So I've got 16" apes sitting on 2 1/4" risers. I swapped out the bushings with Drag Specialty polyurethane bushings, but there's still quite a wobble in my bars. Will they stiffen up, or is 2 1/4" just too high for apes?

 

We put 16's on my brother's Rocker C with 2" risers so not too far off from what you have. Lots of wobble with stock bushings. We replaced them with Harley's polyurethane bushings. At first it seemed that the bushings were not going to do the trick but then we torqued the riser bolts to spec and it stiffened right up.

 

The Drag poly bushings suck. I ordered a set for my bike and threw them in the trash prior to installing them as they were soft as can be. The stiffest I have found are the Harley poly riser bushings. Put Alloy Art in my bagger (17" apes) and they still flex too much for my taste.

Had the Harley ones in my Dyna and softai land they were both without movement.

 

The Drag poly bushings suck. I ordered a set for my bike and threw them in the trash prior to installing them as they were soft as can be. The stiffest I have found are the Harley poly riser bushings. Put Alloy Art in my bagger (17" apes) and they still flex too much for my taste.

Had the Harley ones in my Dyna and softai land they were both without movement.

 

Well that sux, guess I need to order new ones from HD.

 

My local dealer had them in stock...

 

Something else to try. The metal sleeves that came in my bushings (from Carlini) were a hair too long so they did not allow the washers to compress the poly at all. I ground a little off the sleeves and my bushings are much more firm now.

 

i dont think mine are drag specialties, but i ordered a set of polyurethane bushings from jpcycles.. had a wobble in the bars, turned out the riser bolts had come loose. I had my indy do a once-over safety check on my bike (since it had torn it apart pretty good this past winter), and whoever at his shop worked on my bike never torqued them down or used loctite. Once I threw some Loctite Blue and torqued them back to spec, no wobble, no problem, and much better control. So before you order anything, pull the riser bolts out one at a time, make sure they're not bent, then put some loctite on them and hit them with a torque wrench.

 

I have 16" apes with 4" riser and no wobble for me. When they were installed, they used the Harley poly bushings and no wobble at all.

 

I went through this issue a few months ago. It's your Drag bushings. I threw mine away. Replaced with the HD ones which are the same as the Alloy Art Gooden Tite's. Day and night difference.