I have been on three 8 hour + rides in one day since putting on my apes. 110% better. I used to get that pain in my shoulder blades after a couple hours. Now I can easily ride out a few tanks of gas. It totally changes your riding position. It also help with the seat. Made it a little more comfortable. As for slow speeds, I actually feel more in control with the apes. It took a little getting used to at first, but after about 20 min it felt pretty natural.

 

Thanks for the replies. That information helped out a lot. One day we rode for about 14 hrs and I was about dead at the end of the day. Riding like a hunch-back sucked.

 

That's the reason I installed mine. The stock bars make you lean forward. This causes the tension and pain between the shoulder blades. It can be intense. Apes allow you to sit up straight and alleviate posture related pain. I frequently ride for weeks at a time traveling. Apes or HD pull back touring bars will help

 

I agree with you guys; apes give you far better riding posture. The first mod to all my previous bikes and my SG has been to install apes. I've done an Iron Butt and numerous 600-800 mile days on the SG and I could not have done it without apes. I took the experienced riders course on my old FLSTC which had 16" apes and passed with no problems. Slow speed handling with apes is great; you just need to get used to how the bike feels. My wife has 10" mini apes on her Deluxe and says it feels like she has power steering!

 

Definite improvement on long rides. With a rider's backrest and highway pegs you can almost go to sleep. JK. That pain right between the shoulder blades was one of the reasons I got them. Don't have it anymore.

 

Apes are one of the best mods I've done. Had 'em on my softail so I knew I loved them...hated the riding position on the stock SG so bad I HAD to get them. I love my 12.5 Wild1 bagger apes. I would've rather gotten the 14s but my mounted H-D radar detector is in the way.