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Drilling Handlebars

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Old Dec 30, 2009 | 10:26 PM
  #1  
TheShrink's Avatar
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Default Drilling Handlebars

Last year I put the Khromewerks 300505 +2 Sweepers on and I like them alot. I done it all right; upgraded to 1 piece bar clamp, poly bushings and +3 clutch cable. I also done the job myself saving alot of money. Now, since I can't ride anyway (cold & snowy in Chicago), I'm thinking about pulling the bars off and drilling them so I can run the wires inside them. I'm not having any problems other than idle time and looking for another project. I'm sure many of you have drilled your own bars but I would like to hear about the pros & cons of doing it yourself. Thanks!
 
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Old Dec 30, 2009 | 10:36 PM
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as long as you clean up the bur with a rat tail or dremel, there are no cons
 
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Old Dec 30, 2009 | 11:25 PM
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The wiring holes need to be elongated, not simply round holes.....They also need to be at least 1" long at each bar end, but about 1.5" long under the center between the risers.....

Absolute best way to drill the bars to get those elongated holes shaped properly is to first drill the end of each elongation, then cut the sides to connect the holes with a dremmel using little cutoff wheels......From there debur the holes with the dremmel using little cone shaped grinding stones.

On the bar ends, you need to properly locate the holes....Before you remove the lever clamps wrap a piece of masking tape around the bars where the inside (toward riser) of the lever clamp ends on the bar. Then mark the tape where the lever clamps meet on the bottom.......Once the bars are off, turn them upside down measure outwards from the edge of the tape the exact width of the clamps and again apply tape around the bar there.....Now you can layout the hole locations.

The idea is for that the wiring holes to end up centered under the switch housings and not the lever clamps.....The holes must also be "clocked" properly so that your levers can be installed without tilting either up or down.
 
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Old Dec 31, 2009 | 08:58 AM
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Thanks for the tips Oinker. I'm on the fence with this but since I'm going to pull the radio & guages anyway to get backlighting done, I thought I would do this too. Why can't I just leave well enough alone?
 
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Old Dec 31, 2009 | 09:00 AM
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Originally Posted by TheShrink
Why can't I just leave well enough alone?
It's a sickness
 
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Old Dec 31, 2009 | 09:01 AM
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You might as well do it. You have the time anyway. Get'r done. Post some pics of the project for others who are thinking about doing the same.
 
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Old Dec 31, 2009 | 09:13 AM
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Don't the new sweepers have the holes already for internal wiring?
Since they cost like 60-70 bucks it's an option to just buy the new bars...

lp
 
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Old Dec 31, 2009 | 09:24 AM
  #8  
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Originally Posted by lp
Don't the new sweepers have the holes already for internal wiring?
Since they cost like 60-70 bucks it's an option to just buy the new bars...

lp
They should already be dimpled underneath, so all he needs to do is establish proper position of holes in relation to bar ends.
 
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Old Dec 31, 2009 | 09:33 AM
  #9  
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It is 7:30 in ther morning her in Santa Cruz Ca and it is 50 deg.
 
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Old Dec 31, 2009 | 09:50 AM
  #10  
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I too am wanting to hide the wires. Makes perfect sense to me while your swapping bars. I have an 07 Ultra, can you retrofit the throttle and idle wires to hide them (i.e. TBW)?
 
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