I decided to go with some ape hangers on my CVO Deluxe. I’m going with Carlini Flying apes with the increased pullback because of my short arms. I’m torn at the moment between going with 14” or 16”. The attached photo is a wooden dowel mock-up showing a 16” bar. You can see my hands are slightly above my shoulders so 14” would probably get me right at shoulder height. Opinions?
To me, it's a personal choice as to the comfort level but I went with 16's on my Springer and they come to my shoulders about the same place as yours do in your pic and after a few miles of riding with them that way, they were very comfy. 14's would put your hands down a little but I honestly don't know which would be more comfy for you. good luck
To me, it's a personal choice as to the comfort level but I went with 16's on my Springer and they come to my shoulders about the same place as yours do in your pic and after a few miles of riding with them that way, they were very comfy. 14's would put your hands down a little but I honestly don't know which would be more comfy for you. good luck
First set of apes I got were 17”, second were between 15-16” and third were 16”. All of them were comfortable, but I do remember when I went from 17” to 15/16”, thinking the 17’s felt a little better. Comfort can be affected by height, width and wrist angle, but going a little higher may be more comfortable. Your hands don’t look real high in the pic, but your Arms look like they are straight in front of you. Is your mocked dowel bar the same width as the Carlinis?
Most states have not above shoulder height restriction, if you live in a town where they are sticklers for rules that might be an issue.
I went from 10" buckhorns with 4" risers to 10" apes with 2" risers. Now I've got 14" apes with 2" risers. I'm very happy with the current setup.
But it's all personal preference.
First set of apes I got were 17”, second were between 15-16” and third were 16”. All of them were comfortable, but I do remember when I went from 17” to 15/16”, thinking the 17’s felt a little better. Comfort can be affected by height, width and wrist angle, but going a little higher may be more comfortable. Your hands don’t look real high in the pic, but your Arms look like they are straight in front of you. Is your mocked dowel bar the same width as the Carlinis?
Yes, it's the same width as the bars. My arms aren't real long (armpit to tip of fingers is 31") so as you said my arms are straight. I wish the bars were going to be more upright but it is what it is. I wish I could test ride a bike with what I want to do but the dealer only had a bike with 21" bars. Oregon has no bar height restriction BTW
Last edited by Spindrifter; 05-17-2019 at 09:04 AM.
Here is a mock-up of 14” bars and think this is going to work. I ordered 14” this morning and figure I can always go to a taller riser later. I got my Magnum wiring kit for 60% off on clearance! Upgraded bushing ordered also.Thanks for the input guys.... I’ll post some pics when I’m done.
I've known some that have taken a short cut to getting taller bars and have used taller risers too. On my Springer, I have 4" risers. The nice thing about the riser thing is that you can experiment with the bar/riser combo to suit your comfort level. Good idea
05-16-2019, 10:42 AM
Torn between 14” or 16” ape hangers... opinions?
