I am swapping out my stock bars this weekend. I really like the look of drag bars but I am concerned about comfort. It looks like miniapes would be more comfortable. What do you have and how comfortable are they?

 

I have tried both and I do think the dragbar is more comfortable imo. I like the look of the mini ape though.

 

You are going to a get a 50/50 reply on the comfort question.

I swapped to mini apes and never looked back. Love them. But I believe form follows function. If you really like the drag bar look that might influence your decision over comfort.

Further clouding the issue is what kind of riding you do most of the time. Long treks bent over are not fun. Ask any sport bike rider who you see propped up and twisted slightly to the left with his left hand on his hip and the right on the throttle. He's not posing, he's sore. Bear in mind too that sport bikes have racing style pegs (behind them). That should give them some better leverage or at least not have them bent in half while riding. You've either got mid or forward controls. Both your arms and legs will be pushed forward of your torso.

Best advice is to hit the dealer and sit on some different setups. You might get lucky and find a Sporty there with either drags or apes mounted. If not, look for Sportbobs for an apes setup. Figure out what feels right for you.

 

That's what I thought. I don't do a ton of long distanse riding, so I was thinking the drag bar. Can I get it to the level of my stock bars?

 

I personally prefer the appearance of drag bars but I'm so happy with the "fit" of the stock bars I'm not considering changing.

 

I have an 06 1200XLC and swapped the stock bars for drag bars after about a month. I really wanted the 12" narrow glide apes, but went with the drags because they were much cheaper. The drag bars looked cool but killed my back, so they had to go. I justbroke downand spentthe cashon all the cables and and 12" NG apes and would never even think of going back. The internal wiring was a pain in the a$$, but they (IMO) look WAY better than the straight bars and the comfort level is not comparable. They give the bike a whole different look, and nothing feels better than reaching for the sky while srceaming down the road. Not sure which model you have, but with the 1200xlc's factory riser and 12' bars you get about 16-18" high. Hope this helps! Go with the apes!!

 

Where did you get your apes and cables? I have been looking for a pair of mini's but never know what length of cable to get. Do you have any pictures of them?

 

jpcycles has a set of narrow glide apes and all the cables you need for a good price heres my ape set up.super comfortable ,drag bars look good to though if your shorter will kill your back.also turn is not as easy because your arms get pulled out away form your body more when turning.

[IMG]local://upfiles/13022/D0AC89C3CA8848DBA90600B6A6190F35.jpg[/IMG]

 

I got my apes from dealer. First set were take-offs from a WG - brand new but saved a few bucks. Set for wife's XL also came from dealer - were on sale so saved a few bucks on them too.

Somewhere here I had a post where I detailed all the parts I used, includeing pricing and part numbers. If you can't find it or want the details, PM me and I'll shoot it to you.

Click on my sig link for Sportbob or look in my album for pics of the mini apes installed.

 

Oh... the list is in the Sportbob thread...

I used all HD parts except for the brake line. From my invoice, here's the part numbers....

56079-93T Chrome DWG bars, $49.95
1741-0330 46" braided front brake line $66.95
38734-04 braided clutch cable (A length 37.23", B length 23.52", C length 60.75", travel length G) $79.99
56723-04 braided throttle lines (length???) $118.95
56199-98A pigskin print grips (football grain pattern) $59.95

Installed on stock riser.

The brake line part no is from Drag Specialties. I had relocated the turn signals so didn't need to extend that wiring. I did extend control wiring though. I recommend Novello kits. No soldering, pretty inexpensive, easy to install and you don't need to cut anything, even for internally wired setups.