Rox Pivoting Risers Review

Bar risers are just as handy for the custom or cruiser rider wanting to tailor a motorcycle’s fit as they are for dual-sporters and adventure riders looking to be comfortable while standing up. Standard risers work great if all you need is a higher hand perch, but they don’t let you adjust the fore/aft position of the bars. What makes Rox pivoting risers unique is their multi-dimensional adjustability—you can elevate the bar and change the reach.

I first used Rox risers during my Patagonia tour (Rider, August 2013), when Chris Olin, president of Rox Speed FX and a fellow traveler, set up my BMW R 1200 GS tour bike with a set of two-inch risers (model 1R-P2PPA, $87). And it’s a good thing he did—being a lightweight, I can’t put enough force on the pegs of a big GS while sitting to control it as well as I’d like to, so standing up on the long unpaved sections was key to my staying with the pack. However, the stock handlebar position is too low for me to stand for several hours a day, and doing so would have eventually tied my back in knots. By setting the bars higher and a little farther back, Chris made the bike fit me so I didn’t have cripple myself to fit the bike.

Rox Pivoting Risers
Rox Pivoting Risers

Since then, I’ve installed a set of 1.75-inch Rox risers (model 3R-P2PPL, $95) on my BMW F 800 GS, replacing a standard riser unit. The risers, weighing about 13 ounces, mount into the existing handlebar clamps using the stock hardware. With the bar in the risers, you can adjust height by pivoting the risers forward or backward. Once that’s set, fine-tune the fit by rotating the bars to a comfortable angle. And if you have something to mount up front, Rox risers are ready with holes drilled and tapped for an 8mm bolt.

The large Torx heads on the BMW’s handlebar clamps required some finesse to tighten with the risers in place, but everything went together in less than an hour with instructions from Rox Speed FX. Unfortunately, BWW wasn’t generous with the 800’s control line lengths, limiting my height adjustability. To use the full range of the risers, I’d have to pop for new cables and a brake hose, but there’s a sweet spot that increases comfort all around without straining the control lines. My bar is back a bit as well as up, putting my wrists at a more natural angle than with my previous setup. My feel for the controls is better and my arms don’t get as tired on longer rides.

Rox Speed FX machines its patented risers from 6061-T6 aluminum and supplies all necessary hardware for installation. Rox makes pivoting risers to fit most adventure bikes, plus many cruisers and customs. See the website to explore pivoting risers up to five inches tall and capable of clamping handlebars from 7/8-inch to 11/4 inches in diameter.

For more information: Call (218) 326-1794 or visit roxspeedfx.com

(This Gear Lab Review was published in the June 2014 issue of Rider magazine.)

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