Kirby Handle Grip - AV/AV2

This is the grip at the top of the handle on Kirby's Avalir machines, part 173114, and it fits the Avalir, the Avalir 2 and the Avalir Platinum.

It is the one part of a Kirby that every user touches on every pass, and it wears accordingly. The texture polishes smooth, the surface goes tacky or discolored, and eventually the grip splits or turns on the tube. A grip that rotates instead of holding is genuinely awkward, since you end up steering a heavy machine off the bare handle tube with far less control than it should give you.

Swapping it is one of the easiest jobs on a Kirby and one of the most noticeable afterwards. Clean the tube before sliding the new grip on so it seats fully and stays put, and check your machine is an Avalir, Avalir 2 or Avalir Platinum, since the grip is shaped to that handle.