I have a 2010 Road King Classic and switched the original handlebars because of back problems it was causing me to a Heritage Style handlebars 56902-08 , the problem is that i now have tennis elbow on both arms and can hardly keep the bike straight. I'm 5'8" and not as good a shape as i use to be and was hoping to find a better handle bar out there. Has anyone ever had this problem and what did you do to re-solve it?

Thanks,

Gates

 

Man, about the only thing I can suggest is give those elbows a rest, and get the braces to wear for a while. I have that issue occasionally, and that is the only way to feel better. It was so painful, I could hardly lift my pistol into a firing position.

I'm not sure any handle bar is going to solve your problem. Only rest and restricted movement (hence the brace).

 

I ride with heritage Style bars on my Road Glide, but I have them pulled back as far as possible until they almost touch the dash at full turn, for me this really helped the comfort factor with them. Im also 6'3 so with them pulled back my elbows to hands are level with me sitting up straight.

Classic Tennis Elbow is caused by over use of the Triceps,which then causes a mis alinement of the elbow and inflamation in the joint. Got its name from tennis players developing it because of a lot of back hand swings.

Seems hard for me to understand how your handlebar position caused over use of the triceps ?

If you have not been to a MD or PT yet , the most common treatment is to start some light exercise to develop the bicepts to balance the pull on the elbow.

Anyway I feel for you , its painful and worst yet you cant even go out an ride to forget about it from what you have said.

If you cant get the bars adjusted to help , Id look at set of Apes , they seem to be the most comfortable for most riders. Not for me though I like a lower bar , if they would fit me Id be using a bar like the Wild One 504 on my Glide but they dont have enough pull back for the Touring Bikes IMO and when they do like the 518 they get a little wheelbarrow "like" for my tastes.

 

In '09 HD changed the shape of the Heritage bars. The new bend not only looks better but feels better according to a couple of buds that installed the newer bend. Plus you don't need any new cables for the update - the old cables will work with some minor re-routing.

 

Thanks for the reply guys, Xaran, I had them up higher and just came back from a 5000km trip in one week, not sure if this was the cause of the problem but since then it's been very painfull. I since pulled them down like you suggested but the healing has not taken place yet of course. I"m hoping that it will get better fast as I ride as much as I can especially with winter around the corner. But i do appreciate the input.

Thanks,


gates

 

Good Luck with it. Its tough sometimes to get them dialed in and even harder not to be able to ride

 

I too added the Heritage bars & have since went back to the Road King stock bars. Come Fall I think I'm going to the 12.5" or the 14" Wild 1's Chubby Apes. I wish I had bought the Softail Heritage bars & modded them for the TBW but I didn't I bought the same bars as you & they killed my wrist. Apes here I come!