Hi. I would like to forward some information about installing Wild 1 WO518 handlebars to a 2010 Road King. I did this job over the long weekend and thought I’d bring up a few important points.
The hole in the center of the bars, between the risers, is not quite large enough (in my opinion) to freely move all three wire clusters in and out of the hole when wiring internally. I enlarged the hole by about 50%. It doesn’t need to be pretty.
The left side handle grip was glued on by the factory, but there wasn’t too much glue so I was able to muscle the grip off by hand by twisting it back and forth. I saved the original grips and reinstalled them for use until I replace them with some better ones at a later date.
It took me a while to realize that the new bars don’t have to be on the bike when installing the switch housings and wiring. That may or may not be of value.
I went into this conversion without any wire extensions. The WO518 is wider and has more pullback than the stock bars, so I thought I would need to extend some wires but wasn’t sure which ones. Late last week I asked here on the forum about the Throttle By Wire wires and I was told there is plenty for my conversion. Sure enough there was about 6+” of extra Throttle By Wire wire. The connectors on the TBW wires stay on during the conversion, on both ends.
The wires coming from the left and right side switch assemblies reach the inner nacelle area, and that’s about it. There really isn’t much extra on either side. If one was to remove the nacelle then one could probably use the original wiring without extensions. And that’s because you could get your hands close enough to the work area and see what you are doing with the connector pins and housings. Once I realized I needed to extend these wires I went to my local supply place. They only had 15” extensions so I bought those. I thought I could get away with 4” but looking back I think that would have been too close to the nacelle when reinstalling the pins to the connectors. The 15” gave me plenty of length to work on the pins and connector housings, and the wires were not all bunched up in the nacelle when they were all placed back in there. When installing the right side wiring, I placed the TBW wiring inside the new bars and situated it so the TBW ‘cartridge’ in the end of the bar was hanging out the end of the bar as far as possible without the connectors on the nacelle end sucking up into the center handlebar hole. I did this because space is tight on the right side with two wire assemblies running through it. With the TBW wires situated as stated I ran the switch assembly wire cluster into the hole at the switch housing area and pushed that wire cluster through the bar while pulling the TBW wires through the bar at the same time. This helped to get the larger wire cluster into a hole where the TBW wires already existed. I used some lubricant, but not much. I think I used some weed whacker line on that side to help get the switch wire cluster through.
To remove the pins from the Molex connectors I used one of those pins you would find in dress shirt when you unwrap it new. It is like a sewing needle but with a little mushroom head on the end opposite the point. I had to remove the pins on one side twice (because I thought I did something wrong the first time) and the pins were much easier to remove the second time. There is a very small ‘sweet spot’ when trying to pop the pins free but once you do a few you get better at it.
I used one long strip of gorilla glue on the bar when reinstalling the left side grip. Once the grip was on I twisted it around a quarter turn to smear the glue around.
The factory clutch cable is plenty long.
The factory brake line is long enough, but I had to reroute mine to go out the back right area of the nacelle instead if the top right area of the nacelle.
I had to file the TBW notches in the one end a little bit so the TBW cartridge could more easily fit in place.
The swap took me about seven hours, working at a casual pace.
I’m 6’1” with a 35” sleeve and these bars might have around 1” too much pullback for me. I’m probably being picky because these bars are light years more comfortable than the stock bars.

I’ll post some pics soon, however there are plenty over at Wild 1’s site.
I hope you find something in here of value.

 

Here are two pics taken a week after installation.

 

Aren't those just about the prettiest bars you've ever seen? I love the first quartering picture you posted...they just give the bike a 'bad-***' cruiser look. Thanks for the write up. There are a lot of guys searching for new bars and for those who are technically gifted, your info will be a big help.

Ride safe.

 

Aren't they great? I've had the 518's on my RKC since it was new and I love them. It took a little while for me to get used to the lower and wider feel of the bars, but they are very comfortable especially on a long haul

 

I love the way those bars look. Low, wide, classic look. I was worried about the wrist angle and "wheelbarrel" effect that many have mentioned. I went with WO515 10' mini apes but often wish I had given these bars a try.
How is the low, wide stance on 500 mile days? Any back, shoulder or arm fatigue?

 

Installed 518's on my 08 RKC 2 years ago and the more I use them the more I love them. Just did 508's on the wife's 07 and those are great also!

Since I have longer arms, I am thinking about "swapping" over the winter.

I am a little confused about the left grip. Neither of ours were glued on.......they fit in a channel of the control switch housing and "lock" in I'm pretty sure. Surprised I guess you had glued on grips.

 

I haven't logged in a long trip with these yet. I had Wild 1 beach bars on a softail deluxe and now these on the King. The low and wide thing works for me. I can't imagine these being uncomfortable on a long trip.

 

Gasol1ne...........The bars look great! How much wider than stock are they ?

Also what seat is that.

Thanks....

 

Welcome to the club . I installed the 518's on my RK 3 yrs ago and love em. I love the look over stock and they feel so much better.

 

Mr. Gasol1ne-
Calling you "Mr." because of this great write up!! I have a couple of questions.
Im looking to do this to my '09 RKC. What wires are already running inside the handle bars? I dont mind the look of cables outside of the handbars. Would I still need cable extenstions? Also, did you buy your bars directly from Wild Ones?

Thanks,
Jim