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HCC 16” Narrow Apes & 1” Riser install. My experience.
Bottom line up front, I chose not to try to return these products and chose to modify them myself. I emailed all this info to HCC in hopes that they will revise their products or their descriptions. I’m posting this here in order to help/inform any touring bike owners who may be considering purchasing these products.
I ordered at set of HCC 16” Narrow Apes and their 1” riser. I needed the riser because the narrow apes are 1-1/4” but have a 1” clamping area and the stock riser on my 17 Road Glide Special is for 1-1/4”. The black powder coating on the bars was terrible and had numerous blemishes and scratches. They were not damaged during shipping based on the packing job and the condition of the box. They left HCC looking like this. I chose to contact them, tell them about the issues, and have them re-powder coated by my local guy. Here’s some pics of the finish on these bars.
Here is the email I sent to HCC (Hill Country Customs):
Hello. I purchased one of your 1” risers to mount on my 2017 Road Glide and it would not work without modification. The plug on the back of the center gauge cluster was contacting the top clamp of the riser and would not seat no matter what I tried. I ended up having to mill out a portion of it, like the stock one has for this exact reason. You can see what I had to do in the picture below in order to make it work with my bike. This will be applicable to all Road Glides that have this type of gauge cluster and you guys should probably take that into consideration when you’re machining these pieces or marketing them.
Also, the 16” narrow apes I purchased from you were advertised as working with all non-bat wing bikes and would work with throttle by wire and hydraulic clutches. The bracket for the brake master cylinder and the clutch reservoir have an index pin on the backside that is supposed to go into a hole on the handlebar when mounted. You can see the picture below of a set of Yaffe bars to see the hole I’m talking about. The bars I bought from you have no such holes. I had to grind off those pins in order to make my controls work with your bars. Again, this was a 2017 Road Glide Special. You guys should either revise the design of your bars to add these holes, or add a note to the description on your website that says these bars are not compatible with model year bikes that have these hydraulic clutch and brake brackets. Other bars I’ve installed and seen have these holes pre-drilled for this reason.
Also, the stock riser had a drilled and tapped hole in it for the screw that attaches a grounding wire. Your riser does not have this. So again, I had to come up with some way to overcome the design deficiency of your product. See below picture.
I had to do some extensive modifications in order to make your products work/fit and I’m not really happy about it. You guys should do a better job of making sure your products actually fit/work on the bikes you say they will. If you have questions, give me a call. (Phone number)
My name
The modification I had to do to your bracket to make it work with the stock Road Glide gauge cluster.
Before
After
Yaffe bars. Notice the hole where it’s supposed to be.
Your bars. Notice the absence of the hole.
The modification I had to do to the brackets to make them fit these bars.
And here’s what I had to do with the ground wire since there was no hole for the screw in your riser.
Last edited by SWThomas; Apr 16, 2019 at 06:49 PM.
Hate to see this. I have ordered several complete bar kits for past bikes and had a great experiences. Nice work with your detailed post and pics. Hope it all worked out for you.
Hate to see this. I have ordered several complete bar kits for past bikes and had a great experiences. Nice work with your detailed post and pics. Hope it all worked out for you.
I got it worked out today. Wasn’t satisfied with the HCC Narrow Apes. They just felt cheap and I didn’t like the down sweep and pull back of the handles. Installed a set of KST Straight Jacket bars and I’m very happy with them.
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HCC 16” Narrow Apes & 1” Riser install. My experience.
