MXA PRODUCT TEST: SUNLINE AVONE OS X HANDLEBAR

WHAT IS IT? Sunline uses science in an effort to take the buzz out of handlebars.

WHAT’S IT COST? $129.95(661) 257-2756.

WHAT’S IT DO? Motocross bikes vibrate. It’s a fact of life. How could they help it? Broken down to its barest essence, a motocross bike is an aluminum bed frame with a 13,000 rpm washing machine motor attached to it. All the counterbalancers in the world can’t tame these beasts (although the 2006 YZ450F comes the closest). So what’s a guy to do if he wants to cut down on vibration? Sunline has come out with a new handlebar called the AVone OS X (now, that’s an acronym). It was designed by a rocket scientist to handle vibration. It uses Sunline’s proprietary “anti-vibration technology.” Not exactly a catchy name. We were expecting something more along the lines of “injected elasto-polymer plesiotech.” No such luck, but it turns out that Sunline’s “anti-vibration technology” is a special material injected inside the bar to absorb vibration.

WHAT STANDS OUT? Here’s a list of things that stand out with Sunline’s AVone OS X handlebar.
(1) Finish. Forget about the anti-vibration hype, because this is a great handlebar regardless. This bar has everything: incremental marks on the ends of the bars so you can accurately cut it to the length you want (we left ours at the stock length); calibration marks in the center so it’s easy to position the handlebar in the bar mounts; knurling on the clutch side and polishing on the throttle side. It is an attractive handlebar.
(2) Bends. The AVone OS X is offered in five bends for all the major manufacturers in two different colorsNitride/Gold and Black/Titanium.
(3) Materials. The AVone OS X is made from aircraft grade 7075-T6 aluminum and has a wall thickness of 4.2mm. The bar is shot peened and hard anodized for durability. The crossbar clamps are machined out of aircraft grade 6061-T6 aluminum.
(4) Vibration. We tested the AVone bars back-to-back on a bike that vibrates like nobody’s business. We changed bars between test sessions and didn’t tell the test riders what they were testing. After each rider had done two cycles, we had them fill out test reports. Shockingly, none of the test riders could feel a huge difference in vibration. Maybe our expectations were a little high, and perhaps the natural resilience of oversized aluminum bars tones down some frequencies better than others, but we really couldn’t feel any less vibration with “anti-vibration technology.”
(5) Extras. Every set of AVone handlebars comes with a Sunline grip kit and the coolest bar pad ever made.
(6) Place of Manufacture. The Sunline AVone OS X handlebar is made in Taiwan.

WHAT’S THE SQUAWK? We still felt tingling at the end of a long moto.ÿÿÿ

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