Changing handgrips
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Cruiser
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 163
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From: south coast nsw Australia
Changing handgrips
Hey fellow riders, was wondering how difficult it was to change handgrips, I have a manual and from a quick read it doesn't look easy, would it be any different for a softie? Can anyone give me some steps on how it's done.
Thanks in advance.
Thanks in advance.
Tourer
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 384
Likes: 0
From: Mesa, AZ
RE: Changing handgrips
I just did this...fairly easy. Left is stupid simple...it's either glue or it fits into the switch housing which holds it in place. Mine was glue and my dad's was the other kind and I didn't watch him do it.
The right is a little tricky...patience!
Open the switch housing...try to move the top part out of the way as much as possible, which is little to none!! Honestly this is much easier with two people. There are two cables that pull the grip in either direction (so the throttle snaps back). Have someone hold the throttle wide open which gives some slack at the rear cable, then use a thin screw driver and the help of needle nose pliers to pry the cable from the groove on the handle. You will need to get the cable at 90 degrees from the handle to slide it out along with the little brass piece. (This will make sense once you visually see it.) BE CAREFUL The cable and the brass piece are not one unit!! I dropped the little brass piece but found it...just a fair warning.
Then there is only one the front cable on the hand grip...do the same thing for that side. Its easiest to do the rear cable first then the front when removing...exact opposite when installing the new one.
Like I mentioned...take your time and have patience. Maybe a 20-30 minute job if that total. Best with 2 people to hold the hand grip wide open...can be done with one person, but will take more time and patience!
This may be the wrong way? But it worked for me. I was extra careful when using the screw driver and needle nose on the cable...I didn't want to fray it. My dad said he read the manual and actually took everything off of the handlebars. I couldnt see wasting the time and it worked out for the best.
Disclaimer: These directions are to be used at your discretion. I am in no way a Harley mechanic although I do operate with extreme common sense without the hinderance of alcohol. If you screw this up, please put down the tools because you are most likely going to hurt someone (probably yourself) because this is a very easy job!!
The right is a little tricky...patience!
Open the switch housing...try to move the top part out of the way as much as possible, which is little to none!! Honestly this is much easier with two people. There are two cables that pull the grip in either direction (so the throttle snaps back). Have someone hold the throttle wide open which gives some slack at the rear cable, then use a thin screw driver and the help of needle nose pliers to pry the cable from the groove on the handle. You will need to get the cable at 90 degrees from the handle to slide it out along with the little brass piece. (This will make sense once you visually see it.) BE CAREFUL The cable and the brass piece are not one unit!! I dropped the little brass piece but found it...just a fair warning.
Then there is only one the front cable on the hand grip...do the same thing for that side. Its easiest to do the rear cable first then the front when removing...exact opposite when installing the new one.
Like I mentioned...take your time and have patience. Maybe a 20-30 minute job if that total. Best with 2 people to hold the hand grip wide open...can be done with one person, but will take more time and patience!
This may be the wrong way? But it worked for me. I was extra careful when using the screw driver and needle nose on the cable...I didn't want to fray it. My dad said he read the manual and actually took everything off of the handlebars. I couldnt see wasting the time and it worked out for the best.
Disclaimer: These directions are to be used at your discretion. I am in no way a Harley mechanic although I do operate with extreme common sense without the hinderance of alcohol. If you screw this up, please put down the tools because you are most likely going to hurt someone (probably yourself) because this is a very easy job!!
Road Captain
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 588
Likes: 1
From: North Carolina
RE: Changing handgrips
I actually did it under the hinderance of alcohol!! LOL!! Took me 30 minutes. Patience is definately the key here. Very easy. Just make sure youhave the proper torx sizes. Mine had 2 different sizes.
Advanced
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 84
Likes: 0
From:
RE: Changing handgrips
ORIGINAL: 20LowRider02
I just did this...fairly easy. Left is stupid simple...it's either glue or it fits into the switch housing which holds it in place. Mine was glue and my dad's was the other kind and I didn't watch him do it.
The right is a little tricky...patience!
Open the switch housing...try to move the top part out of the way as much as possible, which is little to none!! Honestly this is much easier with two people. There are two cables that pull the grip in either direction (so the throttle snaps back). Have someone hold the throttle wide open which gives some slack at the rear cable, then use a thin screw driver and the help of needle nose pliers to pry the cable from the groove on the handle. You will need to get the cable at 90 degrees from the handle to slide it out along with the little brass piece. (This will make sense once you visually see it.) BE CAREFUL The cable and the brass piece are not one unit!! I dropped the little brass piece but found it...just a fair warning.
Then there is only one the front cable on the hand grip...do the same thing for that side. Its easiest to do the rear cable first then the front when removing...exact opposite when installing the new one.
Like I mentioned...take your time and have patience. Maybe a 20-30 minute job if that total. Best with 2 people to hold the hand grip wide open...can be done with one person, but will take more time and patience!
This may be the wrong way? But it worked for me. I was extra careful when using the screw driver and needle nose on the cable...I didn't want to fray it. My dad said he read the manual and actually took everything off of the handlebars. I couldnt see wasting the time and it worked out for the best.
Disclaimer: These directions are to be used at your discretion. I am in no way a Harley mechanic although I do operate with extreme common sense without the hinderance of alcohol. If you screw this up, please put down the tools because you are most likely going to hurt someone (probably yourself) because this is a very easy job!!
I just did this...fairly easy. Left is stupid simple...it's either glue or it fits into the switch housing which holds it in place. Mine was glue and my dad's was the other kind and I didn't watch him do it.
The right is a little tricky...patience!
Open the switch housing...try to move the top part out of the way as much as possible, which is little to none!! Honestly this is much easier with two people. There are two cables that pull the grip in either direction (so the throttle snaps back). Have someone hold the throttle wide open which gives some slack at the rear cable, then use a thin screw driver and the help of needle nose pliers to pry the cable from the groove on the handle. You will need to get the cable at 90 degrees from the handle to slide it out along with the little brass piece. (This will make sense once you visually see it.) BE CAREFUL The cable and the brass piece are not one unit!! I dropped the little brass piece but found it...just a fair warning.
Then there is only one the front cable on the hand grip...do the same thing for that side. Its easiest to do the rear cable first then the front when removing...exact opposite when installing the new one.
Like I mentioned...take your time and have patience. Maybe a 20-30 minute job if that total. Best with 2 people to hold the hand grip wide open...can be done with one person, but will take more time and patience!
This may be the wrong way? But it worked for me. I was extra careful when using the screw driver and needle nose on the cable...I didn't want to fray it. My dad said he read the manual and actually took everything off of the handlebars. I couldnt see wasting the time and it worked out for the best.
Disclaimer: These directions are to be used at your discretion. I am in no way a Harley mechanic although I do operate with extreme common sense without the hinderance of alcohol. If you screw this up, please put down the tools because you are most likely going to hurt someone (probably yourself) because this is a very easy job!!
Cruiser
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 121
Likes: 0
From: Hershey, PA
RE: Changing handgrips
I'm a professor and not a mechanic and it took me about 45 minutes to an hour to put Kuryakyn ISO grips on my Sportster and now on my Street Bob. On a scale of 1-10 of projects I would put this at a 4, easy to do but a bit of a PITA because ther is limited space for my clumsy hands.
There are three things you should pay attention to--one is to follow the directions as to the cautions about the brake caliper because it is possible to damage the contact for the brake light. Second the litttle brass pieces spent more time on the floor than in my habds when I released the cable ends. Make sure you do this isn a open place where if one falls, you can find it. Finally, the glue gives you one chance to install the grips correctly, so think about the matching position of the left and right grips if there is a pattern like was on my ISO grips. This is minor but just pay attention.
I also found that a dental pick helped me to position the brass pieces in the slots as well as the tools mentioned above.
The directions above are good and I don't know what kind of grips you are doing but here is the install pdf from Kuryakyn (may have some slight differences that may be useful) http://www.kuryakyn.com/documents/in...-24HD-0107.pdf
There are three things you should pay attention to--one is to follow the directions as to the cautions about the brake caliper because it is possible to damage the contact for the brake light. Second the litttle brass pieces spent more time on the floor than in my habds when I released the cable ends. Make sure you do this isn a open place where if one falls, you can find it. Finally, the glue gives you one chance to install the grips correctly, so think about the matching position of the left and right grips if there is a pattern like was on my ISO grips. This is minor but just pay attention.
I also found that a dental pick helped me to position the brass pieces in the slots as well as the tools mentioned above.
The directions above are good and I don't know what kind of grips you are doing but here is the install pdf from Kuryakyn (may have some slight differences that may be useful) http://www.kuryakyn.com/documents/in...-24HD-0107.pdf
Elite HDF Member
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 4,722
Likes: 7
RE: Changing handgrips
It's definitely not rocket science but you do need to take your time with the throttle grip. I changed mine out by myself but it would have been nice to have had a helper. The main thing to be careful of is to not lose the brass ferrules. Those are the pieces that the cable ends fit into which then fit into the grooves on the end of the grip. Those little buggers are like mexican jumping beans. I was warned ahead of time and still kept dropping them. One time it took me 15 minutes to find one of them as they seem to defy laws of physics when they hit the floor ending up in the last place they should have based on how they fell.
As someone else said already, there are 2 ways that the left grips are installed depending on what grips you have. If you have HD grips, they probably install inside the switch housing. If you have something else, it's possible that the left side glues on. If so, that should be covered in the instructions.
The grips I have now are HD Aileron grips and they were installed by the dealer when they installed my bars. However, the first set of replacement grips I had were from a no-name manufacturer and the left grip was installed without glue and instead had 3 set screws to hold it in place. Anyway, the instructions that came with the grips were basically worthless. So, I went to the Kuryakyn website and downloaded their instructions for a pair of ISO grips and followed them step by step. And, the ONLY issue I had was chasing those darned ferrules around.
As someone else said already, there are 2 ways that the left grips are installed depending on what grips you have. If you have HD grips, they probably install inside the switch housing. If you have something else, it's possible that the left side glues on. If so, that should be covered in the instructions.
The grips I have now are HD Aileron grips and they were installed by the dealer when they installed my bars. However, the first set of replacement grips I had were from a no-name manufacturer and the left grip was installed without glue and instead had 3 set screws to hold it in place. Anyway, the instructions that came with the grips were basically worthless. So, I went to the Kuryakyn website and downloaded their instructions for a pair of ISO grips and followed them step by step. And, the ONLY issue I had was chasing those darned ferrules around.
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Cruiser
Joined: Jan 2007
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From:
RE: Changing handgrips
I took mine to an indepenant shop and he charged me $10.00 to change them.
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Outstanding HDF Member
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 3,438
Likes: 3
From: Chesterfield, VA
RE: Changing handgrips
Here is a link to a post by HDF Tech. Probably just repeats the great posts above, but here it is anyway. Pretty thorough post.
https://www.hdforums.com/m_69241/tm.htm
https://www.hdforums.com/m_69241/tm.htm
Tourer
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 264
Likes: 0
From: NY
RE: Changing handgrips
Just installed them last week. As everyone said, patience is the key. Don't forget to use a washer or cardboard in the brake lever - prevents damage to the brake light switch. For dealing with the brass ferrules, a needle nose came in handy, and a light colored towel on the ground right under where you are working - if dropped, will not roll or bounce. and makes them easy to find.
Took under 30min. Just take your time.
Also a write up in the DYI section https://www.hdforums.com/m_69241/tm.htm
Took under 30min. Just take your time.
Also a write up in the DYI section https://www.hdforums.com/m_69241/tm.htm