I recently mentioned to my dealer that I was going to internally wire my HD mini apes on my '09 Sportster Iron.

When I mentioned it to her she told me it wasn't a good idea as it would put the structural integrity of bars in to question and said if I wanted them to do it at the shop (yeah right) they would say no.

I know a lot of guys on here have done but would like some other thoughts on the subject...

Thanks in advance

 

I drilled a set of drag,& stock pullbacks with no issues.Just drill big enough to pass the wires & nothing extra.

 

well....I agree with her when it comes to some HD bars. They tend to be rather thin walled to start with....Also the heavier bikes need thick walled bars.

Perhaps you guys remember a few recalls and mods associated with HD bars cracking/breaking.

For the most part, the shorter and narrower your bars, the safer it is to drill them. Then you need to carefully grind out any sharp edges to relieve stress risers that can lead to cracking.

Anyone thinking apes needs to insist on thickwall, quality made bars. HD does sell some decent bars already drilled and designed to work safely.

 

That's a load of BS!!!!!!!!

 

I drilled my bars, no problem here.

 

find a shop with a mill,we mill slots instead of just drilling holes,makes it alot easier pulling wires thru

 

Gents, last year I bought a set of 10" stainless HD branded bars for my Road King. They were paper thin and flexed in my 56 year old hands. They were even more flexy once mounted on my scoot. Yeah, they only cost 60 bucks, but hey, they were genuine HD-ya know, so I assumed they were the ***** and goodnuff stuff till I mounted them.

I ran them about a week and decided they were flimsy junk...I gave them away and elected to go with DOUBLE WALLED 1 1/4" 14" tall Wild1 Chubbys.

Man , you shoulda seen me strain to lift the box those bars came in......Those bars are more than twice the wall thickness and 10 times more rigid than anything HD sells OEM....They also feel 5-10 times as heavy when you pick them up.

Those guys at Wild1 don't weld their chubby bars. What they do instead is use two pieces of thick walled tubing-one inserted inside the other-then they bend and chrome them....no welds to crack, and no flexing/cracks/breaks, either....and yeah, they come drilled already with no worries about being drilled properly.

RSD also makes super quality bars drilled properly and made of thick high strength steel.

Just sayin..........

 

Well it causes a stress point for cracking and with the vibrations factory counted in
I would not do it

 

Yep.....but if you wanna do it yourself, then try this:

Assemble the complete set of controls and grips just like they would be installed once complete....Then use masking tape to locate on the bars where the switch housings fit(because the holes in the bars must fall under the switch housings and not the lever clamps.....

Then "clock" the controls by rotating them to where you want the levers, and mark the masking tape to reflect dead bottom center where the wires shoul enter the bars.

Remove the controls/grips and switch housings and turn the bars over to reveal the bottom side...from there lay out your holes staying tween the tape that marks the width of the switch housings and use the clocking marks to place the holes radially.....(The 'holes' must actually be 1 1/4" long slots/elongations that are rounded on each end, yet still fall only under the width of the switch housings.)

Locate the ends of those slots and drill a 7/16" hole at each end, then use a dremmel with a thin cutoff wheel to connect the holes. That will create the elongated holes or 'slots' you need to run the wires inside the bars...from there use a conical shaped grinding tip on your dremmel to ease any sharp edges, and then lay out and do the same for the elongated slot tween the riseres where the wires will exit the bars.

If you are workin chrome bars, then seal the raw metal you exposed with clear silicone...if you are workin black bars tho, then seal with Krylon Satin black spray paint.....simply spray the Krylon into the spray can lid till it pools and then use a small model brush to paint it on....The silicone, you simply spread with your finger tip and let dry.

 

Thanks guys, will give it more consideration.