Hey guys, I am going to take on the big task of swapping out my handlebars. I have an 09 iron, se stage 1 and V&h Shortshots w/fuelpak installed all mods i did myself which were not to difficult to do. I bought La Chopper Z drag style bars ;the end rise is 2.75" compared to the stock at just slighty over 3", so i figure i can use my brake/throttle/clutch lines. I do however want to do internal wiring. I am not good with electrical work, so i am going to have a buddy do the soldering. I was just wondering what gauge wiring should i buy or which have you guys used, is it better to heat shrink or crimp. I do have my service manual all my tools ready. Ill post pics before and after...IF I DONT screw it up lol. any other tips would be helpful, i am just nervious about the wiring. thanks

 

why don't you just use your stock wiring? i did this mod too. i have 12" ape hangers. i had to drill all the holes myself. it is really hard to mess up if you use stock wiring. everything is colored. as for crimping or shrink wrap. i went with shrink wrap. peace of mind, after soldering the wiring back together shrink wrap it, then wrap electrical tape all round it. good luck!

 

All the handlebar wires run under the gas tank to something like a deutsch connector. you can de-pin these and wont need to cut any wires.

since you are not extending the wires it should be a fairly easy swap. I did this last fall and was able to run internal wires without cutting anything. wish i had a detailed write-up with photos but I don't. I'm sure if you look around you'll find something on these forums.

If i do another swap this summer im going to video tape it...not that will help you now.

either way you decide, i wish you luck.

 

Yea, you shouldn't have to solder. You should have enough wiring.

 

Be sure to write down or take pics of the wires and coloring. Right side has 6 wires and left side has 8.

This next step may be one of the most important. When doing the right side with the hand brake make sure you place a small piece of carboard between the lever when slightly depressed. This will save the integrity of the small brake light button inside the right wiring housing. The manual states this numerous times. I forgot to do this and had some issues with the brake switch.

 

only reason i soldered is because i cut the connectors off. i didn't want all the connectors under my tank. cluttered it up. not having as many connectors really cleaned things up. a lot! and imo, disconnecting all the connectors with a pin is extremely aggrevating. it sucked, another reason i cut all of them off the wiring. and another thing. soldering is a lot of fun!!! i'm doing it today. i cut my rear fender, which took away the brake light and i'm making my turn sigs brake lights as well! have fun man, good luck!

 

Whatever you do, make sure you cut the wires on a Z bar install. I have a set of Z bars that I internally wired. Talk about an absolute PITA. I made the mistake of removing each wire from the molex connector and tried to pull them through. I got past the top bend and they got stuck in the bottom bend. After pulling the wires back out, all of the pins on the wires were bent all to hell. I had to replace 3 of them. I wound up cutting the wires and was only able to get 3 wires through at a time. So be prepared for a having to do multiple pulls. If you use a thinner pull string than I did (it came with shoe strings) you can probably get it done in 2 or 3 pulls.

I wish I had a pic with them installed on the bike, but I attached a pic of the bars.

Good luck.

 

Your bars would suck to wire. I have 12" z are they were a pain in the ***. Doable but not fun.

I wrapped the ends of both side in heavy electrical tape before threading. This saved the connectors. In the end I ended up soldering everything just to be sure.

 

I got a set of these and thought it was a great idea to run the wires internally and easy...........................BOY WAS I WRONG!!!!!!!!!
after two days of screaming, shouting, hair pulling I finished. Like you said the first bend easy but once you turn the second bend they jammed. I think it's because the second bend is set back from the first, you go back on yourself.
A real pain in the a*** but look great on the bike, it was worth all the trouble

 

Every time I see the bike I think of how good those bars look on my Iron. Well worth it.

Also, double check the insulation around the wires because there may be some spots that it was scraped off.