1977 CB550 Stingray "Apes".

The ever evolving 77, what can I say? This bike has clearly become my "trip" bike. It's very comfortable, cruises well, and gets decent mileage. I set it up as a cafe, so aside from having to adjust the pre-load, it handles quite well in its current state. I got some el cheap-o crap-o bars for the cm project and I really liked how they felt, but because the 77 is my Tourer I wanted something heavier but about the same size and style. Nothing could be found. This is when I started to read about people using Schwinn Stingray bars from the 70's. Anything more recent is thinner, but the original Stingray bars are quite robust. I found a set NOS, never installed and with shipping I had them for $25. First problem I ran into was that my bike with factory switches and controls would find them a tad short. For a chopper with minimal controls, they would work well.  I had a bent set of factory cb bars and they had 5" slugs welded in the ends for vibration dampening. I decided to use the slugs and about 4 inches of the bent bars to lengthen the SR bars by about 2" on either side. It worked out really well and now I just need to order a longer clutch and throttle cable. The factory throttle reaches but its a bit snug. The factory wiring almost didn't fit. Its good now, but it was a stretch. Now I have a bike that a 1970's era Clint Eastwood would approve of. The bars go well with the sissy bar.