I've got some 2" straight risers from DennisKirk for my '06 Sporty 1200 and I'm just curious if I start taking things apart if I'm going to need to replace my cables too. I mean, from the look of things, there doesn't seem to be much slack in what I've got with the stock risers. Is it just going to be a close call and I'll be fine, or am I asking for problems if I try to keep them stock? I've done some searches and it seems the consensus is that most people find that you can stay with the stock cables with just 2" risers since that isn't a whole lot more than stock anyway, but I haven't been able to find anything specific for the '06 Sportster. Not sure if the advice I'm seeing about other models can really be applied.

I've kept most of the bike fairly stock all these years. Some slip ons and forward controls are really the only enhancements beyond LED bulbs and standard stuff like the sissy bar and windshield. After all, she only has 7000 miles on her right now, so she is still just breaking in really. But I think I'd like to try a little lift to see if it makes the awkward bars on the sportster any more comfortable before I go hog wild and change those too. Thanks in advance!

 

You can easily remove the hand controls, following the FSM so as not to break the stop light switch. Then you just have the bare bars that you should be able to raise up.

Looking at the flow of the clutch cable it looks reasonably clear that if the bars are raised by 2" you will loose that without a longer cable. I would work on the premise you will need longer cables in order to keep the slack the same. If the curve at the bars is tighter it could well result in a harder pull of the clutch.

 

Remove the top clamp and lift the bars to see if you've got the extra inch.
Those are 1" you're putting 2" so you're only raising it an inch more.
Should be no problem.

 

There should be a little extra slack under the tank on the cables. Going to 2" risers should not be a problem.

But like Ranger73 said, undo the 4 bolts on your top clamp and lift your bars up to see how much slack you have.

I didn't put risers on my 2006 when I had it, but I put 4" risers with a 2" pull back on my daughters 1997 Sportster and didn't have to lengthen the control wires. But if I recall correctly I put longer throttle and clutch cables in when I replaced them earlier.

 

Using my own bike as an example the brake line has zero slack in it. It will need the clamps unscrewing to get anything on it.

The line on the OP's bike looks similar to mine with a direct run to the clamp on the top yoke.