[bbally]

I had rotor cuff surgery so they don't want me to ride motorbike for a week or so.
Decided the timing and temperature was right for putting on my 14 inch bars. Did a picture deal in hopes it might help someone else that decides to do it.

Remove the seat, drain the gas before removing the tank. (Especially if they just hacked holes in your should to repair tears)

Gas tank off

I always start by doing the hard part first, which to me is the clutch cable. Once that has been completed nothing else will leak fluid, save the brake line, and that is easy to control.

I pull the throttle body cables next as you can see.
And I add the new lengthened cables to the throttle while still attached to the old bars.

Then I pull the entire works leaving the brake line with reservoir hang. Fit the new bars on in mock up standard. (I do this in case there is a problem, I can simply fit the old bars with longer cables to the bike to ride while the problem gets straightened out.)
I am using Barnett Cables sets from LA Choppers.

Once I am sure the bars are going to work as I want them too I begin to feed the wires through the bars. I do not remove the connectors but instead pull them through the bars.
First we have to get pull lines through the bars. Easiest way I have found it to pull string lines through the bars using a shop vac!

I wrap the loop around the headlamp so I don't suck the line right through into the shop vac.

Tie a knot into the string to create a little wind resistance so the thing will feed into the bars from the bottom, to the top where you have the vacuum.

Put pull lines through both sides prior to starting to pull the control wires.

Fish the wires through slowly, tie and tape the control wires together so the connector can not get hung up on the corner of the bars internally.

Once the lines are through the bars, then I add in the additional wires to lengthen them for fit. I am adding in 8 inches on this set.
Strip back the present wire covering about three inches, and make your cuts for four wires in two different locations so you do not make a large bump in the control cabling. If you are doing a six wire harness make the cuts in three separate locations. Point is no more than two wires should line up at any one splicing site.

Then make your cuts for the splices.... Then tin all the wires up with solder before trying to put them together.

Make you splice wires up, I am using 9 splice wires. I use all the same color. Part of the reason I splice the harness with a length on the connector is so a shop tech can still see the color codes if the bike needs factory service work. I work one side at a time, so this is the four wire side.

Heat shrink needs to cover each splice and then a large abrasion heat shrink needs to collect up the harness in a neat fashion. I like clear heat shrink so I can see inside the harness.

Start to feed your control up in and redress the harness on the connection side along the back bone of the bike. The assembly should start to look like a motorbike again.

Then start assembling the motorbike back into a riding machine.

Thanks for reading this!!!!!

 

[Desert Tortoise]

Whew. A lot of work. My one experience with putting the wiring inside the bars didn't turn out so well. Chafing followed by endless electrical problems including a fried electronic ignition (back in the V-Fire II days). Make sure all openings are buttery smooth and protected by extra material like a piece of fuel line or a second layer of heat shrink.

Is that a 2003 Annivarsary edition A model in the background?

 

[bbally]

Whew. A lot of work. My one experience with putting the wiring inside the bars didn't turn out so well. Chafing followed by endless electrical problems including a fried electronic ignition (back in the V-Fire II days). Make sure all openings are buttery smooth and protected by extra material like a piece of fuel line or a second layer of heat shrink.

Is that a 2003 Annivarsary edition A model in the background?

Yes I heat shrink the splice and then heat shrink the whole harness.

Yes 03 VRSCA.

 

[harleyhoonigan]

Love those bars, starting to think what they would look like in matte black. hmmm

 

[bbally]

Love those bars, starting to think what they would look like in matte black. hmmm

Yes I think denim or matte finish would be great. I am waiting to see if I like the things before I do any change to the finish.

 

[fkystreet]

looking good! thanks for sharing
looked like a great DIY day

 

[Testiphony]

Didn't really realize how much work it took to just switch the handlebars, but the end product looks really cool. Well worth it IMO. Those bars looks like they sit a bit higher than the stock ones. Do you notice much of a difference when you are riding?

 

[bbally]

Didn't really realize how much work it took to just switch the handlebars, but the end product looks really cool. Well worth it IMO. Those bars looks like they sit a bit higher than the stock ones. Do you notice much of a difference when you are riding?

Only road it yesterday for a short distance. Shoulder still screwed up a little. OR a lot.

First, don't have your wife sit on the bike and initially set the bars. They will sweep back to a male to **** hard.

Once I road it I had to make two adjustments to get it were I like them. They ended up 2 degrees back toward the rider. Then I have to level out the levers and switches to match the position.

Once I ride it for a longer ride this weekend I will report back. But so far it feels like it will help with shoulder fatigue.

The real test will be on gravel roads (The fatboy Lo is renowned worldwide for its dual sport abilities!), with the old bars my shoulders got a work out on loose roads. I am hoping this makes it a little less work on the dirt and gravel roads.

 

[Livin On]

always loved those original VRODS with the solid billet wheels...

Thanks for the show!

 

[bbally]

always loved those original VRODS with the solid billet wheels...

Thanks for the show!

me too that is why I never changed them!

 

[Desert Tortoise]

Didn't really realize how much work it took to just switch the handlebars, but the end product looks really cool. Well worth it IMO. Those bars looks like they sit a bit higher than the stock ones. Do you notice much of a difference when you are riding?

He routed the wiring through the inside of the bars. If you leave the wire bundles outside the bars like a stock bike swapping bars is much easier.

 

[bbally]

Finished up