Bar swap 09XL1200C
 

I did a bar swap on a 2009 XL1200C this weekend. Pretty straight forward. It took about 6 hours all together but I'm not quite done. I have 2 small pieces curing in the oven right now but will install them soon.

Here's the bike to begin with. He didn't like the stock bars so tried these drag bars. He said it was uncomfortable and the throttle cable was hitting the tank.

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Here are the bars he chose.

http://www.lickscycles.com/catalog/p...oducts_id=1397

Risers.

http://www.lickscycles.com/catalog/p...oducts_id=1620

And I supplied the rest.

I used this for the speedo.

http://www.jegs.com/i/Auto-Meter/105...oductId=745207

I made a small bracket to mount the new speedo cup to the stock riser facia.

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And I made a small plate for the indicator lights.

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The only problem I ran in to was the placement of the hole that was predrilled to internally wire the hand controls.

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With the hole where it is, the clamps would have pinched the wires...I don't know why they did it like this but all I had to do was drill new holes in the dimpled area.

The turn signals were already mounted to the upper tree so that made things a little easier but the wires were a bit long so I shortened them while I had it apart.

Attachment 538537

The hand control wires were too short so I had to extend them but the brake line, clutch & throttle cables all fit fine.

I'm waiting on the powdercoated parts to cool now. I'll post pics of it all together in a bit when I get everything put back together.

great work

Thanks. Here are the 2 brackets I made powdercoated and mounted.

The speedo bracket bolts to the facia in 2 places to make sure it stays solid. I had to drill 2 small holes in the facia piece.

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The indicator light bracket/plate clamps between the upper & lower risers.

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One of the things I think is cool about the bucket I use is that it has a relief slot that squeezes the gauge with the mounting ring...but it happens to be the perfect size to slide the select button in to.

Attachment 538531

Almost done...

Here it is put back together.

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All in all I like them. I'm not a fan of chrome but they look good on this bike. Alot more comfortable and looks a little better...

I think they'd look best with wide glide trees, which I mentioned and he started looking online so I'll probably be doing that for him this winter.

Looks good. Does the front turn signals hit the tank on full lock? I have the same HD brackets laying around and wanted to use them on my 08 C and mount them where this guys is, but it sure looked like they would hit the tank since the C tank is so fat. Please let me know.

Thansk!

I had the bars lock to lock several times making sure that the wiring & cables weren't too tight and I remember noticing that the turn signals had plenty of room.

Sweet looks like I will be installing them now. Thanks! I have the short clamp style brackets on the XL50 up by the top tree and no isses, but the 3.3 tank it not as fat. Well the install looks good man, but one thing I like the most about the C is the speedo and risrer set up, I love the the speedo is under the bars.

He didn't mind it either but to get bars up enough for him to sit comfortably looked pretty ridiculous with the pull back risers.

I like the pre-04 C model risers with the speedo mounted in the stock location but the 04 & newer pullback risers just don't do it for me at all.

I also don't care too much for the speedo mount on the C models. And the pull back risers just don't look good with any aftermarket bars.

OK, now tell us about the exhaust set-up on the green bike in the background?????:icon_warped:

I did that pipe this weekend too. It's not a "2 into 2" or "2 into 1"...maybe just a "ONE". Or, "one into the other" lol. I'll post pics of that when I get it done.