Road King High Handlebar
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Joined: Jul 2005
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From: Sioux Falls, SD
Road King High Handlebar
Has anyone changed their stock RK Classic handlebars to the slightly taller, slightly narrower RK High bars? I am looking for something a little taller. I like the handlebars on the Softail Heritage. Are the RK High's about the same? Lastly, does one have to change any cables with the RK high's?
Tourer
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 445
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From: East Tennessee
RE: Road King High Handlebar
I've had both bars on my RKC. You don't have to change anything out for either the RK highbars or the Heritage. As far as which one is best my take is although the Heritage bars felt good my bike didn't handle as well as it does now with the RK Highbars. It just felt a little awkard in tight turns -- not so with the Highbars (I live in East TN and we have our fair share of curves in the road.)
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Joined: Jul 2005
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From: Sioux Falls, SD
RE: Road King High Handlebar
In your picture, it looks like you are running the Bassani power curve header pipes. Are you running Bassani pipes too? How do you rate them in terms of sound (deep, loud, etc...) vs. others you have tried. I am considering changing out my V&H Basics for something louder.
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Joined: May 2005
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RE: Road King High Handlebar
You can usually get by with about 2 inches of rise or pullback before running into cable problems that require longer cables.
ORIGINAL: Westy
Has anyone changed their stock RK Classic handlebars to the slightly taller, slightly narrower RK High bars? I am looking for something a little taller. I like the handlebars on the Softail Heritage. Are the RK High's about the same? Lastly, does one have to change any cables with the RK high's?
Has anyone changed their stock RK Classic handlebars to the slightly taller, slightly narrower RK High bars? I am looking for something a little taller. I like the handlebars on the Softail Heritage. Are the RK High's about the same? Lastly, does one have to change any cables with the RK high's?
Tourer
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 445
Likes: 1
From: East Tennessee
RE: Road King High Handlebar
I'm running V&H ovals with the Bassani. I already had them before I went with true duals and I didn't feel like spending anymore dough. I do like the sound and the looks of the ovals a lot. I rate the ovals as good or better than the SE's I had for a while. There's no comparision in the looks department -- the ovals win hands down.
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Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 76
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From: Ocean Springs, MS
RE: Road King High Handlebar
ORIGINAL: DragonNester
I've had both bars on my RKC. You don't have to change anything out for either the RK highbars or the Heritage. As far as which one is best my take is although the Heritage bars felt good my bike didn't handle as well as it does now with the RK Highbars. It just felt a little awkard in tight turns -- not so with the Highbars (I live in East TN and we have our fair share of curves in the road.)
I've had both bars on my RKC. You don't have to change anything out for either the RK highbars or the Heritage. As far as which one is best my take is although the Heritage bars felt good my bike didn't handle as well as it does now with the RK Highbars. It just felt a little awkard in tight turns -- not so with the Highbars (I live in East TN and we have our fair share of curves in the road.)
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Tourer
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 445
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From: East Tennessee
RE: Road King High Handlebar
NMAC; They are styled differently. On the bike they don't look much alike either. Rather than go into the spec. differences (which you can get from Harley-Davidson.com), let me say gathering the specs. won't tell you how they feel for you. Example: The RK Highbars have more reduced reach (closer to you) than the Heritage bars but you can rotate the Heritage bars to beyond the normal set point and they can be closer than the RK Highbars. The wrist positioning is different on each. And so on. Not even sitting on bikes with both bars installed will give you all you need to make a good decision. To really tell you'd have to ride each for a 2-4 hour rode trip, which never happens.
At this point, I honestly believe Heritage bars belong on Heritage Softtails and RK Highbars belong on RK's. I believe the engineers at H-D spent time and effort to give the best handlebar options they could for touring bikes. The Heritage Softail is not classified as a touring bike, the RK is.
Not trying to confuse or frustrate you just trying to give you my personal experience with both bars.
At this point, I honestly believe Heritage bars belong on Heritage Softtails and RK Highbars belong on RK's. I believe the engineers at H-D spent time and effort to give the best handlebar options they could for touring bikes. The Heritage Softail is not classified as a touring bike, the RK is.
Not trying to confuse or frustrate you just trying to give you my personal experience with both bars.
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Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 3,108
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From: Lincolnton, NC
RE: Road King High Handlebar
NMAC; They are styled differently. On the bike they don't look much alike either. Rather than go into the spec. differences (which you can get from Harley-Davidson.com), let me say gathering the specs. won't tell you how they feel for you. Example: The RK Highbars have more reduced reach (closer to you) than the Heritage bars but you can rotate the Heritage bars to beyond the normal set point and they can be closer than the RK Highbars. The wrist positioning is different on each. And so on. Not even sitting on bikes with both bars installed will give you all you need to make a good decision. To really tell you'd have to ride each for a 2-4 hour rode trip, which never happens.
At this point, I honestly believe Heritage bars belong on Heritage Softtails and RK Highbars belong on RK's. I believe the engineers at H-D spent time and effort to give the best handlebar options they could for touring bikes. The Heritage Softail is not classified as a touring bike, the RK is.
Not trying to confuse or frustrate you just trying to give you my personal experience with both bars.
At this point, I honestly believe Heritage bars belong on Heritage Softtails and RK Highbars belong on RK's. I believe the engineers at H-D spent time and effort to give the best handlebar options they could for touring bikes. The Heritage Softail is not classified as a touring bike, the RK is.
Not trying to confuse or frustrate you just trying to give you my personal experience with both bars.
The throttle / clutch cables are plenty long enough. I ran the wiring inside the bars and it turned out nicely. You'll have to get out your Dremel to cut the holes in the bars for this but it's not difficult, it just takes a little time if you're being careful. The wiring connectors in the nacelle end up getting moved towards the bars a few inches but there's enough slack in the wiring.
For a picture of the High Bars on a RK Classic, go to the 2006 P&A catalog. At the beginning of the Touring section where they have the pictures of the different models with a bunch of accessories added and listed, there's a Classic with the High Bars on it.