Desert Ryder

Yeah...I'll just keep my money in my wallet and continue to wrap top to bottom. No fuss. No Muss.

merziac

Ok, probably not that spendy but suit yourself, if it works for you, carry on.

polymorphself 

Thanks!

I don't recall, and one has since broken so I've changed them. I may have the other laying around and will look for it since I really liked them. cb400bill sold me this bike a couple of years back and may know!

USAZorro

Always do bars with bar ends bottom to top. My preference is for leather bar cover that gets stitched. Only have that on three so far though. I do NOT enjoy wrapping bars.

smd4

Sounds like a complete PITA to do though.

Eric F 

Not much more than using 1 piece. From what I recall, anyways. I haven't wrapped bars with cloth tape in decades. Multiple decades.

James1964 

Stitched leather is very nice, but pricey.

Miele Man

Many years ago I read that racers often would have their handlebar taped from the brake lever to the stem and from the bar end to the brake lever. The reasoning was that the top wrap would not unravel whilst the bar end to brake lever wrap would provide a surer grip (due to the ridges of the tape) on the hooks and on the lower portion of the handlebar. True? I don't know by t hat's what was in the book I read.

Cheers

smd4

I'd never heard of such a technique until I came here.

icemilkcoffee 

Isn't this same as starting in the middle (ie just behind the brake lever)and then moving out to the top and bottom? In other words, it seems like there is no need to cut the tape into two.
In other words, place the middle run of the tape just behind the lever, and then wrap clockwise to the top, and counter-clockwise to the bottom.

Eric F 

Same net result, yes. I found it easier to work with using 2 pieces.

Eric F 

That gives you the same layering direction as going bottom to top in 1 piece.

smd4

Yep--when I wrap from bottom to top the direction of the wrap changes at the brake lever. I have never had any of my tape unravel or fray.

79pmooney

I did tennis racquet style leather wrap on the Mooney 1985. Took that bar and stem off in the '00s because they had too many miles. (My paranoia. I replace key aluminum, especially on the front tire to hands path BEFORE it breaks simply because once I didn't.)

Over those years, all I did for that leather was oil/treat it every few years and wrap the areas where it was scraped with waxed nylon Speeder Stitcher thread. An easy and permanent wrap is the sailor's "whip" used to keep rope ends from fraying. Any old-time nautical knots book. And those whips are both fast and easy to do and very, very useful. (Oh, those whips mellowed to almost exactly the color of the leather and I never noticed them under my hands.)

I probably spent most of 20,000 miles enjoying that leather wrap.

degan

I've done this a couple times either because I was a little to eager stretching the tape and ripped it or I could only find medium sized usable chunks of bar tape from the bin at the co-op. Seemed to work fine and opportunity for crazy color combos.