Helibars for VFR1200F - Non DCT/Manual

[drHoo]

Hello folks,

 

My first post here. I have a VFR1200F 2015 manual, UK version and have done over 10,000 miles in 9 months. I'm considering Helibars to ease the pressure on my wrists. 
 

I'd appreciate if you could stay on the topic and be as specific as possible i.e. please non advice on keeping my lower back straight, use hand grips, do sit-ups, etc.

 

Has anyone got helibars fitted?

 

If yes, can you please do a video/picture with your hands on the bar as would normally ride trying the clutch and brakes and going full lock to full lock?
There are lots of pictures online, but none shows them in action. Many thanks

Edited December 9, 2025 by drHoo
To include an image of bike

[Skids]

Hi m8 and welcome.

 

I have Helibars fitted to my 1200F. No issues with either brake or clutch but i dont find they lift my seating position very much. I will try to sort a video later.

 

Pics of your beast would be appreciated. 

[Skids]

Not sure if this will show you what you want, but here goes.

 

You are always welcome to pop up to Suffolk to take a look if you want.

[drHoo]

6 hours ago, Skids said:

Hi m8 and welcome.

 

I have Helibars fitted to my 1200F. No issues with either brake or clutch but i dont find they lift my seating position very much. I will try to sort a video later.

 

Pics of your beast would be appreciated. 

Thanks for your reply. I've edited my post to include the image of the beast ;-0

 

[drHoo]

1 hour ago, Skids said:

Not sure if this will show you what you want, but here goes.

 

You are always welcome to pop up to Suffolk to take a look if you want.

 

 

Thanks mate, I really appreciate your time. I'd love to ride to Suffolk one day to see if Helis would work for me. Thanks again for your useful video and your kind offer.

[Terry]

I have Helibars on my 1200, they certainly raise the bars up and back a bit and reduce wrist pressure to the point that is not a limiting factor for me on a long ride. There's no issue with lever angles, I set mine so my wrists/fingers are straight when seated normally. The brake hose is OK but the clutch hose does sit across the top of the preload/damping adjuster and prevents easy access, but I rectified that by cutting off the locating tab on the banjo bolt giving more flexibilty in hose routing. My only real criticism is that the bars sit at an angle to the horizontal that does not quite feel natural to me, but given the constraints of the tank contour and fairing, there really is nowhere else for higher bars to sit, so not a bad compromise. 

 

Let me know if you want any specific photos. 

[drHoo]

34 minutes ago, Terry said:

I have Helibars on my 1200, they certainly raise the bars up and back a bit and reduce wrist pressure to the point that is not a limiting factor for me on a long ride. There's no issue with lever angles, I set mine so my wrists/fingers are straight when seated normally. The brake hose is OK but the clutch hose does sit across the top of the preload/damping adjuster and prevents easy access, but I rectified that by cutting off the locating tab on the banjo bolt giving more flexibilty in hose routing. My only real criticism is that the bars sit at an angle to the horizontal that does not quite feel natural to me, but given the constraints of the tank contour and fairing, there really is nowhere else for higher bars to sit, so not a bad compromise. 

 

Let me know if you want any specific photos. 

 

 

 

Thanks Terry, Very useful. I do lots of full-turns and I just realised that Skids video posted earlier (very kind of him) had the mirrors folded up. When I do full lock on my with the OE handles the tank gets on the way a bit under my wrist. What I DON'T want is full-lock with Helibars getting too close to the tank compromising my control or getting to close to the mirrors or fairing  - again for the same reason.
If you could do a picture with your hands wearing gloves and showing full lock: left and right, tank, mirrors and fairing clearance, I'd really appreciate.
I'm amazed that neither the manufacturer and nor anyone reviewing this product never showed it properly in action. All the show is pictures without the rider's hands and gloves.
I hope one day - if I get and install the bars - I could do a proper video showing the bars while riding.
 

[eastbowl2]

I'll echo what Terry said about the angle of the helibars.  It is a different angle than stock and I quite disliked them for that reason.  I installed them before a 4 day trip and took them off immediately when I got back (sold them to a member here a long time ago).    No issues with fitment.  I had helibars on my '02 VFR and loved them.  YMMV

[Terry]

I have my Helibars oriented so that there is half a bee's dick of clearance between the buttons on the switch block and the tank when on full lock. That will probably give you some idea of the clearance between the grip and the tank. Not great but probably not much different ot the bars that I have on my 5th and 6th gens. 

[drHoo]

21 minutes ago, Terry said:

I have my Helibars oriented so that there is half a bee's dick of clearance between the buttons on the switch block and the tank when on full lock. That will probably give you some idea of the clearance between the grip and the tank. Not great but probably not much different ot the bars that I have on my 5th and 6th gens. 

Thanks. That's interesting to know.

[St. Stephen]

I rode with Helibars on my 2010 VFR1200F for six years and they were perfect for me--as they were on my 6th gen. In addition to the great advice from others here, I would add what you may know if you've installed higher bars before: Don't judge them on your first ride. Give it time.

 

At first it seems so radically different that you'd swear they are six inches higher. A few more rides and you will be able to evaluate accurately. That has been my experience anyway.

[Skids]

Is this more what yr wanting?

 

Neither my gloves nor the controls touch the tank fairing, though it's damned close, and the mirrors are very clear.

 

HTH

 

 

[drHoo]

7 hours ago, St. Stephen said:

I rode with Helibars on my 2010 VFR1200F for six years and they were perfect for me--as they were on my 6th gen. In addition to the great advice from others here, I would add what you may know if you've installed higher bars before: Don't judge them on your first ride. Give it time.

 

At first it seems so radically different that you'd swear they are six inches higher. A few more rides and you will be able to evaluate accurately. That has been my experience anyway.

Great, thanks for the advice and sharing your experience.

[drHoo]

38 minutes ago, Skids said:

Is this more what yr wanting?

 

Neither my gloves nor the controls touch the tank fairing, though it's damned close, and the mirrors are very clear.

 

HTH

 

 

Thanks for the photos, really appreciate it!
I love this forum. Should've joined ages ago. I found a pair of Helibars for £60 and didn't get them because I didn't know much about them and all the reviews showed no real image of the rider going full lock while having their hands on the bars.

 

[Skids]

35 minutes ago, drHoo said:

 

Hi drHoo

 

You quoted my last post above but there's no comment from you. Were the photos what you wanted?

 

It is usual to type something when you quote another post. 

[drHoo]

9 minutes ago, Skids said:

Hi drHoo

 

You quoted my last post above but there's no comment from you. Were the photos what you wanted?

 

It is usual to type something when you quote another post. 

Sorry Skids,

 

The photos showed exactly what I wanted. Thanks very much. I love this forum. Should've joined when I got the bike and found a pair of Helibars for £60.
At the time, there were not photos or videos like what you posted here.
Thanks again!

[vfrgiving]

Another option if you're trying to get standard upright, cobble together your own "Police" version handlebar kit.  Or you could think of it like VFR1200X posture for your 1200F.

 

Hurricane makes a kit for the VFR1200F that adapts a standard 7/8" handlebar instead of clipons.  Still using original hoses and wiring like Helibars.  https://japan.webike.net/products/9742669.html 

 

Same but in black. https://japan.webike.net/products/9742668.html

 

I think this specific bar is a little lower than the Helibar rise, but that's not the idea.  Having that clamp means you can now mount up a 7/8" in bar of your own choosing.

 

Police kit 5th gen install entails longer hoses and throttle cables.  I believe 1200 is throttle-by-wire.  So that would be extended wiring.  5th gen came with tons of hidden slack requires no extensions to switch gear, I don't know if they did same for 1200.

 

So you'd be looking at hydraulics extension, and wiring extend.

 

Biggest issue might be windshield bodywork impedance.  5th gen install requires small windshield corner chop but no painted parts are harmed.  This would be entirely dependent on handlebar of your choosing.

 

As Skids mentioned, Helibars are a bit of relief, but still hunching.  I rode with Helibars for years on 5th gens, but VFR800P-like standard posture is bananas.🤩

 

[Terry]

Bizarrely, the VFR1200F ride-by-wire system uses full-length throttle cables that attach to a very standard cable drum on the side of the throttle bodies, very similar to earlier VFR800s. The drum then drives a potentiometer which the ECM reads and uses to direct the stepper motors on the TBs. 

 

I looked at a current Triumph Scrambler 400 recently and the RBW has the potentiometer mounted as part of the throttle/right switch pod, so no cables at all, which makes a lot more sense to me. 

 

 

[vfrgiving]

1 hour ago, Terry said:

Bizarrely, the VFR1200F ride-by-wire system uses full-length throttle cables that attach to a very standard cable drum on the side of the throttle bodies, very similar to earlier VFR800s. The drum then drives a potentiometer which the ECM reads and uses to direct the stepper motors on the TBs. 

 

 

 

 

That is odd.. maybe they already had a pattern part made for throttle cables before going by-wire and decided to run with it.

 

Well, that means this type of job sounds like it would be more like 5th Gen install after all.  Longer throttle cables, hoses and switch gear wiring extended out.  I did have to run a horn extension cable of my own but that was super easy and hardly an inconvenience.  

 

I'm assuming the 1200 doesn't have switchgear slack like 5th and 6th gens do.  (There are police kits for some 6th gens)

 

Switch gear extension could be done with eBay parts?  That's probably how I'd do it.  Buy a toast set just for the wiring.  Clip off wiring near controls end of eBay part (leaving plug), and clip off plug end on the bike then splice same colored wires of eBay loom to bike wiring.

[drHoo]

2 hours ago, vfrgiving said:

Another option if you're trying to get standard upright, cobble together your own "Police" version handlebar kit.  Or you could think of it like VFR1200X posture for your 1200F.

 

Hurricane makes a kit for the VFR1200F that adapts a standard 7/8" handlebar instead of clipons.  Still using original hoses and wiring like Helibars.  https://japan.webike.net/products/9742669.html 

 

Same but in black. https://japan.webike.net/products/9742668.html

 

I think this specific bar is a little lower than the Helibar rise, but that's not the idea.  Having that clamp means you can now mount up a 7/8" in bar of your own choosing.

 

Police kit 5th gen install entails longer hoses and throttle cables.  I believe 1200 is throttle-by-wire.  So that would be extended wiring.  5th gen came with tons of hidden slack requires no extensions to switch gear, I don't know if they did same for 1200.

 

So you'd be looking at hydraulics extension, and wiring extend.

 

Biggest issue might be windshield bodywork impedance.  5th gen install requires small windshield corner chop but no painted parts are harmed.  This would be entirely dependent on handlebar of your choosing.

 

As Skids mentioned, Helibars are a bit of relief, but still hunching.  I rode with Helibars for years on 5th gens, but VFR800P-like standard posture is bananas.🤩

 

 

 

 

Thanks. That's very interesting. I might look into it.

[Captain 80s]

Might have allowed them to use available control housings instead of developing a svelte, good looking handle bar potentiometer at the time.  It was 15+ years ago.

[vfrgiving]

I wonder if 1200X throttle cables would work for a "police" install on a 1200F.  Drawings for switchgear for both looks very similar but different part numbers.