Wondering if you are having the bars installed, do you save any money by having prewired bars installed

 

I have researched this topic extensively as I am also changing my bars out. It all comes down to money vs. time. You may save a little money dropping off prewired bars to your installer saving a little in hourly labor costs. You will pay more for the set of prewired bars, unless you are prewiring them yourself, which can take 1-4 hours, and depending on how much beer is involved. The more videos and research you do makes it possible to think you can do them yourself, but unless you are fairly mechanically inclined and have a decent amount of patience, just fork over the cash to someone who is competent and does it for a living. Depending on which kit you use and how tall you want to go, it may also involve removing your exhaust to replace the clutch cable (unless you use an FBI kit or something similar) and removing your front brake line(s) possibly removing paint from your fender or tank with a splash of brake fluid...there is a ton of things that can go wrong, depending on your capabilities.

 

Honestly, if you buy pre-wired bars, why not just do the installation yourself?
The hardest and most time-consuming part of the upgrade is extending the wires and pulling them back through the bars without crossing wires or creating shorts to ground, etc.
If you have plug and play bars, the rest is easy.

 

After thinking about this a little more, with the cost of bars, you can save yourself a few hundred dollars just by buying used bars. I bought a set off a guy here in the forum and saved $200 over buying new ones, and they are in new condition. Be very careful though with buying bars that aren't branded or made of chinesium. There is literally no shortage of horror stories about Amazon bars having finishes that wear quickly, or the insides are of such poor build quality that when you pull the wiring it literally strips the wires, causing wire breaks and shorts. Besides saving on the cost of bars, you get what you pay for.

 

When I changed my bars I just cut the wires one at a time put a few extra inches in between and away I went.

 

I didn't feel a need to get new handlebars, my OEM Mini-Apes are quite comfortable for my 6'2" frame. I did find the control cables unsightly, making the front end look cluttered. Pulled the controls and bars off. Drilled out the bars and Dremel the holes smooth. De-pin connectors and fish cables through 1 at a time. Bars back on and reconnect wires to connectors.
TOTAL TIME - 2hrs
TOTAL COST - 3 BEERS . . . free outta my beer vending machine.

 

Depending your setup, you will still need to pull your throttle by wire unit wiring. Very doubtful you'll be able to get it thru the right side without removing the switchpack wires they installed.

 

The simple answer is No, you don't save money. You do save time and frustration though, depending on the type of bars.

Check out https://www.kstkustoms.com/ They have a few prewire options. As well as videos on how to wire the bars yourself.