I just changed grips on my 02 and I did notice that when I removed the left side grip, it was being held on by the switch housing. Now I'm not sure if all HD grips have the ridge to go into the switch housing, but the Kuryakyn grips that I bought, did not. The left grip went on very tight, and there is a possibility that I wouldn't have had to glue it...but as was mentioned earlier...I'm thinkin that havin a grip come off goin down the road would be a bad thing. Error on the side of caution is my motto...on occasion.

Oh ya, two more things...one, I DID have to scrub glue off the bars (maybe the earlier models were different)..and contrary to what it says in the lower right corner, this was in response to the original thread starter. lol

 

Didn't have any glue on mine so I didn't go back with any when I swapped bars. On my request, Harley changed my grips out when I bought my '04 (large hands -- wanted fatter grips) and if they don't think it needed glue that's good enough for me. Who knows I may want to change them out again sometime or different bars yet again (doubt it though).

 

Ok... Not being a certified HD mechanic... and based on these posts.... I went out and twisted, pulled, yanked, etc on the left grip, which as explained earlier, I had replaced a couple of years ago, and it's solid as a rock. I do understand what a s**tstorm it would be if it came loose (have had dirt bikes do that, and it's a pants-loader), but I don't see how it could happen with the standard setup.

There was no glue taking off the stock, and no glue on the reinstall. On dirt bikes, I'd just Exacto off the old grips when they were glued on, but this half-metal thing would be a bit*ch to cut off that way... Would take a Dremel tool to get 'em off if they were glued.

Have no idea what a change in bars might mean (what a hassle on a bagger), but maybe that's what the controversy is? Different diameters? Still confused.

 

Neckball changed his handlebars and thus had to transfer his grips to the new bars. That's the common need for the question about to glue or not to glue grips -- at least among us RK owners. Still confused?

 

I'll quit being confused if the RK bars/switchgear are different than the EGC's... I didn't think that was one of the differences (but then, never really checked, so maybe that's it). Does the RK have the same switch gear? With the grips mounted to the switchgear? I did read someone say that the grips might not tuck into the gear like to stock ones do, in which case it would make sense to glue them down...

 

This was my first experience changing handlebars or grips. The bars I installed were the RK High bars. I tried to do my research before I started the project mainly by reading and searching this forum. Our very own "Do it yourself" section explains how to remove grips that are glued on and how to glue back on the new ones. Made sense to me that my grip would need to be glued on based on this info, see here-

https://www.hdforums.com/m_69241/tm.htm

My stock grip was very difficult to remove, gave me the impression it was glued on. Upon replacement, it will turn in your hand quite easily.

As I said above, maybe I stretched my old grip removing it, I'll try a new replacement and hope for the best.

Should the Do It Yourself post concerning grip replacement be updated?

 

Just changed mine grips with a nice pair of HD chrome and rubber fat grips. In the pkg was a tube of glue for the left grip only, the right grip fits under the housing.

Doug

06 Ultra Classic FF Edition

 

Here's the final update. Replaced the left grip today. Looks like the original got stretched as a result of my removing it from the original bars in an effort to re-use it. New grip was $6, fits nice and tight.

H-D does feel the grip needs glue. In my 2005 Touring service manual, step 1 for grip installation of the left hand grip it says, "Obtain new left hand grip and HARLEY-DAVIDSON ADHESIVE (Part No. 99839-95)". The caps are not mine, it's caps in the service manual.

As many times as we refer to the service manual (including myself) I'm surprised no one pointed this out.

Anyway, I had some of the glue left from when I tried to re-use the stretched grip. I used it to install the new grip. It feels the way it should now.

 

I just bought a pair of nostalgic grips for my '06 RK and the guy at the counter said I needed no glue. The instructions in the package call out glue as part of the "parts included in kit" but the package contained no glue. The parts guy said that the factory left grip is glued on and if I was going back with factory grips it would need to be glued on as well but with replacement grips no glue is required. The replacement grips seem much thicker and stiffer than the stock rubber grips too. The left one has a groove with tabs that fit under the housing and I can see how it might be difficult to spin once tightened down.

 

I had to chuckle with myself when I read these posts about grips. I replaced my stock ones on the SG with some aftermarket ones. My parts guy said "grip glue" is ok but super glue is better. I bought a three pack of glue and took the old ones off. I tried silicone glue first. Didn't work. So, since my guy said super glue was better, I squirted some in there. And stuck the new grip on. And gave her a good, firm twist and a shove. The super glue worked great! However, it took me about twenty minutes to unglue my hand from the new grip............................

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