I wrote this up on a facebook group this morning when the subject of ape hangars came up. I have installed more than a few sets of apes and have tried to develope a fitting system so a rider can be happy with his/her FIRST choice in bars. I have found that it is common for someone to be gun shy with the first set of apes they buy and often end up wishing they had went with the next size up after the fact. I have never had anyone say they wish they had gone shorter. So this is how I fit someone. It works well and may give you some confidence if you are on the fence.

Before you start the process, understand (appearances aside) what changing your riding position does. When your arms are extended out in front of you, your back is going to bear that strain. The lower your hands are (with spine vertical) the more your lower back is impacted and the more your lower back must work to offset the shift in your center of gravity.

Consider the two riders in the attached images. Look at where their hands are positioned in relation their spine angles. The rider on the sport bike actually has his hands at shoulder level (90°) to his spine angle. If you left his upper body and arms in that position and stood him up he would be in a fighting stance. Now look at the rider on the touring bike. Stand him up and his guard is down. He is not in a balanced powerful postion. If you had to stand upright at attention for hours with your upper body in either stance, which one would be harder on your lower back keeping in mind the slightly forward lean angle of the touring riders spine?

Riding for hours on end is no different. That's why I'm posting this in the touring forum. The most comfortable riding position for touring is when your head, spine and arms are positioned so that your upper torso bears the burden, not your lower back. Ape hangars are typically associated with a "cool factor" for bar hoppers and big wheel baggers. Although I don't disagree, (I have always thought apes are cool) ape hangars (properly fitted) can be the most beneficial mod a touring rider ever makes. I only work on touring models at this stage in my life, and nothing (not wheels, paint, audio or pipes) seems to get people as excited as they are after their first ride with handlebars that actually fit! So here's how to fit yourself for those new apes you've been thinking about:

Sit on the bike with it upright and your feet on the pegs or boards in your riding position. You'll have to have someone hold the bike upright, put it in a wheel chock or support it with a lift. Do not do it with your feet on the ground because your center of gravity shifts and your abdominals don't kick in until your feet are off the ground.

Now with bike supported and hands resting in your lap close your eyes. Do not open your eyes again until the fitting process is complete. Next, lift your arms into a riding position that is higher than what feels natural. Then drop them down to a position lower than what feels natural. Finally, split the difference and bring them to a position that just feels right and BALANCED to you. This is when you must be honest with yourself. Your not going with a look at all. Your going with a feel. When it feels right, have your helper take a profile picture of you and your bike with the camera at the height of your hands so the camera angle does not influence what your trying to figure out which is the size of bars to order. If your eyes are still closed in the picture, you have successfully accomplished your objective. If they are open, repeat the process again but keep your eyes closed.

Once you have your picture, you can use that as a reference to compare with pics of bars online before you order. The reason you don't just use a tape measure is because one companies 12's measure the same as another companies 10's and another companies 14's are the same height as someone else's 16's etc.

The only other thing to consider is pullback. Less pullback will keep your shoulders rolled forward some and is a slightly more aggressive riding position (Burley Bars) while more pullback allows elbows to drop down and in slightly (Wild One Chubby's). Generally, less pullback looks and feels more aggressive, but be careful because you could defeat the purpose and be right back where you started especially if your seat is down and back from stock position. You don't want any forward lean if your objective is long distance touring comfort.

So there it is. I'm riding shotgun with a trainee today and bored out of my mind so I thought I would share. Good, bad or indifferent I hope ya'll have a good holiday season. I for one will be trucking my *** off trying meet the demands of the American Consumer. Peace!

 

Thanks for sharing. I will try this as I am in the process of picking bars.

 

Thanks for taking the time to write that up. I am in search of some new bars for my street glide and *thought* I had a set all picked out. I'll have to try your fitting technique first and see what I come up with for size.

 

Good job. I will be referring to this when i go woth bars for my cvo

 

Great write up , I did somethin similar when fitting myself for bars I went through 4 sets of bars in my SG before learning this technique.

 

good information, I am also in the process of looking at bars. Now I know how to pick the new ones better. Thanks.

 

That was a very good way of explaining how to choose the right bars. I ended up going with a set of LA CHOPPERS 10" bagger bars, as that's the highest you can go while still retaining the stock cables. (Plus I'm only 5' 9") Another reason I went with 10" bars is because I didn't want my hands above my shoulders for those really long rides. The part about the "Pullback" is also very true. These bars I went with only have like a 4-5" pullback from the uprights. When I first installed them I did have to lean a bit forward, so I ended up pulling the bars back another 2" to give my arms a little more bend. Now they're perfect for those long rides. They also have a pretty horizontal grip position, which I really like.


My Softail on the other hand has 14" Wild One Chubby's with more of an angled pullback, which is perfect for my around-town / bar hopping needs. I got lucky I guess when it came to buying bars for my 2 bikes,.......but I think following these guidelines for choosing Ape Hangers is a really good choice.


Here's a couple pics of my 10" bars just after I installed 'em. Sorry I don't have any better pics yet, it's been cloudy & rainy since the install.





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Here's a BEFORE picture to show the difference. It might not be a whole lot in comparison...but it definitely made a huge difference it my ability to ride further with less lower back pain. It also has a wider grip, which it nice too.

 

Great write up I just ordered a set of 10 3/4" KST mayhem Bagger Bars and I have spent a lot of time while riding figuring out what the right height would be for me I am 5'6" with short arms so I am looking for the right height to be comfortable on the long rides and what you wrote makes a lot of sense.

 

I'm glad for the positive comments. Thanks.

After sleeping on it and re-reading my post I want to add an important point. Make sure your happy with your seat before you think about buying bars. This is something often overlooked, but changing seat height and position can (obviously) change your fit. I think this is overlooked because bar size is often determined by how the bars look instead of how they fit. So if a new seat is on your agenda, do that first!

Remember that opinions from other riders on what bars are "best" is very subjective. One rider may have a bad back, another a bad rotator cuff, another may be healthy as a horse, and then consider that all three may have different seats lol.

One more point..
I'm 6'2" and 12" wild ones happen to fit me like a glove...that's great. My good friend is also 6'2", but he is built like an orangutan. 14" wild ones (which are actually 4" taller than the 12"....go figure that one out) couldn't fit him better. He gets the occasional comment about how big his bars are, but you couldn't get him to change those things for anything. The funny thing is that although the bars look huge when the bike is parked, they look just right when his *** is planted on it. His fists are just below the ball joints of his shoulders just like mine are on my bike. We are both 6'2", both ride street glides, and both have the same seats. But he is built like an ape and needs his bars 4" higher than I do.

 

Great write up. A lot of good information in it.