Whats up brothers, I have been trtrying to make up my mind between Carlini Menace or Gangster Apes, for my deluxe, I just cant decide, ive seen a ton of gangster but not many menace, please post your menace apes if you got pics.
Thanks

 

Not a Deluxe....but I love the 16" Menace Apes on my Breakout...

 

Wow! Man that's a sweet lookin ride you got there! And awesome pics too. Thanks, spend some time in the Bay Area back in the early 90s road sport bikes up and down San Fran, crazy. Be safe

 

Got a long way to go mine is the one that stands out ha, ;/

 

I love the menace apes on breakouts and dynas, but the deluxe has that big beefy front end and looks awesome with gangsters. I think the base of the menace bars would be narrower than your triple tree which in my opinion just doesn't look right.
I run 14" 1.25" gangsters on my deluxe and they just match the rest of the bike so well. The base of the gangsters are the same width as the trees and just looks perfect. My vote goes for gangsters.

 

Gangsters all day. The Menace don't look right on a Deluxe. I have 16" Gangsters and love them

 

Yup, i know few of my buddy's are runnin the Gs, just something bout those menace bars, think im going to go with the gangsters hope my short *** and alligator arms will be fine with 16s, im 5'6

 

16's are going to be really tall for you. Your hands will be at eye level at least. I have 14's, I'm 5'9" with the stock seat and my bars are an inch over my shoulders and I have long arms and torso for my height. If I go to an aftermarket seat that drops me even lower they will be quite a bit over my shoulders. Just depends on the look your going for, but be ready to be reaching a lot. I like my bars straight up, specially with the gangsters, it really brings out the curve in the bars. At your height and like you say short arms, there's no way in hell your going to be able to have your bars straight. Your going to have to have them bent back which in my opinion completely defeats the purpose of getting taller bars. My 14's are perfect.
Pictures are very deceiving, I was stuck between 14's and 16's and thought the 14's wouldn't be tall enough. They don't look very tall in pictures, but I was surprised when I got the at how tall they are. I'm so glad I got 14's. 16's would have been way to tall. You can always exchange them as long as you don't clamp them in the risers. Once you clamp them down, no returns. I can have my wife take a picture of me sitting on it holding the bars if you want.
Here is a side shot of the 14's

 

16"s on my Deluxe, I am 6"2" and with the bars pushed forward as they should be I am just above my shoulders. At 5'6" you should be looking at 14"s max, otherwise you will have to pull them back and they will look horrible...

 

Gangsters IMO on a Deluxe. I'll have a set on mine w/in a month. There's no sharp line on the Deluxe is why they flow better. The menace would look out of place to me. Post pics when you get them!