I have some new bars to put on my bike and I am afraid to tackle that ignition switch on FLHTC. How tough of a job is this? Work has been slow and my hours have been cut so money is tight. I would like to do the job myself, but don't want to get into something I can't get myself out of. If there is anyone in the southern NJ area that has done this and is willing to lend a hand let me know. Or should I bite the bullet and pay a professional.

 

Not bad at all. What year is the bike?

 

Hrlyrider,
First question would be do you have the service manual? I changed my bars on my 06 roadking this winter and had no problems at all. Everything you need to do is listed in the manual. Second question would be what type of bars are you planning on putting on? If you are going for something much different from original you are going to have to get new cables all around and extend the wire harness. I changed my bars from original to Klock Werks Mentele bars. I did not need to change cables or the wire harness and was able to run the wires inside the bars.

If you take your time with a service manual I am sure you can get it done.

 

it is 08 I have changed many bars before, but never had to mess with the batwing and the ignition switch. I hear people's horror stories about alining it back up and no I don't have a tool to do it. Just changed bars on a friend's 08 road king classic piece of cake. The only cable I have to change is clutch. Changed them on my Deuce with internal wiring, but that was simple. Have manual but who reads that LOL. Men don't read instructions.

 

You have to unattach the throttle sensor at the green clip inside the bar also. You will also need to remove the radio to get to the top bolts on the top clamp. It's really not that hard, just tedious. A service manual is a must. Somewhere here on the forum I have an attachment of the ignition removal section of the manual.

 

IF you are going to spend the money......spend it on a service manual. I just changed the bars on my 08 Ultra. Didn't take much over an hour for the bars. Now the clutch cable is another story all together.

 

I just changed my bars on my 08 SG. After removing the outer fairing and radio I removed the two front directionals. Pull out on the fairing brackets one side at a time and the inner fairing tilted forward enough to get at all four screws without removing the ignition switch. I didn't want to be one of the horror stories either. Hardest part was getting myself to cut all the throttle sensor wires.
make diagrams of all wire color locations, take your time, and have a service manual close by. It's not real hard.

 

thanks for the replies, not sure why you had to cut all the throttle sensor wires. I am not wiring internally.

 

I just reinstalled my switch with no problems. I was concerned about all of the stories I heard. Just follow the manual and reinstall it the way you removed it.

 

I've removed and reinstalled my ignition switch a couple of times. Not difficult if you read the manual and follow the instructions. I'm in the middle of swapping out my stock bars for Wild One 575s. Really enjoying the project. Of course this time of year I have all the time I'm ever going to need. +4" clutch cable is supposed to be in this week so I can tackle that part of the project then all I haveto do is put her back together.