ktm phds bar mounts (good or bad)

[mx481]

well I've had a few people private message me about ktm's progressive handlebar damping system (phds). they said they didn't want to ask on the the fourm, because TYE said they are a waste of money and didn't want him giving them a hard time ... first, they work GREAT ,but you need to use the green (soft ) elastomers . the only place I found that has them in stock is at slaven's racing. my ktm dealer didn't have them and didn't know when they could get them . NOW the big thing is they have to be installed correctly and not over tighened 16nm evenly. I would recommend that you puchase the phds bar mounts from ktm. xtrig and ktm have an agreement and the mounts xtrig makes for their clamps work. but don't fit as well ,I have both.

to recap, the standard yellow elastomers do work, more for big hard hits. for the (vibration harshness) I found the GREEN elastomers did the trick!!! Now if someone has only tested with the standard yellow elastomer, they just don't know how good the mounts really work ( because they just don't know any better) they shouldn't be bashing the phds mounts without complete comprehensive testing. For the folks that asked, I hope this helps!

[mxboy2661]

. i havent tried the green elastomers, but i put the yellow ones on my 12 300sx torqued them properly, and could not notice ANY diffrence at all. i will call slaven s now and see if he has the green ones. i actually mounted the phds to my new 13 sxf 450, because i already owned them, i 'll tell ya if the green ones make a diffrence or not, otherwise i would say they are a waste of money..

[mxboy2661]

and do u have to hold your friends hand when he pees to? '' just sayin'' tell him to man up lol!

[mx481]

mxboy2661 I would agree with you on the mounts till I tried the green elastomers. that being said I have a friend that is still pretty fast an qualifies for the national's ,no means a front runner. he swears that the standard elastomers work for him and the green are to soft. I wish that was the case for me but the green are what I prefer. now when he steps it down and lets me chase him ,I felt the green where a little soft ,but at my speed still worked better for me ... I don't know the people that messaged me ,just folks here on tt... and as far as holding hands with men ,thats just not the way I roll. lol

[tye1138]

So lets talk about the PHDS system. ?

I bought it because people suggested it makes a noticeable difference with how much vibration goes through the bars from the motor and terrain. I was told as much as 10%, which should be noticeable immediately.

The kit costs $199 here in the states and it comes in a very nice KTM box.

Its a very nice kit, the parts are machined nicely. The kit has a mount which fits onto the bike like a normal bar mount. The difference is, there is a clamp (upper and lower) which squeeze two bushings per side and the bar. All of the isolation is done through a very small surface area and the gaps between all the parts are also very small. Its for sure an "isolation" system and the rubber bushing controls everything.

The installation was tricky at first because everything fits one way and you have to hold everything in place, both upper/lower mounts and bushings to assemble it.

After the installation, I realized the bar pad and pad cover, doesn't fit properly.

So then I got out the manual to check for torque specs and started reading the got-ya's.

- You can't strap the bike down with the bars anymore, as it damages the rubber bushings,

- When you crash, you can damage the rubber bushings.

- The rubber bushings need to be replaced every 60 hours.

Then on my first ride with the mounts I didn't feel any difference at all, nothing! Then I crashed and shifted the whole assembly. So after I crashed, I couldn't just ride the bike, I had to go back to the paddock and re-straighten everything.

To say the least, I was a little bit dismayed at this. I kinda expected a 5 - 10% difference, but I think there is maybe a 2% difference. I'm ultra hyper sensitive to setup, so for me to feel no noticeable difference was really upsetting. However, I also don't have WP suspension on my bike, so perhaps a bike with WP components, you would feel more of a difference?

Now I'm being told I need to buy softer bushings to make the kit work, as the yellow ones it comes with aren't soft enough. Lets to the math; $199 for the kit + tax + shipping. Now I've gotta go to a different vendor and buy different bushings for $26.99 + shipping. By the time I'm done, I will have spent close to $300 bux to get rubber bar mounts that ALL the Japanese bikes come with stock.

So to summarize, the PHDS kit seems like it would be a great option to help dampen the vibrations emanating from the chassis/suspension. However, in the opinion of this owner, it doesn't make any difference in stock form. It disturbs me that an aftermarket part wouldn't come with all the necessary components to make it function as advertised. To add stiffer or softer bushings in the kit would surly cost nothing in the grand scheme of things. So for the kit to not come with any options, is just silly in my view.

I will most likely be ordering the green bushings to try.

Edited February 16, 2013 by tye1138

[mxboy2661]

mx481 , i just bought the green rubbers lol, got them from chip from munn racing. he said that anyone that buys those clamps gets the green rubbers too. he said with the green ones you will feel a diffrence. i should have be getting my bike back this week, hopefully! this has been an incredible build, im putting alot into my racing this year, im eligible for the 35+ expert class at lorettas this year, so look for my post/ pics of my bike !

[tye1138]

im eligible for the 35+ expert class at lorettas this year, so look for my post/ pics of my bike !

Sweet! That sounds like fun! ?

[skthom2320]

Hmmm.

I have a bad wrist that hurts like a sumbitch when I ride. A few years ago I picked up some flexx bars and those were really awesome and made a huge difference and allowed me to be able to ride and not have my wrist totally killing me. Mind you I ride MX only.

So then I decided to quit riding and sold all my goodies including the flexx bars.

But then a year later I decided to ride again and I picked up this KTM back in November. I knew I needed to either get the flexx bars again or try the PHDS mounts as my wrist started killing me immediately. Well, I decided to try the PHDS mounts instead. I found that the PHDS mounts worked just as well as the flexx bars for taking the harshess out of hard pack tracks and my wrist didn;t hurt during and after riding.

So in my mind they work very well and just as good as the flexx bars for giving a little extra damping for my wrist.

I strap my PHDS mounts by the handlebars just like I always did. I'll just replace the bushings sooner than 60 hours.

Edited February 16, 2013 by skthom2320

[PSD_Sun]

I couldn't tell any difference w/ the PHDS. I guess I'll track down these green elastomers.

I had Flexxbars and they worked great, but they are very heavy,

Tye, I run my tie downs right around the fork legs at the bottom triple clamp and it works fine.

[tye1138]

Tye, I run my tie downs right around the fork legs at the bottom triple clamp and it works fine.

Yep, I have to do that as well. I load my bike sideways and the straps now hit my plastics, I already tore up part of my new graphics kit.

[mx481]

tye ,I'm saying this with a smile on my face ,so don't get huffy... Your so green , newbie green, just being lite hearted here . now if the phds mounts are causing your graphics to be damaged. you need to strap the bike differently , maybe have the front tire set in another angle. oh and I hope your using soft straps ,don't want to nick alum. bars. you can put two soft straps together so the metal cinch is low and away from the bike... as far as your graphics go , I was looking at your pics of them (nice looking) but you can see in the pics that they're not adhearing properly. you can look and see under some of the edges... tye theres a trick you can do with a torch or heat gun when installing to make sure that doesn't happen.... I strap my bike in the normal way and have no problem with the elastomers.. and never heard about the 60 hour replacement ,so I called a pro arenacross rider for ktm that uses the phds mounts. he said he's had his on 3 bikes and hasn't had to replace them yet ,150 hours or more hours on them. really tye even if you did have to replace them at 60 ,whats $30. dollars every 60 hours we are racing motocycles... any rubber mounted bars can twist in a fall , just loosen every thing up and realige them .. but I haven't seen its been a problem with the phds mounts and neither did the ktm pro. now, on stock hondas it happens a bit...by the the way I started a new thread (a message to tye) please check it out I'd like to know what you think of it .

[Ioan Windigo]

On 2/15/2013 at 7:41 PM, tye1138 said:

So lets talk about the PHDS system.

I bought it because people suggested it makes a noticeable difference with how much vibration goes through the bars from the motor and terrain. I was told as much as 10%, which should be noticeable immediately.

The kit costs $199 here in the states and it comes in a very nice KTM box.

Its a very nice kit, the parts are machined nicely. The kit has a mount which fits onto the bike like a normal bar mount. The difference is, there is a clamp (upper and lower) which squeeze two bushings per side and the bar. All of the isolation is done through a very small surface area and the gaps between all the parts are also very small. Its for sure an "isolation" system and the rubber bushing controls everything.

The installation was tricky at first because everything fits one way and you have to hold everything in place, both upper/lower mounts and bushings to assemble it.

After the installation, I realized the bar pad and pad cover, doesn't fit properly.

So then I got out the manual to check for torque specs and started reading the got-ya's.

- You can't strap the bike down with the bars anymore, as it damages the rubber bushings,

- When you crash, you can damage the rubber bushings.

- The rubber bushings need to be replaced every 60 hours.

Then on my first ride with the mounts I didn't feel any difference at all, nothing! Then I crashed and shifted the whole assembly. So after I crashed, I couldn't just ride the bike, I had to go back to the paddock and re-straighten everything.

To say the least, I was a little bit dismayed at this. I kinda expected a 5 - 10% difference, but I think there is maybe a 2% difference. I'm ultra hyper sensitive to setup, so for me to feel no noticeable difference was really upsetting. However, I also don't have WP suspension on my bike, so perhaps a bike with WP components, you would feel more of a difference?

Now I'm being told I need to buy softer bushings to make the kit work, as the yellow ones it comes with aren't soft enough. Lets to the math; $199 for the kit + tax + shipping. Now I've gotta go to a different vendor and buy different bushings for $26.99 + shipping. By the time I'm done, I will have spent close to $300 bux to get rubber bar mounts that ALL the Japanese bikes come with stock.

So to summarize, the PHDS kit seems like it would be a great option to help dampen the vibrations emanating from the chassis/suspension. However, in the opinion of this owner, it doesn't make any difference in stock form. It disturbs me that an aftermarket part wouldn't come with all the necessary components to make it function as advertised. To add stiffer or softer bushings in the kit would surly cost nothing in the grand scheme of things. So for the kit to not come with any options, is just silly in my view.

I will most likely be ordering the green bushings to try.

I think you didn't get the point of this innovation if you suggeste that every JAPS bike have one... The point is to get the handlebar dampened in vertical way (hit transfer axis from ground) and to keep streering precision unlike a full rubbermount (JAPS ONES) that is giving a mushy and vague feeling in the steering.

This system is really working great. Just pull down on one side of the handlebar, even with the yellow bushing, to realize how it can play in a vertical axis.

Also, as your owner manual mention, you should strap your bike from the triple clamp and not the handlebar. 

I agree with you on one fact: they are no cheap and they should provide differents bushing stiffness in the kit so at least you can compared and choose the right ones suit for your like right out the box.