Right, so I have an 05 883L with stock 'mini buck' style handlebars. They are just barely too short for my liking, and I was thinking of loosening the clamp, and just rolling the bars towards me about an inch, then retightening the clamp.

Questions. Is there any good reason why this is not a good idea - either aesthetically, or functionally?

Does anyone know what torque the clamp bolts need to be tighted up to?

Cheers all

 

I would not worry so much about looks as I would comfort.
I don't know the torque specs but I tightened mine just past tight enough to keep the bars in place.

Just loosen the clamp and sit on the bike in riding position and find the "comfort" spot that works for you.

Make sure you tighten the clamp evenly front to back and side to side when you do this.

 

I actually pulled mine back a bit. It wasnt hard to do and it actually looks better. I had to readjust the control levers though. Not a big deal. Do what feels most comfortable.

 

As it turned out, I was incapable of figuring out how a torque wrench works . So I fell back on the german torque wrench alternative - gutentight... LOL

I only had to move it maybe half an inch back in the end, and the controls ended up in a better place for my reach too - so I didn't have to move anything else. Hopefully this will do me for the long term, but I'll have to ride for a while to make sure - I really don't want to spend a fortune changing out my bars.

 

For the price you cant beat the apehangers from Harley they only cost me 150.00

 

Do ride it awhile before you decide. Become as comfortable as possible, if it's in a "bad" position you will never get used to them so if you end up moving them several times so what? Don't forget to check your mirrors. Any movement in the hb's moves the mirrors. You should be able to get the buckhorns tilted to you to be extremely comfortable. Book says 12-18 foot pounds but I like gutentight.