Hello fellow Softail riders. I bought a pair of 14" wild 1 chubby outlawz. I dont need to buy cables, or extend the harness to install them. Currently my wires are outside the bars. I want to install these new bars (i currently have 12" bars) and run wires in the bars. If i dont have to change cables, or extend harness what are the steps to this swap out? Do i have to take the tank off, do the wires unplug then run wires through the bars and just plug them in again? Do i need to buy new grips or can i reuse the current ones? Thanks for the help im just not sure where to start.

 

Well if you are sure you don't need to extend any of your wiring..... unplug the connectors for all handlebar gizmos (at the frame end of the bars). Then you can take the bars off the bike with all your electrical components attached. Unhook your throttle cables, clutch cable and front brake line. Take off your mirrors too. Then remove your bars with electrical and move them to your kitchen table to **** the wife off.

You said that your bars were wired externally so check to see if you can feed the plugs throught the bars.... if not, take pics of the wire placements on your connectors, pull the pins out of the electrical connectors and feed them through the bars. Reattach the pins and instal **** in reverse of removal. It's a very easy job... just a bit time consuming. Check youtube for tutorials. BR bars has an excellent tutorial on how to fish the wires through the bars

 

Oh yeah..... we have no idea what bike you have. If your grips are glued onto the bars. Then yes, replace them. Don't be cheap and try to save them as they will be a huge aggravation.

 

2008 FXSTC....the previous owner put 12" apes on it, and SS brake and clutch cables and still there is alot of room...i think he bought cables for 14" bars. Same with the wires i could easily get another 2" length out of those. So the electrical im guessing plugs into the harness somewhere under the tank? Im guessing one bundle of wires per side (clutch side, and brake side) so i guess it would just come down to being able to get at those plugs....

 

Pull the fuel tank's bolts, unplug the fuel line and breather line on the front of the tank, slide it back. Keep an eye on the little plug/wires for the fuel gauge. The plugs for the bar controls are on the throttle side of the frame a few inches back from the steering neck. You can pull the grips/housing off the old bars easily but make sure and stuff a piece of cardboard behind the brake lever to prevent breaking the taillight switch when reinstalling it on the new bars. You might have to loosen the adjuster for the clutch to slide the housing over enough to pull the wires.


Remove the plug ends to pull the wires through the bars. On the back side of each plug there should be a tiny hole above the pin for the wire you want to remove. Insert the end of a straightened paperclip into the hole until it clicks. Push the wire in from the other side another 1/8th of an inch while pushing on the paperclip. Then pull the wire out. It will take your a couple times, but once you do it and get the concept, it becomes easy. Oh, make sure to write down and triple check the color of each wire and where it goes in the plug end. Blowing fuses and having to pull the wires because you mirrored the order sucks! Once you've put the plug ends back on, I suggest you plug it back in and test the signals/horn/high beam before attaching the bars. I had to do this to run the wires to reinstall my apes, HTH.

 

Thats exactly what i needed to see! Thank you very much for your help.

 

Ok old thread but I’m just getting started on this ha! So I don’t have to drain the gas or worry about any cross over tubes for a 2008? I can just remove two bolts and pull the tank back? There’s no fuel spillage to worry about other than the little bit from removing the disconnect fuel line?

 

I just installed Fatboy-S bars on my '16 Breakout. The bars are the same as chubbys as they are an increased diameter after the grips. I removed the tank (in hindsight I did not need to do that, just had to slide it back. Great learning experience though). I used a large guitar string by running the eyelet end from the clamp end hole to the grip end. I zip tied the connector (no I did not need to remove the connector as the bar is wide enough on the inside to accommodate them. May not be so with regular diameter bars) and then pulled the wires thru the bars. Easy peazy. The left hand grip will need to be cut off as it is bonded to the bar with a type of acrylic super glue.