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Was out for a couple hundred miles today, hit a dip in the road and my bars pulled back towards me a couple inches. Scared the crap out of me. I went to push them back and they don`t want to go, didn`t want to force it. When I bought the Road King it already had 14 inch apes that the previous owner had put on. Is there any easy way to get at the clamp to adjust the bar angle or do I have to take off the whole headlight housing.
Same thing happened on my SG a little bit after getting 13s put on. Definitely wasn't expecting it. It'll wake u up quick! Tightened them down and haven't had issues since.
I'm not familiar with the RK so can't give any advice about getting the nacelle off, but you should play the lottery tonight cause that could have ended very badly. Hopefully the bolts just weren't torqued correctly, but it could be other things. Find out what kind of bars they are and make sure you have the proper top clamp for aftermarket bars. The wrong clamp can easily allow the bars to slip even if it is torqued down correctly.
Take a razor knife and carefully pry up the plastic cover plate on the clamp cover. This will give you access to the 2 T45 (I think) bolts. Loosen them a little, move the bars and re-tighten. No need to open the nacelle. Older Road Kings don't have this access plate. There are 4 bolts in all, you only need access to the rear 2. Easy job.
So I watched a YouTube video, have to remove the cover over the bar clamp, which requires going in to the headlight bucket. Was pretty easy, the bolt for the front of the clamp cover is a pain to put back on because the nut is far back in the headlight bucket. Anyway, got it done. One of the handlebar clamp bolts was barely finger tight! Other three weren't bad but I tightened all four down real good. The long piece of trim which covers the split in the top of the headlight bucket was also loose, so it was good to get in there and tighten things up. I also discovered there is a grease nipple in there, so did that too. Thankfully the bars didn't go fully slack, just dropped down a couple of inches when I hit that bump. Still was an experience I hope doesn't occur again. I spoke to the mechanic I deal with at my dealership, he said it can happen with taller bars. So people with apes, check your clamps once in a while.
On my 01 RK I had to get into the bucket the first time but I left the rear nut off the piece that cover the top split in the bucket. So now I just pop off the steering lock cover and take those screws out and and am able to remove the covers and adjust the bars.
Had that same thing happen on my 2015 SG with 13 inch apes about a week after I bought it. It was brand new and had a bunch of stuff already on it. I went over some RR tracks and they went down a tad. Went over another set of tracks about 10 min. later they went down almost to the tank...rode right to the dealer and bitched....then rode home and changed my skivvies.
Yep, the entire headlamp assembly has to be removed.
Then use a flat knife to remove the ignition lock cover.
Then the chrome strip "gap cover" also has to be removed (two pal nuts) have to be removed (they're very delicate so use a small 1/4" drive ratchet and socket, the remove the handlebar clamp cover.
Hold the handlebars and loosen the lockdown bolts until the handlebars are released, set the bars to the preferred location, then tighten the lockdown bolts.
If the handlebars still remain loose a new clamp may be needed.
So I watched a YouTube video, have to remove the cover over the bar clamp, which requires going in to the headlight bucket. Was pretty easy, the bolt for the front of the clamp cover is a pain to put back on because the nut is far back in the headlight bucket. Anyway, got it done. One of the handlebar clamp bolts was barely finger tight! Other three weren't bad but I tightened all four down real good. The long piece of trim which covers the split in the top of the headlight bucket was also loose, so it was good to get in there and tighten things up. I also discovered there is a grease nipple in there, so did that too. Thankfully the bars didn't go fully slack, just dropped down a couple of inches when I hit that bump. Still was an experience I hope doesn't occur again. I spoke to the mechanic I deal with at my dealership, he said it can happen with taller bars. So people with apes, check your clamps once in a while.
Have a look at this friend:
Under number 12, which is the plastic piece I told you to pry up with a razor knife are two of the four handlebar clamp bolts. If you indeed have a stock 2012 RKC you did way more work than you needed to loosen the bars, re-position them and then tighten them back up. The extra labor on your part isn't anything to me, but for some guy who comes along later with the same trouble and finds this thread he's gonna think he has to take apart the headlight nacelle to do something that takes 30 seconds, tops.
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handlebars pulled back when I hit a bump
