... Following on from the M21 page I now make some small mention of my home made handgrips.
I was inspired to make these hand grips during June 2008 after seeing just one original one go for such a silly price on Ebay. The materials I used were two sides of webbing that was unstitched and taken off one soldiers large pack, these gave me the perfect sized stitched edges which would be rolled up and glued over to form a tube. Two lengths of brass rod from local DIY stores B&Q, and some strong external pvc glue. The glue I was a little unsure about as the grips were going to be exposed to the weather. So far... as they have been in place now four years, they have held up to the weather very well indeed and are showing no signs of wear at all.
The original handgrips were a stitched webbing tube and this is now impossible to obtain so a joint has to be made somewhere. I put my joint on the underside of the handlebars so it would not be seen, it has proved successful with no fraying. I used a 22mm copper tube to wrap the canvas around applying lots of glue and allowed to soak well into the material. A good sharp knife and straight edge helped make a neat joint, I was happy to see that the material blended well into itself so a joint is not really that noticeable. I cannot remember which end the 22mm tube served because the throttle twist is a larger in diameter tube than the left side. I think I may have wrapped the canvas around directly onto the handlebar. The handlebar surface needed to be clean and roughened with course sandpaper for the glue to attach to. Obviously the 22mm tube needs to be left smooth so that when the glue on canvas is dried the tube can be slid off.
The ends of the tube are finished with some brass ferules, these I simply made from lengths of brass and soldered end to end. The end result are as you see in the following pictures...
