Thinking about throwing some 12" apes on my 1200. Wondering how hard it will be....I'm pretty mechanically inclined but some say it's a big job in a backyard garage. Thoughts? Pics of yours?

 

I had Harley 12" apes put on my Iron when I bought it. Of course I let the service dept. handle it but you can see how it would look.

 

Go with 14" or 16" narrow apes; wide apes on a narrow glide front end look funky. I have 12" Burly narrow apes and wish I would've went taller. Depending on how high you go you'll have to extend your wiring and cables. Remove the old bars and let the controls hang off to the side, install new bars how you want to run them (I prefer 5* forward), then measure how much additional length you'll need from there. You may find that you don't have to extend everything but make sure you check for snags by steering to both sides full lock.

The Burly narrow apes are a solid choice and are already drilled and dimpled for stock controls/wiring. It's also a good idea to deburr the edges of the wiring holes so the wires don't get cut after you run them through. And from what I've read, the Burly extension kits are too long. Either order one size down or better yet get your own steel-braided lines and wiring kit. If you're going for a blacked-out look, you could always order the black steel-braided lines or slip some vinyl tubing over the silver lines.

 

I used the HD Brand Mini Apes, along with some Riser Extensions.

It's a pretty easy job...unless you are going internally wired...that is a whole other level of frustration and patience.

 

I've never done it, but having been around HDF for a while I will observe that the wiring seems to give members the greatest challenge - whether internal or not! If you're good at making good quality electrical connections when extending or modifying the wiring and getting the darned things to end up where they belong, you'll be fine!

 

If you're patient, good at following directions, have the tools/talent/patience, and are good at soldering = it's not too complex. Just need to take your time and think about each step, before diving in. Wiring's the biggest trick (of course) and I created color-coded diagrams for each harness as I removed the control(s). Also, get your height correct...12" might "sound" correct, but could be too low/high. Sit on the bike (normal), hold arms up where it feels comfortable and measure...that's your sweet spot for height. Good luck!

 

If you're not going internal, you can get wire extensions from NAMZ. That makes the wiring as easy as unplugging a few connectors and plugging a few in.

 

I was wondering the same thing back when I had my sporty. I decided to just dig into it over the winter, which gave me plenty of time to do my homework in the even that I got stuck. Service manual made the job a piece of cake. It went so well that I even did my ape install on my brand new softail 2 months after I brought it home.

 

More time consuming than anything else. When i did mine I found out why the dealers charge so much labor time.

 

Dude,where's the build thread/pics for this bike?