after riding over 25 years with these bars i am looking for suggestions about replacing them. my old back tends to start hurting nowadays. do i need to get new bars? do i need to just get risers? she is a 1989 sportster.

 

If it were me, I'd go with new bars, some sort of mini apes... painted red.

 

I've never seen the point of high bars, but it is certainly worth considering your current riding position and if your current bars are contributing to your discomfort. My own riding discomfort, when I suffered some years ago, was between my shoulders and I was able to solve that by simply altering my bars. Adjusting them can change the angle and position of the grips quite a bit and is always worth a try, as it costs nothing and simply takes a little time.

If that doesn't work for you, then it is certainly right to investigate further. I found the problem I mentioned above was due to me reaching forwards a little, to grip the bars, but also gripping them tight. On longer rides especially that muscular tension transferred up my arms and into my shoulders. If you are able to identify if you have something similar going on it will make determining a solution easier. Took me many months!

A windshield may help, by taking wind pressure off you, which in turn may help to reduce any tension build-up. However a great improvement I found is ear plugs! Noise is bad, contributed to my problem above, and ear plugs were a useful part of the solution that eventually worked for me. They are cheap as chips and worth a try.

 

On my Sportsters I changed to bars from a 2007 Low which had some more rise to them. On my Heritage I added 3 or 4 inch pullback risers.

Whichever you need to do in order to get the bars in the most comfortable place.

 

From the look of that seat, you may want to try something a bit more comfy and supportive, like a Mustang Vintage Solo.