natural tendency for the bar to shift left and right when cornering hard. Though a double bend helps it is not entirely effective and this is where body contact issues began to appear in some Spyders. I never had any contact issues with my EVO bar.
The BajaRon bar comes with collars which clamp to each side of the bushing bracket so you get the best of both worlds. Maximum clearance between the bar and body parts assuring no possible contact issues, and collars which keep the sway-bar exactly where it needs to be with no possibility of side-to-side movement.
When I first installed my EVO bar I was astonished at the improvement. The Sway-Bar accomplishes a function that shocks simply cannot address, regardless of quality. This is because Sway-Bars and shocks, though working in conjunction with each other, perform two completely different jobs in two completely different ways. You will get definite improvements in handling by upgrading both sway-bar and shocks.
Because EVO was not too far off on their RS/GS/RS-S product my Sway-Bars will perform similarly to the last produced EVO bar with the improvements listed above. If I produce a bar for the RT (which I am working on now) it will be vastly better than the bar produced by EVO for the RT.
I can't answer all of your questions because one factor is how you ride. But I will say to everyone that if you are not completely satisfied with your BajaRon Custom Performance Sway-Bar, you can return it for a full refund. All I ask is that you tell me what it was that you did not like about my bar.
hyea:
opcorn: Hey, you can't blame me for trying and you must admit my sales pitch is pretty good !!!! :roflblack: I will be ordering one anyway come winter if this deal doesn't go through, but I hate to see you miss out on possible sales until then. Dangit....... I sales pitched you again, I should sell time shares !!! :roflblack: