Hi
My '08 Rebel's bar padding is coming off, exposing the metal underneath - see pictures.

Not TOO bad at the moment, but it will probably only get worse. Any products out there to fix this? Any suggestions on how to fix it, if possible? (Short of getting a new bar, that is.)

Cheers

good sports stores will have a form of bandage for all sorts of bars like tennis and hockey sticks

Hi saffieboy I am new to kiting , how ever I have done some paddleing and i believe if you disconnected the line and slipped a shrink tube over (maybe pad up missing area of grip) then apply heat and shrink new grip on ,it might just work and look ok ,cheers jeff

Go to the electrical wholesalers and get some heat shrink ,you can get different colors so do one side red and the other black or blue or white , I would just get a 6 inch long bit and put in the middle where the grip is coming off.
By the way those north lines suck in the past two weeks i've broken the 5th line on one bar and a steering line on my other.and there 2008 models ,time to order some Q powerline pro !!!!!

Aloha my brother, just last night on e-bay i saw the exact bar grip replacement for around $3. They showed before and after shot of the exact same north bar. check it out. maybe just type in kitesurfing bar? hope this helps

Little history lesson for anyone who's been kiting only recently:

ALL North bars since 2002 have had this problem (amongst others--but don't get me started).

North don't seem to give a stuff and never even bothered to reply to emails I sent them (numerous). Now you can't even contact North directly any longer. They just leave everything to the local retailer to deal with. (who by the way, have always been helpful and as supportive as possible but there's only so much they can do when they're dealing with what is effectively a flawed design and poor materials choice). Maybe their stuff works in Europe where it's designed but it sure doesn't hold up under "Australian Conditions"

I eventually just gave up, dumped them and changed brands. I'd rather support manufacturers that actually care about their customers.