I thought I had been imagining things for a while. The left side of my handlebars seemed to have a bit more movement or flex in them than the right side. I attributed it to my imagination. Yesterday while adding a coat of wax I turned the front wheel from left to right while the bike was on the sidestand and it felt like the left side of the bars rotated in the clamp a small amount. Wife had just called me in for dinner but that was going to have to wait.

I pulled the nacelle off and was surprised by what I saw. When I changed my bars in December of 2005, I ran the wiring inside the bars. On either side of the oval opening that I cut for the wires to exit between the clamps was a crack in the bars. On the left side it radiates upward from the rear of the opening and on the right side it radiates upward from the front of the opening. Both cracks run about 1/3 to 1/2 way around the bars. Thank goodness this happened on the inside of the clamp.

I followed the instructions in the "Do it yourself" section of this forum for cutting the bars to run the wiring internally. I spent a lot of time smoothing and making sure there was a nice radius on the oval opening where the wiring exits between the clamps, I was pretty paranoid about vibration rubbing a hole in the insulation. Looks like I was worried about the wrong problem. I also followed the service manual step by step for torquing the handlebar clamps. Manual didn't call for any Loctite so I didn't use any. I wonder if I should have? I think I will this time.

Last night I left the bike apart, I didn't try to diagnose the problem any further. One thing I'm wondering about is the torque on the clamps. I will check that before I proceed with the teardown any further.

Dealer has a new set of bars in stock, I'll pick those up at lunch today. But I'm wondering if I shoud run the wiring back inside again without really knowing what caused my problem? I know this modification has been done countless times to stock handlebars without any problem.

If I can figure out how, I'll post a few pics. I'm open to suggestions on this one.

 

At least it didn't happen outside the clamp, and on the road! I can imagine cruising down the highway, halfway through a curve, and the handlebar snaps. Your doing 75 with a bar dangling in your left mit, thinking, "Hmmm, this kinda sucks."

 

You jerry rigged a set of bars to save paying the big bucks for custom cut renforced bars made for inside wiring, this time you were lucky it didnt cost you your life. Some mods just are not safe, I would forget inside wiring unless I bought the right set of bars.

 

well said gunrunner, some projects should notbe shortcut to save a few $$$...glad it didn't turn outworse for you....ride safe

 

You probably are'nt the only one out there that has cracked bars from doing the internal wiring mod on the wrong set of bars.Be glad you found it.There is a lot of good info on this forum,but unfortunatley,like you found,some of the info is crap.

 

I installed Chubbys on my Street Glide about a week ago. There was a sticker on the bars that said to only use a one piece handlebar clamp (Street Glides come stock with a two piece clamp). I imagine this is to help prevent the same problem with their bars that are designed for internal wiring. Also the only HD clamp thatwillwork (according to the service dept.) is the "Live to Ride" clamp. It has deeper inset bolt holes. It still needs a littleworkto get the radio to fit.

 

The part number for the top clamp to fit in the fairings of the touring bikes is 55917-08. It is a pre-released 08 part number due to the HD handlebar recall. This clamp will fit under the radio for the Wild One Chubby's. I don't believe it is the live to ride logo as it goes inside the fairing.

 

Dawg,

My local dealership must be unaware of the 08 clamp, as they all (in chorus) steered me to the "Live to Ride" clamp as the only one that would work.

 

Being a Insurance Adjuster for Motorcycles Only - Seen that happen more then a few times on OEM & Aftermarket Bars... Just lucky you weren't @ Hwy Speeds....

 

I work at an HD shop in the parts dept. It's not uncommon for people in an HD shop to not keep up with the times I try to pride myself in giving the best service that I can so I try and keep up with all the changes