He is a glutton for punishment isn't he?????????

 

don't challenge Murphy's law

 

Received a fair amount of it today.

The throttle and clutch cables were perfectly straightforward (+6 on both), but the brakes have proven to be a bit of a fiddle.

After much research, a few phone calls, and considerable time over at the indy next door pouring through catalogs, here's what I've settled on:

Going with Russell "Renegade" brand. In case anyone goes through this and is interested, here are all the individual parts (the numbers are from the Drag Specialties catalog):

1742-0016 - Junction block (this is the thingy that attaches under the lower triple clamp)

1741-0066 - Lower brake lines (need two, obviously). These are 12" long.

1742-0019 Lower banjo fittings. Because of the Wilwood calipers I put on, I am going with 35 degree banjos instead of 90's here)

1741-0075 - Upper brake line. I test fit the bars, ran some rubber tubing, and came up with 28" as what I need.

1742-0017 Upper banjo fitting. Went with 90 degrees on this one.

1742-0360 Decided to splurge and get nifty, matching, allen head banjo bolts.

Schedule wise, it's going to be close. The clutch and throttle cables are supposed to arrive tomorrow, as is an assortment of electrical bibs and bobs I ordered to do the wiring. Assuming all that shows, I've got the long weekend to get all that sorted. The special one-piece top clamp from Wild 1 is also supposed to show up tomorrow as well.

The brake parts aren't arriving until Tuesday. That doesn't leave a lot of room for error if something doesn't fit or is the wrong part.

Minor setback on the bars. The risers on my bike are about 1/32" too wide. I'm going to Dremel out a bit of clearance and that should be sorted. The other thing that may present an issue is that the fork lock stuff is located right under the bars where the wiring will exit. Hopefully everything can be squeezed into place. Worst case is the fork lock stops working. I suppose the really worst case is that I have to remove the fork lock stuff. No biggie either way since I never use it.

The bars are thicker than the stockers, so Wild 1 says to just not use the rubber grommets that surround the bars going into the fairing. That makes sense. But I am also wondering how the brake line will fit, and am thinking I may end up having to Dremel a bit of clearance in the lower fairing to make sure the line doesn't rub.

So my best case right now is to have it all buttoned up Tuesday night. My worst case is that something doesn't fit, I'm scrambling on Wednesday to re-order parts, and putting it together Thursday before we leave on the trip.

What could go wrong with that?

 

Did you buy a kit to extend the wiring or was the original wiring long enough? +6" seems awfully long (Wild1 quoted me +8" for a 16" install on my Road King) but maybe that's the difference with a fairing bike.


I see you have all the brake parts paid out, I have to change out the brakes on mine as the Russells that are on there do not seem to be take-apart-able. I was looking at one of the full systems that JP offers but now I'm wondering if your piecemeal system might be a better way to go (hopefully cheaper). Did you consider a prefab system or were you just horny to see if you couldn't make Mr Murphy mad?

 

Just as a practice I never extend wires, I prefer to buy a long set, install, and then trim to proper length and reinstall in the terminal blocks.

As far as the reservoir, I'd run the trip with air (capped) and see how it performs. If it's good OK, if not an instrument supply house or sample supplier would have various size stainless cylinders.

 

There's an undeniable wisdom to that approach. The guy I bought the bars from had them on his bike and pulled them off to install fabbed bars. When he did he chopped off the bottom end of the wires with the plugs on them. The result is that there is maybe 8" of wire out the bottom of the bars which I think will be too short to get to the plugs in the nacelle. So it's either extend the wires 4" and install a new Deutcsh connector or run all new wires from the switches. Pain in the ***** really. I want to wire these up and keep the old ones wired up in case I meet a crotchety motor vehicle inspector. Throw the old bars on and zip-tie the excess cables out of the way. Ride in and ride out. but if I chop my harness it's sure as **** that I will meet some goof that hates my apes and then I'll be in half a rage trying to get the damned thing to make him happy.

 

I leave old wires on bars (no chopping). Internal wiring is much neater. I have seen people spice & solder which makes it harder to feed wire through bends. I have crimpers and buy male & female ends by 10s - 20s and wire kits usually come with them. So much better to do it right and avoid issues.

 

Im glad you chose those bars! By the way, try them out with them pushed as far forward as they will go without hitting the windshield or faring. It make my bike feel a lot more nimble and keeps me from getting shoulder pain on longer trips. Is your clutch cable going to work? Post a picture of your bike with the bars on it.

 

Handlebar swaps are not a major, if you can't do it in a week then something is wrong, should take most of a Saturday.


The parts you have removed will only go back where they came from so don't freak out mate.

 

Makes sense. I'm just playing the hand I'm dealt. My new bars have internal wiring, but I don't think it's long enough.