Long story short, I had my bars land in my lap yesterday while going 70 mph. I was able to manually push the bars back up into position, but they felt pretty loose after that. I did take the bike back to the HD shop to get adjusted and I made sure they used a torque wrench to do it right. However, I'm still not sure if they did it tight enough. I expected at least some grunting...maybe tears. Regardless, they told me that it was definitely tight.

Anyway, I am NOT wanting this to happen again, and am still considering those apes. I've heard of something called polycarb bushings? I know I currently have rubber bushings.

If anyone could explain this a little more, I would appreciate it.

Thank you!

 

Polyurethane bushing will allow the bars to flex less. As far as them falling all the way down my suggestion is to drill out the risers and use helicoils in them. Then use a chisel to knock some divets into the knurled area so there is more for them to grip. Other suggestions are emery cloth, sand paper, etc. My new risers have no knurling but the risers have built in set crews that hold the bars in position really well.

Drew

 

Hmm...how would a smooth plastic piece keep my bars in place? I guess that confuses me a bit, because the rubber, though flexible, has "grip" to it.

I still have the stock 10" mini-apes, so I didn't expect this to ever be an issue. However, since it may be more an issue than I thought, I figured I might look into something I was recommended if I got true apes.

Thanks, Doc!

 

So what caused the bars to get loose? Were the clamps ever loosened or taken off.

 

XB's have an issue with the bars and risers both being powder coated...
the risers don't grip the bars well...
If you tighten the riser bolts down to hard...you risk striping the threads... this has happened to many...myself included..

Several fixes discussed on the Forum... sandpaper...aluminum can.. or even using a chisel to score the risers for better grip...

CC

 

Sounds good. I think my main thing is just not being too certain what the bushing is/does. I'm still not clear on its function.

My bars had been adjusted once before. I'm guessing the vibration loosened them, or were inadequately tightened before. I can say, the previous time they were adjusted, it was not done with a torque wrench.

I may just take the bars off today, chisel the risers and then insert some sandpaper in there. Thanks for the suggestions. I had no idea the Bones would be any different from the rest in that regard. Though, it does make sense that the PC would cause some slippage.

Thanks, again!

 

the bushing is down inside the riser.....the rubber stock ones allow the riser itself to flex...The poly ones from goodntite won't flex.....I personally don't like the idea of risers flexing......Rubber was great for Evo's because of the vibration.. Not needed for Twinkies

It really doesn't have anything to do with the bars staying tight in the riser clamps and not falling

 

The bushing go under the riser not at the riser/bars.

 

Okay...then what is their purpose? Guess I'm not sure why anyone would recommend them for this issue?

Thanks for the info! I feel I'm getting the gest of it now!

 

The bushings are a semi flexible mount that insulates the riser bar assembly from engine vibration, one of the reasons the bones so smooth.

The torq spec on the handlebar clamp bolts isn't that high, certainly no tears involved. The issue is the coefficient of friction between the area of the clamps that grip the riser and the bars. Powder coating in these areas wont help. If it's under warranty I would ask that your riser/top clamp and maybe your bars are replaced. A hell of a force is transmitted through the bars, especially when braking; a failure when barking for a turn doesn't bear thinking about.

Good luck