I guarantee it took me all of 8 hours to install my apes with internal wiring. Even tho I did most of the work myself, it was still over a thousand bucks.

 

a friend of mine did my bars for a case of beer ran wires inside, steel braid cables, extended wiring it took him a day (6 - 8hrs) and then we drank the beer. its good to know people.

 

On a bike with a fairing?

 

Took that long on my UC.

 

Be sure to post pics of those Monkey bars when installed.

 

It may take some 8 hrs. I cant see a dealer tech taking that long but the skinny is...thats what they are asking. either pay it or not. I think that is HD's way of saying "buy a service manuel (45), some shop towels (8), a mighty evac pump (30), a cheapo soldering iron (6), a six pack (4), find a good radio station, send the old lady to her sisters (= to 8 hrs labor at dealer) and enjoy yourself.
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total cost...bars (200+/-), cables (350+/-), above mentioned (98)
I say do it your self. there is nothing more rewarding than working on your own rig. there is nothing more embarassing than not knowing what to do when the dealer forgets to tighten something up some monkey nuts at a bar has to help you out because he put his own bars on.

 

Me and some friends did mine, with my buddy doin most o fthe work as we drank beer....a lot of beer. It took 9 hours, and that was with gettin beer, and a couple of tools. Its a pain in the butt on a bike with a fairing, maybe a lil easier on one without. I firmly beleive the reason the dealership charges that much is because its a lot of work. I ended up givin my friend who did most of the work like 200 bucks, cuz i wasted his sunday, but he was smiling. Just not sure if it was the money or the beer.

 

i put wild1 baby apes on my 08 road king and heres a few tips...get the extension kit made for your bike, they are about 40 bucks. theres a company out of king of prussia pa i got them from. they have all the wires and colors with ends on them and the just snap together with your old wires, solder them and heat shrink. get longer sizes so u can stagger the splices or its a hell of a time to get them through your bars. put all the wires in plastic tubing before your put them through the bars and spray the outside with silicon spray, makes them feed through real easy. after doing the job once, i could probably do it in about 4 hours now. but if u run into problems, i can see it taking a little longer but not 8 hours.

 

FIRST TIMER: fairing bike add 3 hours and 2nd timer cut by an hour or more to RK time.

 

Ran into the same situation a few years back wheile getting the wifes Bars and cables changed.. Here is how it was explained to me..


Job was Bars, Riser and cables...

Estimator looks at a book of times for EACH operation if it had been done SEPERATLY, So if the tank has to be pulled for it, you can get charged twice to pull the tank...


Throttle Cable change 1 hour hours EACH
Bars 2 hours
Riser 1 hour

Here is the problem...The Cables requiered the tank to be lifted to run the cables...so I got charged twice to lift the tank, Riser requieres removal of Bars, so when the bars are changed, that gives the same double charge for removing the bars.

Here is the rub...I was quated 4 hours..it took an actual time of under 2 hours of the tech's time, and I got charged the full 4 hours. Labor was more expensive then the new parts..thats ridiculous.

I have found that most mechanics use this same system. the times are an industry standard which was developed to "Protect the consumer" and make estimates more reliable, and accurate. However, when you add several jobs, that are done concurrently, you end up charging for the same step duplicate times. It is now an industry wide norm, to foollow this procedure. Alot of Indy shops do a much better job for the consumer than the dealers, be it Bike or car.

I watched a good friend performn the same work on another bike last year. he is NOT a trained HD mechanic, but he is good withtools, and knows his way around most bike repairs as he does them as a side job, Changing the bars and cables on a similar softail, took him a grand total of 1 1/2 hours and he charged the guy accordingly (Actual hours worked)

he convinced me to start doing my own work on my bikes, and when I run into something that I am not sure about, he is always willing to advise, or gie me a hand to teach me the right way to do things.

Quoted times can be a money maker for the dealer, if you really look at things, they are charging the customer for more than double the hours that the mechanic actually gets paid to work in a busy shop.


Moral of the story...Get a manual, and do it yourself...you will have much more satisfaction, and you will KNOW it was done right.