Don't over tighten them, you might end up stripping the threads. Helicoil them, I did mine, last forever.

 

Not critical...............REALLY? Those two bolts are the only connection between your hands and the front end, if one or both fail you have little or no steering. I have heard about people having one (fortunately only one) suffer a catastrophic failure - just think how that would go while your in the middle of a corner or on the brakes. Use a torque wrench and some loctite.

If you have rubber bushings in there they are going to move some, you can try and get them straight all day long but each time you heave your wheel straight off the stand you will move them a little. Every so often, with the wheel turned full left lock - give the RH grip a little push and it will be straight again.......until next time. It's a balance, either you want less vibration and bars that float a little or poly that vibrates more but moves less.

 

Yes I said that…………..REALLY! You are right, those bolts are critical and they need to be properly tightened as they are holding your bars to the top triple tree. They should be good and tight and seeing as how the OP is using taller risers than stock the torque value is most likely higher than the stock risers. The taller the riser/bar the more leverage you will get if you try and twist them therefore you would need a higher torque value. The only way to know what that new value is, is to contact the manufacturer of the risers unless it came with instructions. That is why I said to make sure the bolts are good and tight and you should not have any movement. You mentioned using Loctite on the bolts and that is exactly right. I should have added that as well and I would also mention using the correct type of Loctite, in this case I would use Blue as bar and risers are often changed on bikes. I know that sometimes we choose bars and or risers and find that they are not what we really wanted and Blue Loctite will allow me to get them apart again. You stated that with the rubber bushings you will get some movement. That is partially correct, they should only flex a bit and not move. Getting my bars straight was not all that difficult and when I was done I have NEVER needed to turn my bike to the left and give the RH grip a little push. Risers should be straight and tight and the bars should be held tightly in the risers with the riser clamps. Having them move while riding would be extremely dangerous especially going into a turn or making an emergency maneuver. I have never heard of a catastrophic failure due to the riser bolts failing. I am not saying that it is impossible because I have learned over the years that sometimes the impossible is possible and I hope that the rider was not hurt and nothing more than having the **** scared out of him/her has happened. I also did not notice that the poly bushings gave me more vibes. Might just be me but I really did not feel any difference that way .I know others have stated that they did feel more vibes but again that was not the case for me. What I did feel was a more solid front end and I was glad that I made the change. This mod might not be for everyone but it was one that I was glad I had done and I would recommend it to anyone with tall bars/risers as there is very little flex as compared to the stock rubber bushings.

 

I put 6" pull backs on my '10 Wide Glide and no matter how tight I made them they were soft and the bars would get cocked to the side just standing the bike up from the jiffy stand. The solution is poly bushings. No problems ever since.

 

I did mine yesterday with poly bushings and it took me like 3 times to get them tight enough(no torque spec). Hopefully they stay this time because it was a pain to get the bars lined up so they felt straight each time. I also suggest the blue loctite, it says it cures in like 20 min fully in 24 hours. I test rode and played around with the bars/risers shortly after so the loctite wasnt fully cured while I retightened. If it keeps moving I see short risers and apes in my future.

 

you are right about them being loose from the factory , mine definitely was. it took my wife saying your handlebars don't look straight for me to realize it. I think because of the cap on the stock risers is 1 piece they don't feel so spongy.

 

Looks like I might need some poly bushings. Thanks guys

 

Even with the poly bushings, there can be movement. It all has to do with leverage. I have 9" risers and no matter how tight you make the riser bolts or the handlebar cover, I can twist them to one side or the other. The longer the riser, the more leverage exerted on the mounting points.

I have come to the conclusion that the only way to resolve the issue is to get the type of handle bars that have the riser built in. Then the only way they can move is front to rear and not side to side.

 

I had the same problem with mine. I could not get them tight enough with a Craftsman 1/2" drive ratchet. I have an old torque wrench (the kind with a needle) that I used to tighten mine because the handle was longer than the ratchet I was using. Of course, according to the torque reading on it, it was too tight but they are now holding fine with the stock rubber bushings - but I did tighten the bolts really tight.

 

I went with solid aluminum bushings. Also make sure you lube/grease the bolts before you thread them, to make sure you get an accurate torque reading.