I know this topic has been posted a million times, and I think I've read most of 'em! So I've been reluctant to post this, but here goes!

I really love the look and feel of beach bars, so I'm definitely going to get 'em on my '07 Road King Classic.

This weekend my local HD dealer had a 20% off sale, so I went and bought some Wild1 w0550 Beach Bars, diamond back braided cables, polyurethane riser for $550. Now I'm thinking that maybe I should have looked more at the Burly Bikini Beach Bars. Since they aren't as wide, maybe I won't have as much trouble with tight turns?

I haven't seen as many pictures of the Burly Bars, so if anyone has them, please post, I'd actually love to see more pics of either brand.

The other reason for the post is the price of the install. The dealer is telling me 8 hours @ $80 / hour. I've checked at a small independent place too, and the tech there told me 12 hours @ $75 / hour!! I feel like both are screwing me, so I think I may take a shot at doing it myself... any thoughts? Are those prices really right, or are they screwing me?

If anyone knows a good place to get work like this done in the LA area, please let me know.

Thanks in advance for any input or suggestions!

 

Brother, you need to talk to somebody else. I had my bars installed with all new braided cables, chrome switch caps and forget what else for less than a hundred bones.....

 

That's what I figured! Glendale Harley just gave me the same load of crap. I'm sure it'll take longer because of the internal wiring, but it seems like this is kind of crazy!

 

I did get a good deal from a friend that tinkers in his off time but I also wanted to mention that the factory bushings on my bike are rubber and should have been replaced with, forget the name but much more durable material. It will cost me another hundred to get that done.

 

I have White Brother's beach bars on mine. The WB bars are now Burly brand.

- I added about 12 inches of wire and ran my control cables thru the bars.

- You do not have to swap throttle cables....You can simply run them outside the nacelle and let them hang freely, instead of routing them thru the nacelle. The cables will actually last longer hanging freely since they are not in a sharp bend like the way they are behind the nacelle.

- You do not have to swap clutch cables. If you run the cable between the frame and front cylinder, instead of in front of the frame (the way it comes from the factory), you gain all the slack you need.

- With beach bars, you have to swap brake lines. With bikini's, you can get by with straightening the line at the mastercylinder and make it work.

- Poly riser bushings should be put in. I left the stock rubber ones in for years, but had to always straighten my bars because they would turn outta whack in the rubber. Finally, I put on some poly ones and solved that problem.

8-12 hours to swap bars? I'm in the wrong business. Even if they have to swap all of the cables and brake line, I think the job should be no more than about 6 hours.

 

Should not take more than four hours!

Run, run away, get the manual and do it yourself even if it takes 12 hours.

 

Thanks for all the advice. I really don't mind changing the cables, I really like the look of the braided cables, and I figured about $500 to do what I wanted. I wouldn't even mind spending another $200-300 to have it all installed, but the prices I'm getting are so far out there, there's no way!

Casique, I think you're right. I have the manual, and I guess I'm going to try to do it myself, even if it does take longer to do! I did my own exhaust too and saved a bunch of $$ on that too!

xxxflhci... are those the full beach bars that you have? Nice looking bike!

Strtarrow, what area are you in? Were the bushings polyurethane? That's what I've got based on the dealer's recommendation.

Thanks again for all the advice!

 

I have the WO 550's and love them. They are super comfortable. I had mine installed, (kept the original cables) had the bars wired internally and spent about $250 (that included the price of the bars). It took my indy less than 2 hours. He quoted me 2 hours labor when I am ready to do the cables. 12 hours is crazy.

 

Yes, they are.

 

I like these beach bars, but I'd go with internal wiring...

JR