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I have to have my knuckles facing forward. I got my ride used with apes on it already but I test rode a few fatboys with stock bars and all I could think is that bars were going to be the first change. After having 3 different sets of apes I have found them all to be infinitely more comfortable than those stock fatboy bars. It was explained well above, if your wrists are turned out to the sides it puts extra pressure on them. As far as your back, leaning forward to grab low bars puts a lot of stress on your back. That does nto wkr for me either. My wife has a set of t bars on her sportster and it is pretty comfoprtable as well, but they are too low for my taste. Much better than the stock buckhorn crap that was on there.
My conclusion is that stock bars on the fatboy suck for comfort. Period. It is all marketing on Harley's part. Uncomfortable bars on a stock bike will hopefully have the customers come back to the dealer and buy a set of their bars that are actually comfortable and pay to have them put on.
I felt some wrist & lower back issues when I first got my 09 FB. Adjusting the bars just a bit made the wrist issue go away & putting on a Mustang seat TOTALLY changed the comfort of my lower back. I can now go on long rides where before I was done after like an hour.
I put the newer Heritage bars on the low budget '93 project I'm just finishing up (pics coming this weekend). Didn't like the stock position and liked the older Heritage bars (pre-'09 I think it is) even less, but the newer Heritage mini-ape style bar is perfect for me. And no need to change any wires or cables either, which was a big part of why I went with them.
Just goes to show you that everyone is different. I have the stock bars on mine and have put almost 50,000 miles on it over the last 4 years. Never a pain, adjusted them and left them alone. I sit on softails with beach bars and said not for me. To each his own...
The first thing I did was change the stock fatboy bars. I felt like I was leaning back with them. Went with the lo bars. I did about an hour and a half straight highway riding this weekend around 75-80 mph. I felt like a big sail just holding on and my shoulders and tail bone were killing me. Once I got down below 60 no problems. I think the seat will be my next mod.
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