i want to have cyclesmith 13" bagger apes installed a 09 street glide but the HD dealership is claiming it will require 4-4.5 hours of labor to complete ($80 a hour +parts) because of the internal wiring. does it really take that long?

ive changed brake lines before (how different can it be than a sport bike)
the fairing cant be that hard to remove
ive never touched a harley but before my sport bike, i never touched a sport bike!
how hard can it be to extend a throttle wire?
or run the wires internally?
has any one done it by themselves before?
any DIY threads?

or warnings!?

 

Just did it myself, first time also... I put on a pair of Yaffe Bagger Apes. With the 'Smiths' it shouldn't be to bad. The soldering of the wires should take the longest just because there are so many of them.
Didn't say if you had TBW but I believe you do, and we just clipped the connector off soldered and fed the wires through (didn't even need an extension) No problems there. You should also be able to extend the wires and pull them through in the whole loom.
Brakes.. I have ABS and the 'ABS BOX' is under the seat. Just have to replace the line from the bars back to the box if you keep the black lines. I changed all the lines to braided so I had to replace 4 lines took an hour with the bleeding. In reality with one guy helping it should have only taken 5 hours to do everything... with all the dickering we did it took 7.... thats putzing with the UTV and his bike.... eating lunch etc...

 

i hear they have aftermarket wire extensions with adapters! i didnt know that there was a box unedr the seat for the abs. whats the pull back on ur bars? those are nice!!!

 

I'm going to be installing a set of 16" black apes on my '07 Road King soon. After a bit of searching around online, I found a shop that specializes in apehanger packages. You tell them the year and model of your bike and the size and style of bars you want and they include the proper length clutch cables, throttle cables, brake lines, and wire extensions with the connectors already installed. They also sell the units complete with chrome switch housings if that's what you want. (I'll be re-using my stock black housings though).

Its not cheap, but if you piece it all together and include standard labor rates, you're going to pay out the wazoo either way. At least this way eliminates the guesswork.

I don't want to violate any forum rules by promoting non-vendors so send me a PM if you want the shop's name.

Hope this helps.

 

My "helper" works for a cable/phone company.. we raided their 'wire' for the extension. They had all the right colors too! even though we didn't need to do that, it was nice to match them all up. There are companies that can do the whole "package" for the extensions. I think I was +8 on the wires. But I think thats a little long. Clutch cable will need to be extended, but sorry, I have no idea how much.
Pull back is around 9" and the 'handles' are more perpendicular to the road, which I am more comfortable with.
Look at the neck of your bike on the throttle side, if there are two brake lines running to the back of the bike you have ABS and the box is behind the throttle side cover under the seat.
I got the 1.5" version.

 

I have 13" cyclesmiths on my egc. It took me 2 afternoon after wook to do it.I used +6 on cables and brake lines but didn't have to extend wires,just rerout them under the radio.Be sure to debur the holes where the wires run thru or they will cut the wires. As for as pull back,that depends on where you fell comfy. Before you clamp them down,set on the bike and set them where you want. Thats one of the perks of haveing APES.

 

The only way you would violate the rules is if you were promoting your own products or company w/o being a vendor. I have installed many apes and the trick is to for SURE grind down the edges of the holes in the bars and smooth them. They will cut the sh*t out of the wires like mentioned above. Beyond that, run a pull wire (like bailing wire) and tie it off on the end of the wires you are going to pull through. It helps to wrap the end of the wad of wires in black tape and lube (vaseline) the hell out of the black tape. Doing this allows it to slide right through the bars no problem. It's not that bad if you tape and lube the wires coming through.

Aaron

 

awsome!!! how hard is it to remove the fairing? all i need to remove is the outer fairing right?

 

4-5 hours labor is about right, re-routing the wires around the radio does work, +6 on the brake lines..

 

Glide is right on with the wires. Two other things you will need to remove. One is the fairing cap and lock set. The bars won't go in unless it comes off. Also don't forget when you change out the abs line you will need to remove the gas tank. The lines run under the tank. The tank is very easy now that there is a quick disconnect on the left side for the fuel. To pull the wires I used a nut and string and tied the wires to the string.