Recently, I acquired a 2015 Road Glide Special with 1700 miles. I knew right off the bat that the handlebars had to go. In the past, I’ve had the dealer change the bars for me. I consider myself reasonably proficient and I knew I could do it if someone told me how. I bought KST 12” Straight Jacket Bars. They have a great video on their website on how to change bars. I watched it several times and then got to work. Since I now knew what to do step by step, it wasn’t difficult at all. I will admit that I didn’t want to remove the pins from the large connector that the 2015’s have. That is the kind of thing that really tries my patience and then I get frustrated and screw it up. So I took the old bars and the new bars to an indie shop near my house and they transferred all the wiring for me. It was an hour’s labor charge, but that was worth it to me. There are videos out there that show you how to remove the pins from the connector, so if you have more patience than me you might want to tackle that yourself. The later Rushmore bikes don’t have the large connector.

Some people on this forum have said that their HD dealer quoted removing the fairing, but that is absolutely not necessary. I did turn the ignition on and pull the 50 amp fuse before I began, just as a precaution. I took my time and worked at a very leisurely pace and probably had 4 or 5 hours invested in the swap.

I was was able to use the stock wiring and cables. The KST Straight Jacket 12” bars stretched the wiring and cables to their limit. I don’t think I could have used the stock cables and wiring with 14” bars.

So, with basic hand tools and a little bit of mechanical aptitude, you CAN change your own handlebars.

 

Yeah, but you voided your warranty.

 

Did you change out your riser bushings to polys?

 

No, I don’t see a problem with the OEM bushings.

 

On my 19, it only takes about 20 minutes. The micro connectors don’t need to be de-pinned, they pull right through.

 

I've changed mine twice on 2014 Ultra Limited. Hard to do? No. Just 100 easy, sequential steps, every one a chane to screw something up!

 

His warranty expired 2 years ago. But if he did have a warranty changing the handlebars would not void it.

 

Really need a "Sarcasm or JK" emoji..

 

I change my own because I'm cheap, and if someone else can do it so can I.
My last swap I ran the wires internally, I had to de-pin the wires from the huge
molex connector and extend them. Nice leisurely winter project for me.

 

Maybe one you find folks can assist Chase Dambski. He has a thread going where “he’s pulling his hair out”. Apparently he missed something.