How difficult is it to change out the handlebars, run wire through the bars, and change out all the hand controls on a Harley with a fairing? Service manual says you have to remove radio. Is it as involved as the manual makes it out to be? What about a bike with the throttle by wire? Is there less involved with TBW or more? thanks for any advice

 

With the service manual and some patience you can do it but it can be a tedious process. Particularly dissecting and reconnecting the pins for the hand controls. Make good notes on the wire colors and locations before you disassemble the pins. The service manual gives the steps to remove the pins and the SPECIAL TOOL can be replaced with the proper sized paperclip and some patience. There are some good U Tube vids on getting the wiring thru the bars. I don't have the links but I'm sure someone will post some so you can get an idea how much work it is.

 

Its a PITA but it can be done, I just did mine two weekends ago. I am no mechanic but as others will tell you if you take your time and have some patience you can do it. I had trouble running the wires on the throttle side and paid the dealer to do it but otherwise I did the rest of the work. I did not remove the radio. I took a couple extra screw out and leaned the fairing forward and was able to change them without issue.

 

i did mine last winter, removed everything off the front to get access, take lots of detailed pictures even what you think won't matter..... till you go to put it all back together, everything has its place behind the fairing, requires lots of tie raps.......its a pita but all very doable

 

I am getting ready to apes on my 2013 street glide alot help and advice from other forum members here.
https://www.hdforums.com/forum/touri...ject-pics.html
http://www.kenandjudy.us/Harley%20Pi...Bars/index.htm

 

The more I read and heard about what a PIA it was chose to let the "man" do mine even though I've changed my own bars in the past.
Even the indy who does some work for me wasn't anxious to take the job.

I'm going with WO 577's on a 2013 CVO S/E Ultra and that involves even more wiring work and also braided steel brake and clutch lines.

 

I just came from my dealer who is installing 10" Yaffe MBB on my 2012 SG. He was NOT enjoying it. Cussing himself and the wires. Can't imagine I'd still be breathing if I tackled this. Yaffe wasn't thinking about how hard of a process it is to wire them.

 

I like the was BR shows how to use a chain to get the wire through the difficult bends..

 

On a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the most difficult, i would rate the job at about a 5 or 6. It's not really a difficult job, just time consuming and frustrating. Doing the internal wiring, especially on tall apes, can be VERY frustrating. Just changing the clutch cable is a job because the exhaust usually has to come off.

I installed some Yaffe apes on my Street Glide last year, with internal wiring and new stainless cables. It took me a full weekend to get it done. This was the first time I've done a bar swap on a bagger but I had done a couple of non-bagger bar swaps before this. Point is, this wasn't my first rodeo, but it still took me the better part of two days to get it done. I'm not at all surprised when i see guys getting quoted $500-700 labor for one of these jobs.

If you decide to tackle this job yourself, then send me your email address and i'll send you a file with a lot of good info and tips on how to do it.

 

From everything I have read and continue to read no two installs go the same. Everyone has different techniques to wire the bars. Some guys have no problem wiring the Yaffe bars some do. I was fine doing half of mine and probably could have done the rest with a little more patience which I did not have. Same as Mr HOG mentioned it took me a whole weekend taking my time to get it done.