Thinking of changing bars to apes for comfort?
 

Hey Guys, I'm thinking of changing my bars to some apes. Due to injuries and several surguries (back and shoulder) I'm looking for maximum comfort. I'm 5'6" tall so I won't need them to be very tall. I'm thinking 10.5" mini apes or 12" apes should be about what I'm looking for, 14" at most. I'm thinking the grips should be even with my shoulders for maximum comfort. Any suggestions??

Measure with a broomstick, holding it where it feels comfortable and measure from your tank to the stick. Then compare to these measurements. Should give you an idea of what size. Also, more pushed forward makes them taller.

https://www.hdforums.com/forum/softa...nt-please.html

Best move I ever made going from drags to apes. I can ride alot longer w/ the apes and be able to walk when I get there. 6' tall w/ 14" of total rise.

Everyone thinks that they are uncomfortable but they let you relax. I think you will be happy. Have a buddy that is the same height and we are putting a set of 12" Flying Carlini Apes on his Deluxe.

I love my apes. I have had them on for 4 years. People always ask how I ride with them. Truth be told they are comfortable. I rode my wife's bike with drag bars yesterday and found that less comfortable than my 16" apes.

Check out BR's Custom Bars for how to measure for bars. While you are at it check out some of the bars he makes. His work and customer service are top notch.

They are not for everyone.I had some on a Sportster but were pulled way back like pullback bars,was not bad for comfort.Your whole body becomes a sail when they are tall and you are spread out on them.If they were the hot set up they would be on all touring bikes.

My bike came with a set of 12.5 chubs with a 38 inch wing span and i just recently went back to a drag bar(thats what i had on my sportster) with a 30.5 inch width. when i had the apes my arm and hand would always fall asleep and i would end up shaking the hell out of it half the ride to get the blood to it. Put 3-400 miles on the drags in the last two days and not a problem not to mention the amount of control i got back with the bars. I am only 5'10 so that could have been part of the problem as well, but i didnt find the apes as comfortable as everyone makes them out to be. maybe mine were just a little to big for me.

If you've had back and shoulder problems, the last thing you need is ape-hangars. When I had shoulder problems, there's no way I could have ridden with anything higher than my buckhorns.

I am 5'6 and have 14" gimps. Most comftorable position, I can ride on long trips no problem. But make sure you measure as everyone is different and bars from anywhere get expensive. measure twice buy once and you won't be dissappointed with apes..

and your bike would look bad ass with apes.

14 wild 1 chubby's best move i ever made.

I'm 6' and I just put on a set of 10.5" baby apes on my 04 Fatboy. It's definitely more comfortable to me, but mostly because of the awkward wrist position the stock Fatboy bars had. I rode to work today for the first time and didn't have any problems with my hands falling asleep like they did with the stockers. The 10.5" rise puts my hands about 2 inches below shoulder height so I will most likely be getting some 12" or 14" in the future. Switching bars definitely made the most difference in how comfortable my bike was to date

Great thread as this is a question I had myself. Thanks for posting. I am 6' and always take my hands off grips and put them where I think it's most comfortable. A simple change of 4" will help. I think I may change to the 10.5" or 12".

14" R6C Zbars. I'm 5'8" and the bars put my hands at 12" high. It's still below my shoulders. I love them and they weren't expensive.

12"
 

12" with 4" risers works best for me been on for 9 yrs now i am 5'7

The guys who said "best for me" win the prize. Shoulder joints are the most complicated, and there's 50 different injuries they accumulate. Then take into consideration your height, your bike, and style of riding, although that's least important unless you race.
I put 4" risers on the heritage and it felt like apes for a week. I wouldn't part with them for anything now, and like you thought, hands at shoulder height is quite comfortable. It has a radical feel without losing left-right cornering ability; I can slap floorboard to floorboard in perfect control.
I would imagine that if you wear loose shirts you're gonna know it when the hands are high, as someone said; you're a parachute. But that's what vests are for.
I spent about $32 on the risers, NIB/Ebay. I guess now I gotta buy a vest.

6'0", 18" apes on 1.5" risers... most comfortable ive ever been on a scoot.

6'0" and the 16" Apes with 2" risers on my Dyna are very comfortable.

apes are cool and nice to ride with!! you have a beautiful bike,be even cooler with apes!! do it

Thanks for the replies! It is interesting to see such different views but I wanted honest opinions. Since were being honest I really don't want to change because of the time it takes to swap them and not to mention the $$$.
The main thing is comfort. I was in an accident that left me with titanium rods and bolts in my back and two bad shoulders. My right shoulder is the worst and being the throttle side it gets the most work when riding. Looks like 10.5" or 12" would be a plenty for me. I'm going to make a few calls and study on this thing for a while. I've got a little play in my cables and was wondering if they would work with the 10.5" bars?

For the Heritage, adding the 4" risers was the maximum lift I could go without extra wiring, clutch, throttle, and front brake line. And I mean max- the wiring pulls a little tight with the bars to the right. One more inch would cost me big. Had to rebend the brake line, but got away with that.

Stock FXDWG bars have the same dimensions as all the baby apes out there.. 10.5" rise. I was able to swap them on to my 04 Fatboy without having to change anything.. wires, cables, nothing.. the brake line had to be straightened a little by hand, but it was no biggie either. Total time I invested was about 20 minutes, total cash was free, since I got the bars as a gift, but they are about $70 from HD.
It's a cheap and easy way to see how you are going to like the apes, then you can always upgrade from there if they are too high or not high enough, or you eventually want to go internal with the wiring or a fatter bar.

+1

HarleyHeaven, I would also get neck, back pain so I installed Heritage bars for $50 just to try taller bars. Like TCannon said, you can use all your wiring and cables. Taller bars took most of the discomfort away on long rides. After riding with the Heritage bars for a year I am convinced a little taller bar will be perfect.

I'm putting a set of Heritage Softail Classic handlebars on my 04 Fatboy this weekend. No cable changes needed. The stock bars are killing my back. Pics later.

I wish I had your troubles.
Being short, I took the stock bars off my Heritage and went with 4" risers and the stock bars off a Deluxe. Much more comfortable without reaching so far.

HD gives the exact same part # for the Wideglide, Heritage, and Fatboy when it comes to all your cables and wiring will definitely work. Once I pulled what I thought was enough slack, I actually had too much so I had to push the wiring back through some of the zip ties. Brake lines are different, but you just have to tweak the bends in the hard lines a little to fit the different angles of the bar, but it can be done by hand and pretty easily.

Good thread here guys. I'm still in the debate over which set to get and what size.... Its drivin me INSANE!

That's how I was which is why I went as cheap as possible on my first try. Definitely don't spring for some RSD or Carlini Gansters for your first try until you get a good idea on exactly what'll work and what you'll like!

Im having the same dilema. I'm 5'8'' and the stock drag bars on my 08 night train are just not cuttin it comfort wise. I dont know wether to go with 12" or 14" apes. im also gonna be lowering it 2" and getting a lower seat aswell.

Black Koffin, I'm 5'8" with 14" R6C Zbars. The hand postion is at 12" (still below my shoulders) which is good. Hands higher than your heart aid in numbness/tingling because the heart has to work harder to get the blood up there. I've seen a set of 16" R6C bars on a NightTrain and they look sick! That's part of the reason I went with them. They're worth checking out, road6customs.com. I hooked the company owner (Seth) up with a cable guy that makes cables directly for big companies like Barnett's. He might have the logistics worked out by now to start selling kits. R6C also sells lowering kits if I'm not mistaken.

Crap, I need to take off my tank and see why my wires won't pull any slack then - not that I need it now, but I'd rather have them NOT pulled on.
I should have mentioned that I also had to straighten out the throttle cable elbows just a bit. You can see the cables running a bit short in my pic there, but they work fine.

Bar Swap
 

What ever bar you choose, keep in mind that the higher above your heart that your hands are, the more susseptable you are to shoulder
strain and hand numbing.

Also, try to keep the wrists flat and not bent in an awkward manner or
you won't be able to hold the throttle open comfortably.

You can go with lower bars with taller risers, or taller bars with shorter risers for two completely different looks, but similar results.

My baby apes on my bones have been very comfy around town and short trips, but on long trips, my hands go numb and my lower back gets sore from having too much tail bone pressure. I just switched to bad boy bars on 4" risers and this is almost perfect for me. If OEM 6" risers were available, I would have perfection. I suppose I could lose the spring seat and acheive the same results. Good luck !

Nice man you'll find out apes are comfortable...had drag bars previously, now im running 18" Wild One Chubbys and love them!! I also have had orthopedic surgery on my one shoulder and have no complaints of pain with the high bars....It's funny how many more bikes are runnin apes/mini apes these days

Thanks RyanC that helps alot. what size risers are you using? I'm looking for the controls to be a little higher than my shoulders. Also how long did you have to extend you cables to fit the 14". Im gonna go with 14'' they sound about right for me,now the hard part of picking out some bars! I ordered the progressive drop in's for the front and a cheapo lowering kit for the rear till I can afford an air system. ordered them yesterday and had them over nighted cause im impatient when it comes to getting goodies,so I should get them today and installed as soon as that big brown van drops off the package.

i'm 5-11 with 20 inchers on 1.5 risers. my hands are about an inch above my shoulders when i ride. hasn't been a problem yet though and i couldn't be happier with them.

they look really uncomfortable but they are not (at least in my opinion). like someone else said, make sure you take really good measurements before you buy.

doing the mini ape thing right now with wild one Chubbys at 12.5 with 1.5 risers...puts them just below shoulder level with a C&C solo seat..i'm 5'11. would have gone to 14, but the police are tough in Mass.

Just under 5'11 and with the C&C seat 1' risers with 12" bars its great..Ive had shoulder and neck surgery,this is comfy for me..
http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/a...8/06Deluxe.jpg

Hey Ranger, nice ride man!

What brand bars did you end up going with?

....and if you dont mind me asking does your C&C solo seat give you any lower back support?? or did it just push you lower down and back?

Thanks.

several surguries (back and shoulder)
 

i'm 5'7", also have back and shoulder issues and currently have mini-apes on bike i bot bout 2 weeks ago. I've found that using the apes takes virtually all the pressure/weight off arms and it hasta go somewhere. It seems to add more to weight/pressure to my back. Not good. I'm gonna put on some black crossbones beach bars to my '07 Springer Classic to see if less pressure goes to my back. I would guess it would as more of my weight would be on my arms. My previous bike had beach bar (type) handlebars (vstar 1100 Classic) and my back didn't feel messed up as quickly as what happens with the mini-apes. Just a theory though...still, something to think about my friend. Might also be a condition of position of my feet. Or the seat. Or a combo of the 3. Who knows!