Not to laugh at you but I feel your pain, I still remember the sinking (sickening) feeling I had when I had my guide and wires stuck in the bars and couldn't get them out for half an hour! Sounds like you tried everything.

Like I said I did the de-pinning and once you get the technique down its pretty darn easy. Tip, take pics of each side so that you put the wires back in the right spot. Also there is no bending to put them back, the end are stiff, essentially you one them out one side and click them back in the other. Watch a couple of videos to get the sense although it's still a "feel" type of operation.

Good luck you'll do fine and it's an awesome learning experience. A year ago I had never touched an engine or anything like this. Now there's practically nothing left that I haven't played with.

 

Thanks Robby. Your posts on this forum have been invaluable to me.

I've owned several sport bikes in the past and have always had mechanics do work. Spent about $6K in indy shop work on my Hayabusa, because my life goal was to hit 200MPH. Once I did that, I knew I was done with sport bikes.

When I decided to buy a Harley, I talked to my old man when I went home to see family for Christmas (He's owned something like 18 HDs since 1953, sold his last one when he got diagnosed with epilepsy in '12, and he was 70 years old). He was excited for me, but said something that really stuck with me:

"Harleys are an American icon of ingenuity, innovation, and good old fashioned DIY elbow grease. These bikes were developed when there were no custom tools, and they just had to figure it out. In our day, we worked on our own bikes. I always worked on my own, and the only thing I would ask is that when you get this bike, you never let someone other than yourself turn a wrench on your bike. You'll become intimately familiar with it and it will become part of who you are."

So far, it's been only me that has worked on my bike, and I intend to keep it that way. Engine work is on the plan for next spring (Cams/Sprockets/Lifters), which gives me anxiety just thinking about. All I've got to do on my to-do list after getting these bars done is to heatwrap my exhaust, add whitewall tires, black spoke covers and remove all the reflectors and tank badges, along with possibly a sissy bar and/or bags for the long rides this summer.

 

Awesome story and father!

I thought I'd add a couple of video clips I found to this that worked for me. These are basically the same but as mentioned I used a paper clip and not the molinex tool. It really is all about the technique, but this will show you what they look like and sound like

 

Here's another that's pretty good. Also, I don't remember if the clips have a back that need to be flipped up before de-pinning but they might.

 

I have never had good luck going the paper clip route. Instead, I bought a cheap precision screw driver set at Harbor Freight and use the smallest screwdriver to de-pin connectors. Even at work, where I have access to a de-pin tool, I am faster with the screwdriver. You have to find what works right for you and go from there. Good luck.

 

Being a daily rider, have you thought about just picking up some second hand control housings and taking your time wiring the bars and then just swap the bars over and sell the old with the controls installed. That is what I did with my sportster years back. I was bale to take my time and not have to worry about damaging the wires because I need the bike back up. Just a thought, nothing more.