Alternatives to Pro Taper/Renthal?

Seems they all sell comparable bends, ive used renthal, protaper, and odi, honeslty as long as the specs are similar i cant tell a difference.

I’m in the same situation, loved the pt factory Suzuki bars, almost impossible to find now. But I have ran odi before and they do make great bars and I will probably go back to them soon. Anything but Mika, had some snap on the face of a double once 🙃

I've actually got some for sale if you want! Straight and full of silicon so they have a very deadened feel to them. maybe 8 hours?

Unrelated to the above, Phoenix is a great brand, great owner behind it, good products.

I’ve heard of filling with foam before but not silicon. What silicon do you use? 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07YWBXVND/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asi…

I used this, 30A. The theory is to use something with a higher density than foam but still have a damping effect. I the college of engineering to project management lol so maybe @Luxon MX can comment more if he chooses but there are generally two approaches to vibration damping:

1. Increase the mass of the object so that it requires more force (input) to increase the acceleration (vibration in your hands). Think Fasst bar inserts.

2. Insert something in the handlebar that counteracts the vibration in an equal (ideally) and opposite fashion. Think counterbalanced engines.

Anyways, I know you didnt ask for that but details help make things more clear.

I've been using ODI bars for 5 years now and they've been great!

I'd probably go with ODI, Neken or Scar (made by Neken) if you can't get hold on Renthal.

Mika Metal Bars

I always used foam in case I ever wanted to remove it later (still a pain in the a$$ to remove though).

And don’t worry, I’m such a nerd for this stuff. Appreciate the info. 🤓

Both Mika and ODI make great bars, my son has used them a lot.  We run Renthal at the moment because he loves the stock Kawi bars.  You won't be upset over either of them for sure.

I went from Pro Taper, because of the current stock issue, so I went to Phoenix bars. I will stick with those and the owner is a fellow veteran. 

Neken, ODI, Mika all make solid products.

I folded a set of ODI bars a few years ago in a relatively minor tip-over and swore to never use them again. Enter the pandemic, and the only bars available were ODI. Reluctantly I tried them again. They have been great and have not lived the easiest life.

Tusk Chub bars, Rocky Mountain ATVMC's brand, are actually pretty good if you are looking for bars without a crossbar. They have a few common bends available. Been running them on my bikes for a while.

Mika, all day long.

Ive got a pair of neken bars, they've held up in a lot of crashes.

ODI, been using them for a couple years now and I really like them. The McGrath and Carmichael bend for me, plus the ODI lock on's make grip changes easy.

I have had good luck with Mikas on both of my bikes.

There are a lot of take off handlebars probably laying around in some of our garages when we switched from stock to our favorite bend. Ask around!

I see a few people recommending mika    After this happened to me, I avoid like the plague..

ODI was what I ran the past few years. Had good luck with them. Most bars are pretty similar, and and the right (or wrong) angle they can all break. 

Adding weight doesn't dampen vibrations, it just lowers the resonant frequency. If you add enough weight to lower the resonant frequency below the excitation frequency (typically the engine RPM), then you'll feel a lot less vibration. It works well, but you're adding weight to the bike, which is rarely a good thing!

Damping is the absorption of the energy of vibration and turning it into heat. Your forks are doing this via (viscous) friction. It's a little harder to do it in a handlebar, though... Filling it with silicone will work as that, and most rubber-like materials, have hysteresis in the loading and unloading that turns into heat. Foam rubber works as well, plus it's a lot lighter. This is what I've used:

https://www.mcmaster.com/1298N7-1298N71/

Any of these companies mentioned all are solid brands with solid people at the helm. You really can't go wrong with any of these bars. Ourselves included. I know everyone within the companies and they are trying to make the best products possible...ourselves included. The fact that professional SX/MX racers are using these brands should lend creditability because they aren't going to sacrifice safety and performance merely for a sponsorship check. Not with bars... that is far too sketchy. 

I am always happy to answer any questions when it comes to handlebars. That's why we are here... We need to keep everyone moto'ing and stoked. 

Been running the RC bend Mika Raw bars for 3 years. Excellent stuff. 

Is that a pit bike? So the 7/8" bars?

Mika and nekken the only 2 bars I've ever actually noticed the stiffness. Love the feedback and the better feeling I get but hate the way they make my hands and wrists feel.

I've been running Odi CFT bars for the past couple of years and really like them

I’ll have to agree with you on the Neken bars, they are a very rigid bar and they transmit a lot of vibration into my hands. The first thing I do when buying a new bike, is getting the bars swapped out, as KTM comes with Neken bars. 
The bars are strong and I’ve had zero failures with them. But I choose Pro Taper EVO bars for my bikes. I did put a set of the ACF Carbon bars on my 890 ADV bike and have no complaints.