Went and checked out some 518's yesterday. Parts guy said that because of the width of the bars I would lose some responsiveness in the twisties. Gave me food for thought, but I also wanted to get second opinions from people with experience with them. So in the twisties; pros, cons, lets hear them. Also your riding style, mine tends toward aggressive.

 

I had them on my 01. When I first put them on, it was like going from manual steering to power.
I really liked them, but took a little getting used to.
As far as losing responsiveness in the twisties, I never noticed, I usually set my bike into a corner and don't do a whole lot of steering once I'm set
Don't let him scare you out of them, they're nice bars.

 

I have 30,000 on since I installed mine, wouldn't have any other. I didn't notice any difference with response.

 

I have them on my RG and it took a couple hundred miles to get used to them. I went from KW +2 sweepers that were much narrower. At first the wider bars seem to transfer a lot more front end movement to the rider. I little bump feels like the front wheel is turning a great deal (compared to narrow bars). I have not noticed any degrading of the handling in the curves. Biggest difference while turning was with slow speed turns, you really have to stretch out to turn the bars lock to lock.

 

I love mine for their comfort and they look great with the windshield off but Im not a real aggressive rider.

 

I have the WO518's and love em.. they handle great through the turns.

 

Not very versed in bars, but am looking to change up. Looking at the Heritage bars. Are the 518s similar to the Heritage bar?

 

I put 18,000 miles on my 06 RKC with wild1 518's and I never noticed any degradation in the turns. Like one other poster stated it did take a bit to get used to turning at the slower speeds, but it is just like changing from one bike to another, after a few miles you get used to it. I usually practice the "Ride Like A Pro" at the beginning of each riding season just to bone up a little, and I had no probs doing the tight turns with the 518's. I say tell the guy at the counter that he is full of chit! JMHO

 

WO518's here and they are AWESOME

 

Any time you move your hand farther away from the forks you'll have to move the bars more and will loose a small bit of responsiveness as in apes or beach bars. 518's aren't as wide as beach bars. I put them on more for comfort than anything else. All that's been said of them is true, more reach necessary at slow turns, getting used to them takes a few miles. I started with them angled down and would adjust them up a little after riding a hundred miles or so until I got the height where I liked it. I haven't noticed any increase in vibration but it makes sense that there would be some though I think they're only 1 or 2 inches wider (on each end) than stock so that's not a big difference. I'm fairly aggressive at times in the turns and I have not issues with the 518's now that I'm used to them.
Heritage bars are more like mini apes than the 518's compared to stock touring bars.