Decided to dig in to the handlebar project tonight. Got the old bars off.

Now I'm up against it. I need to figure out my plan, get the parts, and get it all put back together in a week. My daughter and I are heading to Crazy Horse for the Volksmarch next weekend.

Might be a little screwed here, buy my back isn't going to take another long trip with those old bars.

Tips/ideas/suggestions would be most welcome right now.

 

Take pictures of everything before you start and take a picture of each thing as it is being disassembled. Print each picture out so you can place it with the parts detailed below.

Buy a large poster, marks a lots, tape, and zip lock bags. Use these materials to keep nuts, bolts, fasteners, and small parts and assemblies together.

Most importantly, before you start, clean and organize your garage and work area.

Book mark the relevant pages of the factory service manual before hand.

Have lots of rags and old towels available. The towels will be used to cover painted parts and stuff that could be damaged by a slipped wrench or something.

Try to schedule it so that your kid can help and participate. The memories will last forever for both you. Besides, sometimes something happens where only small fingers can reach something or young eyes can see a dropped screw.

 

Will the new bars have the antidive air reservoir?

 

Jeff; Did my bar swap two years ago and, although it seems overwhelming, you can get everything buttoned-up in under a week...easy.

What make/type bars did you end up going with and height? This will help w/member advice/guidance. Are you adding wire extensions?

I got some lightweight chain fm Lowe's to use as pull wire and definitely use bar grease. Messy sh@t, but really helps wiring runs/pulls. In addition to Prot's advice (above), I drew schematics of all my wires/pin#'s during dis-assembly which make re-assy much easier.

Overall, be patient and if frustration sets in...take a break. Nothing seems to go right, if you blow a gasket. Enjoy and more to follow...

 

No. Gonna ditch all that stuff.

 

I'm going to go with 12" bars.

What do you do about the brake line? Stock, mine had the thin, solid line routed along the bar. It passed through the rubber grommet as it entered the inner fairing. A braided line will be too thick to fit through there. Should I take a Dremel and carve out some clearance and run the line outside of the grommet?

Since I don't have a radio any more, I want to get rid of the handlebar radio controls. I think if I can find the regular (non radio control) switch housing lowers, everything else should still fit. Trouble is, can't find them. Know any good junkyards I should call?

The other option is to just get some new switches and housings. Upgrade to the newer style, and I won't have to worry about trying to squeeze spliced wires through the bars. Other than $$$, any reason not to go that way?

A lot of the taller bars say I need to go to a solid mounting clamp instead of the stock two clamp setup. Clearance around the fairing/ignition switch area looks tight. Any concerns here?

Much appreciation for any ideas and help. With my timeframe, I need to get whatever I need ordered today.

 

Sound like a major swap. Unless you can devote a lot of time, a week might be cutting it close.

 

Went thru this last year and had a thread going on it. Here's a link to that. Might be something useful in there for ya? I would have suggested you have all parts in hand before ripping it apart, but it too late for that. I ran into a few things that needed sorting out, but I had all winter to work it out. You only have a week. Best of luck to ya! Post up the finished product.


https://www.hdforums.com/forum/evo-c...gger-apes.html

 

First step is to see how much of the OEM stuff will fit the new bars.
Do the throttle/idle cables reach, brake line, clutch cable and control wires reach the new bars or are you gonna need longer?
FWIW my OEM stuff (except the wires) fit all the way up to 14" bars.
Since you have an older than '96 bike you will have to make your own wire extensions.

 

So what are you going to do with it, change springs, or just use the air without the reservoir?