Bars pre-drilled in wrong location?
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Cruiser
Joined: Apr 2008
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From: Colorado
Bars pre-drilled in wrong location?
I purchased these bars and they arrived with the holes drilled right at the edge of where the bar goes from 1 1/4" to 1". The problem is that the switch housings are back from the holes and since they are not dimpled there was no way to pass the wires to the holes. I called the seller who told me to either return them or "drill some damn holes in them". I can't understand why the holes were pre-drilled where they were, am I missing something? I ended up drilling another set of holes 2 inches back where they end up under the switch housing to run the wires into the bars. Does anybody know why they may have been drilled under where the clutch and brake levers mount?
Elite HDF Member
Joined: Jul 2008
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From: north jersey
who did you get the bars from? if that guy would have answered me like that i would have shipped them back to him so fast that it would have made his head spin !!! WTF do people think now a days with their damn attitude !!!
Tourer
Joined: Feb 2009
Posts: 385
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From: Ontario, Canada
Hey Aaron01, are the grips & switch housings combined length long enough to reach the holes and conceal them? For example, if you had no obstructions such as the wiring harnesses, and just the bare-bars, the grips and switch housings, and you slid them [the switch housings and grips] on the bars, would the pre-drilled holes still be completely exposed? What make are the bars?
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Cruiser
Joined: Apr 2008
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From: Colorado
I purchased the bars from Outlaw Cycle Products on ebay http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/FAT-1...mZ120391191355
I was shocked at the guys attitude on the phone too and almost did send them back, the conversation was something else. I thought about it and for $99 the bars were a good price and not worth paying to ship them back when I could fix it easily. I luckily have a metal shop at where I work and I just drilled the other set of holes in the correct location after work on the drill press.
JR Ryder if I understand your question correctly the holes that came on the bars are half exposed with the controls on as you can see in the picture the controls fit up to where the bars go from 1" to 1 1/4".
I was shocked at the guys attitude on the phone too and almost did send them back, the conversation was something else. I thought about it and for $99 the bars were a good price and not worth paying to ship them back when I could fix it easily. I luckily have a metal shop at where I work and I just drilled the other set of holes in the correct location after work on the drill press.
JR Ryder if I understand your question correctly the holes that came on the bars are half exposed with the controls on as you can see in the picture the controls fit up to where the bars go from 1" to 1 1/4".
Tourer
Joined: Feb 2009
Posts: 385
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From: Ontario, Canada
Hmmmm, not sure what bike you have, but with my Fatty, the hole in the end of the switch housing (the big one that the handle-bar goes into) is almost a teardrop shape. The upper 3/4 or so is essentially round, while there is a slight "lobe" in the lower portion of the hole. (kinda like the shape of a stubby lightbulb). Anyhow, my point is, that with the hole configuration you have provided in your photos, I can see no reason that they would not still work. The only observation I could foresee is that a little tiny bit of the wiring harness would be exposed at the bottom of the bar on each side. It's well wrapped in weather-proof tubing, and I could not imagine any sort of compromise. Am I missing something here? I'm gonna go look at my bike right now to refresh my memory of my bar install. The first picture here kinda shows what I'm talking about. Look at the end of the switch housing..... the bottom of it is "notched" out.
EDIT: AHHHH YES!!!!! THE CLAMP.... SORRY, just went and looked at my bike. If I were putting your new bars on my bike (provided they were designed to fit), I TOO WOULD HAVE HAD TO DRILL...... although I would have returned them. Hey, post some pics when you're done. Wanna see how they turn out... JR
EDIT: AHHHH YES!!!!! THE CLAMP.... SORRY, just went and looked at my bike. If I were putting your new bars on my bike (provided they were designed to fit), I TOO WOULD HAVE HAD TO DRILL...... although I would have returned them. Hey, post some pics when you're done. Wanna see how they turn out... JR
Last edited by JR Ryder; Mar 16, 2009 at 11:38 PM.
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Cruiser
Joined: Apr 2008
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From: Colorado
JR Ryder my bike is an 07 Night Train and my switches are just like yours with the "teardrop" shape at the bottom also. If you look at the pic of your bars and see where your wiring harness comes through it is back about 2" from where your bars go from 1 1/4" to 1" and that is where I drilled the new holes. If you look back to my original photos you will see that the hols that cam pre-drilled on the bars are right at the edge of where the bars go from 1 1/4" to 1", and that is where the clutch/brake mounts up. The problem is with the clutch/brake there is no "teardrop" shape to the bottom of the mounts to pass the harness through. Had the bars been dimpled from where the switch housings mount this would have worked. As it is though I could see no way to have got the harness through or under the brake/clutch mounts to reach the hole. I hope this makes sense, I tried to show in the photo where the clutch/brake mounts and where the hole needed to be, like on your bars.
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Tourer
Joined: Feb 2009
Posts: 385
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From: Ontario, Canada
Ya, I see that. I had already edited my previous post after going and looking at my bike. Good job on the modification. Very gutsy and patient. Post pics when you're done so we can all se how it turned out...... J.R.
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Thread Starter
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Cruiser
Joined: Apr 2008
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From: Colorado
I see that you edited the post with the comment. I actually got the bars on a couple of weeks ago, I was just curious as if I had missed something as to why the holes were pre-drilled like they where. I thought maybe someone knew something about it I didn't. Anyways here a couple of pics of the bars on my Train.
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Cruiser
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From: Colorado
As an update I left a neutral feedback for the seller that said: Pre-drilled holes don't line up for factory switch housing, you must re-drill. As a followup to my comment he wrote: Not true. Work fine with stock hand controls. This guy's not very bright.
I tried to be kind and leave a neutral and not a negative since they were nice bars other than the fact that the holes are wrong. I guess this is buyer beware for the next guy who buys them. Funny that the guy on the phone at Outlaw cycles is the one who told me that I needed to drill a hole in the other location for the stock controls!
I tried to be kind and leave a neutral and not a negative since they were nice bars other than the fact that the holes are wrong. I guess this is buyer beware for the next guy who buys them. Funny that the guy on the phone at Outlaw cycles is the one who told me that I needed to drill a hole in the other location for the stock controls!