Renthal Bars – 758 Ultra Low Handlebar Review

When I last threw my bike down the road I managed to bend my stock Yamaha handlebars slightly. To replace them I thought I’d try the Renthal 758 Ultra Low bars, which have been a popular choice for many on the Fazer. I was tempted by the Renthal’s due to the quality of the brand and the fact they’re cheaper than OEM Yamaha replacements, coming in at around £30.

The Renthal handlebars are available in a number of anodised colours, of which I opted for an understated grey. Didn’t fancy blinging my bike up too much with garish colours! They arrived as is, in a polybag with a handful of stickers, so not much to say in that regard.

Fitting Renthal Bars

Fitting is fairly straightforward, just a case of loosening off the existing handlebar clamp, switchgear, levers, throttle etc. Remove the old bar ends (stock Fazer bar ends won’t fit the Renthal Ultra Lows) and left grip. With everything loose, move the bars to the left to enable you to slide off all the gear on the right of the bars, then vice-versa for the left switchgear and clutch lever.  Installing the new Renthal 758 Ultra Low bars is simply the reverse. The 758s have some handy locating lines around the middle to aid positioning and ensure your clamp them down perfectly centre. Don’t tighten everything up until you’ve sat on the bike and got the positions of everything just right for comfort and to ensure you can swing the bars from lock to lock freely without whacking the fairing or knuckles on mirrors. With dimensions close to stock bars, there is no need to worry about cables/hoses being too short.

Note that the switchgear has a locating pin inside to prevent them from spinning. However, the new Renthal bars won’t have a corresponding hole. Some people will drill a hole especially, but it can be tricky getting this positioned just right. Plus, it will invalidate the warranty for the bars (Renthal claim it will weaken the bars). I opted for filing down the locating pin in the switchgear and then wrapping the bars with some self-amalgamating tape to prevent the switchgear from spinning around.

Compared to the stock FZS600 handlebars, the Renthal 758s are slightly lower, wider and have less sweep. It’s the width that first strikes you and takes a little to get used to. I’m currently going with no bar ends, which leaves the bars around the same width as the stock bars with ends on. Thankfully, I’m getting very little vibration through, even without bar ends. Your mileage may differ on other bikes. Do note the Renthal bars will need different bar ends to stock Fazer ones.

Edit: I’ve since added R&G bar ends, which work well but do make the bars considerably wider.

Clearance-wise, I’ve had no issues. No fowling of fairing or tank. Although I had to angle them back slightly to avoid my gloves hitting the mirrors.

Overall, I’ve been pleased with these 758 Renthal bars. I was a little apprehensive of the extra width at first, but I’ve found it OK even when filtering in tight London traffic. Swapping them in was straight forward and anyone familiar with a wrench should be able to tackle the job. If Renthal’s reputation for strong bars is anything to go by, then these should last me a while. Definitely worth the £30 spent.

Edit: I’ve since binned my bike on the track and although smashing up most of the bike’s front end, these bars held up perfectly, not a scratch. So thumbs up following an unplanned crash test!

Rating 4.5/5

Buy Renthal 758 Road Ultra Low handlebars from SportsBikeShop

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