Hey folks, I am running into trouble getting to the connector for my hand controls on my ‘91 sturgis glide. I got a set of bars from the Sacramento swap meet for only 40 bucks. Woohoo. I’d really like to get rid of these ‘90s apes but like I said. Having issues.

I removed the tank. But I think the person who put the apes on started from scratch and rewired and rerouted everything and then pushed it through the frame from the front, to the back. Leaving no slack and me kinda screwed.

My simple brain can only think of two options:

1. Tear everything out and start from scratch. (Seems dramatic)
2. Use a soldering iron and disconnect the wires at the hand controls (seems drastic)

I’m guessing I’m missing something. Or was changing bars back in the 90s really this much of a pain?

Any tips, tricks or advice is appreciated!



Thanks folks,

-O’Malley


Here is the style controls I’m working with. Ignore the god awful master cylinder. One of the previous owners decided to carve filagree in bar stock and use it as the cap. Will be replacing soon.

A here is the opening. It’s pretty locked up, no slack

 

The joy of unscrewing, screwed up.

Keep peeling back the electrical tape and coil overs and see what you have to work with. Time consuming but all in all rather simple to sort out the wiring on these older bikes. Plus when you're done you'll know your ride better.

 

I ended up taking most of the bike apart and repairing all the years of backyard electrics that were done on either end of the main harness. Everything works now and can be easily worked on.

 

II would do 1 wire at a time,color matched, do it once, do it right.Nothing worse than electric gremlins.Solder them and use heat shrink tubing.

 

My 92 Sportster had similar problems. I just threw the wiring away and fitted all new from the switchgear itself to the block in the headlamp. Saved a lot of grief