Thanks man. I am going to tackle this tomorrow.

Do you know what size the stock bars are? Maybe 10"? I am still learning how they size handlebars and so forth. Are buckhorns ans mini apes considered the same thing?

 

Agree. I failed to put locktite on mine when I loosened them and rolled them forward and they slipped on me at 75 mph on the interstate. Almost killed myself.

Haven't had a problem with slippage since I put the blue on. Don't forget to do this.

 

Do you have stock mini apes rolled forward? If so, does it feel more comfortable?

 

If you live near a Dealership instead of all the expense of a wrench, Allen keys and locktite why don't you go there get hold of a mechanic and if see he could do it for you, a 5 minute job like that he would probably do for free, and if you didn't like it he could just roll them back again, hopefully you wouldn't have any worries about the bars coming loose or a screw breaking off.

 

Well, I already have the allen sockets, lock tie and just bought a torque wrench from Lowe's. I am trying to learn to wrench on my own bike, that is the main reason I want to do it. I installed a lowering kit so I feel like I can do the simple stuff... gotta start somewhere!

 

Make sure you use a regular ratchet to break the bolts loose. Using a torque wrench to break bolts will eventually throw the calibration off.

 

Ok, thanks for the info. I would have used the torque wrench to break them loose for sure. lol I am definitely going to use blue loctite... just makes me feel better about them holding if it isn't tight enough.

I am praying the tool I bought from Lowe's is calibrated right. I saw a similar tool at Harbor Freight for $19.99. The one from Lowe's was $79.99 so I am hoping it is more reliable. I know more $ doesn't always mean better quality but hopefully in this case it is. It would suck if I think I am putting 20 ft/lbs and am actually doing 10 (not tight enough) or 30 and snap the bolts.

 

You would have had just as good results with a torque wrench from HF. I have personally seen a side by side comparison test of a Proto clicker style torque wrench and Pittsburgh Pro clicker style torque wrench from HF. The $20.00 Pittsburgh Pro was just as accurate as the $120.00 Proto.

 

Well, after I do the job this morning... I will go return the Lowe's torque wrench and go buy the HF one since I do want to have a torque wrench.

 

The torque wrench you bought will be useless for this job because of its higher rating but keep it, its a great wrench to have around for other jobs. For a low torque rating like you need for this job you need a wrench like this:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/3-8-1-2-Driv...item35b8b4828a

You can probably get one from your local autozone or Napa parts stores on their loaner program.

From reading this whole thread I wanted to explain some stuff to make sure you understand the tools use and why its recommended for this job. I noticed you said that you could tighten the bolts that tight without the torque wrench. Your right, you can. The torque wrench does not assist in making a bolt tighter than you could normally make it. It works the same as a regular socket wrench, it simply measures the amount of torque you are applying to the bolt. The reason it is recommended for this job is so you get the caps on level and they get a good even bite on the bars. If you look at the way they are designed you will understand. There is a small gap between to the top and bottom of the handlebar clamps that you will be tightening. It needs to be there all the way around. If you tighten one side down first it will close all the way down closing the gap on that side and leaving a large gap on the other side and it won't get a good bite on your bars.

Make sure as you do this, start both bolts with a regular allen ranch on both clamps. If your worried about getting them nice and even just count the turns you make on each bolt as you snug them down just enough to hold the bars where you want them. Then put your allen head adapter on the torque wrench and begin torqueing the bolts going back and forth between front and back evenly. Do not simply torque the first bolt to 15ft lbs. Doing so what close the gap on that side. Torque the first one down just a little. Than do the the other bolt so it matches and keep going back and forth. Like I said earlier, the goal is to keep the gap even on both the front and back of the clamp caps so neither side bottoms out.

This is a super simple job. Should take you all of about 2 minutes.