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I’m about to change the handlebars on my 2018 RGU and my question is do I need to unpin the plugs on the internal wiring to remove/replace wires inside the handlebars. Thanks in advance for your replies.
When you take the switch pack off the bar, you'll see in the back on the inside, are white connectors. These are smaller than the connectors at the bottom and inside the fairing. Unplug the white connectors and run them through the new bars. Easy and no de-pinning needed.
I have installed Five sets of bars now on 2016 and newer up to 2022 CVO and have not had to de-pin them. These include 10 inch, 12 inch, 14 and 16 inch.
Personally I think the de-pinning would be more work.
I just installed 16 inch LA Chopper Threshers and used Namz wires instead of stock so I did not have to add extensions.
Just take your time and remember it is a push and pull action to work them through.
Thanks guys. I talked with the service manager at the local dealer today and was told that they needed to be de-pinned. I have seen a few videos on swapping bars and there was no mention of de-pinning. I feel much more confident when I go to change them. For what it’s worth, I’m going to change to 12 inch KST Straight Jacket bars. Once again, I thank all of you for the info.
Thanks guys. I talked with the service manager at the local dealer today and was told that they needed to be de-pinned. I have seen a few videos on swapping bars and there was no mention of de-pinning. I feel much more confident when I go to change them. For what it’s worth, I’m going to change to 12 inch KST Straight Jacket bars. Once again, I thank all of you for the info.
I have the KST 12 inch straight jacket bars also. Great choice.
Thanks guys. I talked with the service manager at the local dealer today and was told that they needed to be de-pinned. I have seen a few videos on swapping bars and there was no mention of de-pinning. I feel much more confident when I go to change them. For what it’s worth, I’m going to change to 12 inch KST Straight Jacket bars. Once again, I thank all of you for the info.
The service manager told you that....?? He apparently hasn't changed bars in awhile. It was the pre-canbus bikes that needed de-pinning and re-pinning to run the wires. Unless something changed with the M8 bikes, I just don't see de-pining and then re-pinning the wires as necessary on canbus bikes.
Been awhile, but IIRC;
The pre-canbus bikes had wires attached to the switchpaks. So you had to de-pin the wire harness side of the wires, run the wires from the grips to the frame, and then re-pin them to connect to the frame wire harness.
On the post-canbus bikes, the wires are connected to the switchpaks with very small connectors. So you can just run those wires w/connectors from the frame up to the grips. Then just plug them into the switchpak.
I changed bars on my pre-canbus 2012 Limited. It was a pain in the butt.
I also changed bars on my post-canbus 2016 Ultra Classic. It was a piece of cake...
Last edited by hattitude; Sep 1, 2023 at 10:01 PM.
I’ve installed the stock bars, H-D Tallboys, LA Choppers, and Khrome Werks bars on my 21 UL and the only time I’ve had to de-pin the connectors was for the Khrome Werks. The holes on each side for the controls wires are physically too small to push the connectors through. (Just the controls, the throttle and heated grip wires went in fine without de-pinning)
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Handlebar question
