When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
I rode the past 12 years on my '98 Heritage Softail Springer FLSTS and hated to part ways - but I needed some more comfort for distance riding. So I buy a 2011 EG Ultra FLHTCU and love it. However, the handlebars are killing me in short order. After only 30 minutes, I find the outside palms on my hands killing me. I tend to ride very upright, I'm, 6 foot tall and the bars feel like they are the right distance - but all pressure is on the outside palm area. I end up grabbing the grips with my palms off the ends to relieve the pain.
My old bars had much more bend at the wrist - more like the thumbs point forward down the road rather than at each other. They nars also turned down just a bit. The resultant angle and positioning was somewhat akin (apologies to all offended) to where they would be if you were - ahem - behind your girl friend doing your daily aerobic exercise and gripped each side of her hips for "encouragement".
I have tried to identify the old bar part number, but the OEM parts manuals show two sets of bars but never give the part number of the one with the greater sweep angles.
Can anyone think who would have old-school bars like I had or think that getting a set of bars off a 98 FLSTS would even work on my EG? I'm getting to the point where I want to put a conduit bender on the damn thing and bend the bars where I want them.
Thoughts? (besides the visual I created describing the hand position above). I put a picture that compares the new bars (top) to my old bars.
Not a height issue so much as the angle for my wrists. What irks me, is dropping $23k at HD dealer and - even thought I asked - they never did a "fitment" assessment. I told them I wanted bars like I had (traded in the bike to them) and they told me "I don't think you can get bars like that on the EG". So much for that extra customer care....
I came from riding 10 years on a Heritage Springer as well, but switched for the same reason-I am planning on doing more touring and I am just getting too old to do it comfortably on the old Springer (still the best looking bike ever made by the MoCo IMHO). I went with the Harley Pullback bars and tipped them down a little bit. Not exactly the same as the springer bars, but I'm comfy now. Springer bars will not fit on the E-glide as the center portion is not wide enough.
7 Surprising Harley-Davidson Products that Are Not Motorcycles
Slideshow: The bar-and-shield logo shows up on far more than motorcycles, some of the company's most unexpected products have nothing to do with riding.
Slideshow: From the troubled AMF years to modern misfires, these bikes earned reputations for reliability issues, questionable engineering, or disappointing performance.
Crazy Bunderbike Build Looks Amazing, But Is It Impossible to Ride?
Slideshow: The Swiss custom shop has taken a Harley Softail and stretched it into something so long and low that it looks closer to a rolling sculpture than a conventional motorcycle.
Engraved Rebellion: Inside Bundnerbike's Glam Rock II
Slideshow: A standard cruiser becomes an intricate metal canvas in the hands of a Swiss custom house known for pushing Harley-Davidson platforms far beyond their factory brief.
Slideshow: Harley-Davidson's challenges aren't abstract; they show up in dropping shipments, shrinking dealer traffic, and strategic decisions that aren't yet translating into growth.