Modifying a 2002+ Le Mans' ergos

Posted August 2, 2002
Updated June 9, 2004

I first rode a Moto Guzzi Le Mans in early 2002, and quickly determined that although they seemed to be fabulous bikes, I didn't fit on one, and probably couldn't afford one either. In June 2002, I found out that Two Brothers Racing makes a set of bar-risers that would fit the Le Mans, and that footpeg parts from a Moto Guzzi Centauro would fit in order to lower the footpegs and controls.

This is the story of how it all came together, including before and after pictures.

Before

In its stock setup, the 2002 Le Mans had me sitting leaned too far forward, and with my legs cramped up underneath me, reducing my ability to exert pressure on the pegs. I am about 6' 1" (about 188 cm), with slightly longer than proportional arms and legs for my height. Here are some pictures of the "before" state. Click on any thumbnails on this page to enlarge them:

Modification

The first step was to acquire new clip-on bars from Two Brothers Racing. They're available on their website here, or your local retailer may be able to order them for you. The 2002 (Red/Grey or Champagne) Le Mans, with the 38 mm forks, has 54 mm upper tubes (53.74 mm measured). I believe that we used the smallest (2.25") risers. A bike I saw later had taller risers fitted (but I don't know which height), which actually fit quite well under the fairing and worked a bit better.

The next step was to acquire lower footpeg mounting plates and control levers from a Moto Guzzi Centauro. The pegs themselves aren't necessary, since the stock pegs from the Le Mans fit into the Centauro plates.

Handlebars

There was some discussion during the process as to what all would have to be replaced with the new, taller bars. Wires? Control cables (throttle and choke)? Hydraulic lines? It was unclear how long the stock cables were.

The fine folks at Moto International did some tinkering and research, and discovered that the only parts which would need to be modified were the hydraulic lines. The stock electrical wires and control cables are long enough to fit the taller bar setup. Fortunately, Moto International were quite comfortable making new hydraulics.

In order to bring the bars back as well as up, they installed the clips with the mounting lugs facing backwards instead of forwards. It's possible to mount the bars either way, although if mounted forward, the bars might hit the fairing at full turn. Likewise, we decided that the smallest risers were about as tall as would fit without hitting the fairing. Fortunately, there was no issue with the bars hitting the tank (which might happen if you merely brought them back without raising them up).

I haven't measured the exact change in bar position, but I believe they came about 2 inches up, and about 2 inches back, for a diagonal move of almost 3 inches.

The clips, risers and bars were painted black by Moto International, in order to better fit the look of the bike.

Note in the pictures that a different style of hydraulic T fitting has been installed. It was installed in such a way that the lines are no longer rubbing on the front fender, which is an improvement over the stock setup.

Footpegs

The footpeg installation promised to be very straightforward, compared to the handlebars. It should have been a simple matter of bolting on the new peg plates and control levers. Of course, it couldn't be that simple.

It turns out that when they went from the 5-speed Centauro gearbox to the 6-speed Sport/Le Mans, they changed the dimension between mounting points on the shift lever. If you look at the close-up of the shift lever below, you can see a skeletonized bracket coming up off the lever, with an extension plate attached to the front, to fit it to the Centauro lever. The plate was fabricated by Moto International out of a small piece of 1/4 inch aluminum, with two holes drilled in the appropriate locations.

Other than this minor problem, the pegs and levers were entirely straightforward. The Centauro levers don't have that cool skeletonized look of the stock Le Mans controls, but you can only ask for so much. With any luck, Moto Guzzi will notice that quite a number of people are interested in this mod, and put together a kit that does it with a bit better overall integration.

Costs

This modification was Not Cheap. Moto International charged me a reduced price for the mods because I was buying a new bike at the same time, and even with that I paid US$784 before tax (US$853 with Seattle, WA sales tax of 8.8%). They charged me US$388 for the raised handlebars, and US$396 for the lowered footpegs and controls. Particularly with the footpegs, it would be possible to do it cheaper by finding a crashed Centauro in a junkyard, or acquiring the parts used somehow.

The modification also cost a certain amount of time; I would have had the bike weeks earlier if I had been willing to accept it in stock form. Most of that time was spent waiting for parts to arrive from Italy (in particular the foot brake lever), and from their hydraulic supplier, for the T fitting. The actual installation of parts only took a few hours of shop time.

Conclusion

Having ridden the bike for about 260 miles as I write this, the modification is well worth it. US$800 sounds like a lot of money, but it isn't really, when compared to the US$12,990 list price of the motorcycle. Also, what price do you put on being comfortable when riding your motorcycle? If the bike doesn't fit, and you don't ride it much because of that, then you've wasted your money.

One of the things that Moto International did was to fit the raised bars to another Le Mans they had in stock, before "my" bike had been ordered, to make sure that they brought the bars up and back enough for me to be comfortable. That was very helpful, and is something I recommend anyone interested in this mod try out. If the change isn't going to help you, why should you buy it?

I am very pleased with the changes we brought to the Le Mans. It now fits me much better, and still looks really nice. Moto International did an excellent job putting this all together and keeping it very professional looking.

June 9, 2004 update

As I have mentioned in my journal, I recently discovered a crack in the right-hand Two Brothers Racing bar clamp. It's not a serious crack, and won't lead to immediate failure, but it is a defect which needs to be dealt with. I feel that the crack came about due to a material defect in the clamp, not because of incorrect installation. Due to the way I was treated on the phone with TBR, I no longer feel comfortable recommending their products to street riders. Please read the referenced journal entry and the following entry for the full story.

I will be installing a set of standard handlebars on the Le Mans in the near future, and I will detail that installation on this page once it's complete.

If you've read this far, and feel that I've left something out of the story, or missed a picture you wanted to see, please send me email at reaper at obairlann dot net, and I'll try to remedy the situation.

Created by Ian Johnston. Questions? Please email me at reaper at obairlann dot net.