KingTermite: My Safari came with twistshifters. I hated them and swapped them for SRAM double-thumb trigger shifters. Much nicer and I can work the brakes and shifters at the same time,plus they work well with heavy winter gloves/mittens. Your barends and brake levers might still work with adapters. I've had friends use road brake levers on flat bars by putting old innertube under the clamps,and I bet you could make a sleeve for the shifters. You will prolly need a new stem,though. Get an adjustable one and you'll be able to dial-in your bar position to get it perfect.

Bklyn: Zero probs with the bars on my Safari. It's been my main commuter since Sept,and it's been dumped and smashed into boards many times while playing polo. REI sells them online for $20.

period3: You can put tape anywhere you want. You could also prolly use a couple sets of regular grips,it would just be a pain to get them around the curves. Mine came stock with foam all the way around.