Making a tall *** sissy bar, 43 inches, got it cut and ready to weld, but just got thinking, maybe the Beastie is gonna be too heavy if I use steel?.

Is Aluminum a better option? Its going onto QD plates, not a hard mount.

 

If aluminum is an option, I'd do it. Less weight is good.

That said, the weight of the steel won't be an issue unless you're making it out of 2" plate or something. People ride these bike 2-up with a week's worth of luggage. Crank up the preloaded and roll.

Is decorative or structural (backrest, bag rack, etc)?

 

Decorative and functional. Looking for more steel to hang luggage off of. Aluminum might not handle added luggage weight and my girl leaning on it. More worried about strut bolts holding with the extra weight of steel though....

 

I can understand that. If it worries you, change the strut bolts to grade 8. Should be good for at least 50k pounds then. I think the struts will give up first.

 

**** when I had my sportster I used 1/2 rebar about 36" long. Heavy, but nowhere near enough to really notice