Well I have wanted to change out the stock handlebars for some time now and I finally order some buckhorn handlebars from J&P Cycle. They have a 9 inch rise and 9 inch pullback. The bars will be delivered on Monday.

I went over to my local indy shop today to get a quote for installation. With the 9 inch rise, I was told that all of the cables will need to be replaced and that the job would take about 6 hours. Here is a breakdown of the quote. All cables are steel braided and the labor includes internal wiring

Throttle cable - $60.00
Idle cable - $60.00
Brake line - $50.00
Clutch cable - $70.00
Wiring - $20.00
Banjo bolt (2) - $26.00
Banjo fitting (2) - $26.00
Sales Tax on parts - $24.00
Labor $75/hr x 6hrs - $450.00

Grand Total $786.00

To those of you who do, or have had someome do this kind of work, does this sound about right. Sure was alot more than I expected to pay, but then again, I have no idea how much work this really is. The bars were only 50 bucks.

Thanks in advance

 

Save yourself the $450 and do the install yourself. The prices on the parts look about right but this is a job you can easily do. I put 12" Apes on my 2000 XLC last winter and it was not a bad job at all, can be done in a Saturday as long you have all the parts. Prior to installing the bars the only maintenance I had done was an oil change. Use the leftover money on some other new bling!! Good Luck

 

Both the parts and labor appear high. Do you need the 9" rise? I put a set of 1200 Low bars (28" wide, 6" rise, 10" pullback) on my 1200C and only changed the brake line. A friend of mine has an 883C and installed 1200 L bars and was able to rebend the metal portion of the brake line and not have to replace it (I didn't know this at the time I replaced mine). The 1200 L bars were $71 at the stealership and I replaced them myself.

 

Thanks for the advice. I would attempt to put them on myself, but I am not a too confident wrenchin' as I do not have much experience, particularly on bikes. Just don't want to mess something up and have the bike down, or worse, cause me to wreck due to a performance malfunction I caused.

Does the service manual show you all you would need to know with limited mechanical experience to perform this job? If so, maybe I will head over to the stealer and pick up a manual and give it a try. But say, on a scale of 1-10, how difficult would this job be for a novice like me.

Thanks again.

 

Swapping out one set of bars for another without having to do anything else is a simple job. Changing out cables, changing brake line (bleeding the brakes) and extending the wiring would be a pretty good job if you don't have much wrench time. I don't know how detailed the manual is - I shamfully admit that I haven't picked one up yet.

 

I think that is absolutely ridiculous. If you don't feel confident in your own abilities, that is fine, especially when it comes to the brakes, turns out you need them here and there, but 450 for labor!!! Wow, and some of them parts seem pricy as well. If I were you, I would look around for a different place to do the work, maybe just some hometown shop. Doesn't ever hurt to check around. Good luck.

 

Are you sure you want buckhorns? I had them on my SG and my wife's 883L and they were one of the first things to go. Plenty comfortable sitting still but not the best for control on the road. If you haven't already, go to your local dealer and test ride a bike that has them.
Are you going to mount them on the risers you already have? This will really bring the grips up and back to you.
You can take off your top clamp and temporarily install the new bars to see if you like the riding position before you pay the jack for everything else.
If you go with short risers and a regular speedo/top clamp set-up your cables should be long enough.

 

I agree with Icecaps. I never knew anybody that put buckhorns on. Everybody I know takes them off.

At any rate, those prices are awfully high, IMO.

 

I went with the buckhorns because I have a bad back and hunched over reaching for the stock bars has been killing my back. I did not think they would be difficult for control on the road. I hope they wont be too difficult to get used to. Great advice on clamping them up to see how much I like them before I fork out the dough to install. Now that I can handle.

 

You could look at the Deuce reach bars or go with a longer riser.
http://www.harley-davidson.com/gma/g...bmLocale=en_US

http://www.harley-davidson.com/gma/g...bmLocale=en_US