Handlebar dilemma!

[Mr.Bones]

Hey guys,

Hoping someone can help me with my handle bar predicament...

I'm 5'10 & 190lbs so an average size person looking to maintain comfort while I ride but would like to dress the bike up a bit. Looking to get some narrow ape hangers for my 1998 Sportster XL 1200 Custom (its a work in prgoress). I'm told by the HD dealer that all the wiring is tucked into the stock 5" riser so eleminating it is an incredibly coslty option. If this is the case i'm left with the option of shorter ape hangers (10"-12") and found a few options from either HCC, Burly, and Wild 1 Outlawz.

I know its a preference thing but hoping that someone can provide some input having the same bike. Did you change the riser? Do you have the 12" bars (with stock riser) and are they comfortable?....etc.

Eventually I want to do a lowering kit as well as a fat tire kit, may also rake forward a bit....it never ends...lol

if you check out August '12 bike of the month on the Burly site that's exactly what my bike would look like but not sure what size ape's those are and if those could in any way be comfortable. I also saw a set of mini Apes (10") from Wild 1 Outlawz. Couple great pics in the gallery here also.

I'm Lost!!!

Your input is appreciated and thanks again,

Mr. Bones

[mikeLI_77]

If you get rid of the riser all you have to do is put the connections under the tank and extend the wires to the lengh you need them to beif you want to keep the ability to unplug them in the future if needed. If not cut the wires under the connectors and extend them. Harley actually sells an extension kit for the wires. Solder them dont crimp the connections and if you plan to run the wires internally dont cut and solder them all in the same place. Make each cut and solder joint about a half inch to an inch apart so the wires wont be to thick to run through the bars. I dont have any experience with apes

[xllent01]

Correct, ditched the ugly custom riser yrs ago..ended up hard wiring them directly myself, just labeled each side before making any cuts, should be 5 wires per side, put all joints by hiding the wires inside the handlebars and under the new MG triple trees..doesen't have to cost an arm and leg to do this conversion, just takes patience and a little mechanical ability to do it on your own, and knowing you did it yourself without getting raped by the local $tealership and their bullshit pricing!

[Bob F]

http://www.harley-davidson.com/pna/p...ar_measure.jsp

[Mr.Bones]

Thanks for the great feedback guys! I think I'm going totally this project myself. Screw the dealer and their bull$h!t pricing.

Does anyone know if you can just flip the speedo around to the headlight side?

Originally Posted by xllent01

Correct, ditched the ugly custom riser yrs ago..ended up hard wiring them directly myself, just labeled each side before making any cuts, should be 5 wires per side, put all joints by hiding the wires inside the handlebars and under the new MG triple trees..doesen't have to cost an arm and leg to do this conversion, just takes patience and a little mechanical ability to do it on your own, and knowing you did it yourself without getting raped by the local $tealership and their bullshit pricing!

[BKB]

For options to relocate your speedo, find the "Xena Mod" using the search at the bottom of the page. You'll find a few other ideas, in here also, if you dig a bit. The angle of the speedo bracket itself will be the determining factor. You may need to find one that's made for that location, because of the way it's bent, or the way the speedo & idiot lights mount to it. Once you take it off & see how that stuff is assembled, you'll see what you need to do. Take your time, think about it & have fun.

[xllent01]

Originally Posted by Mr.Bones

Thanks for the great feedback guys! I think I'm going totally this project myself. Screw the dealer and their bull$h!t pricing.

Does anyone know if you can just flip the speedo around to the headlight side?

Not back 10 yrs ago,

the custom model speedo is specific to that particular model...been there done that, my OEM speedo sits in a box on the shelf cause it useless other than in stock configuration, thus the reason for the Dakota Digital speedo...

Fast foward..

Check J&P cycles, Dennis Kirk...etc

They do carry replacement cups so the speedo can be turned around to mount foward of the handlebars, it needs to be 3.5" center to center to mount on a custom model with new risers mounted without having the eyebrow (Xena
mod) on a custom model..

Also apes can be fitted to the OEM custom riser, but IMHO if your going to do the whole mod get some new risers and dump the stock ugly riser to help clean up the look of the front-end

[jharback]

Harley will charge you an arm and a leg because its a time consuming job but, not a difficult one. I think the going rate just for the wiring of the handlebars and installation goes for about 400 bucks labor.

Do it yourself over a weekend and save yourself a bundle. And you'll know that its done right. Harley labor leaves a lot to be desired.

[Mr.Bones]

Thanks for all of the input guys...decided to eliminate the stock riser and go with 14" apes with a 1.5" riser. Now the question is which black apes do I get. I like the look of the wild 1 narrow Outlawz, but would like something that fans out a bit more. Any suggestions? Also has anyone switched out their tank for a fatbob style tanks?

[mikeLI_77]

Originally Posted by Mr.Bones

Also has anyone switched out their tank for a fatbob style tanks?

Here is one thread about them. there are others who have done it also.

http://xlforum.net/vbportal/forums/s....php?t=1523154