After literally months of research on handlebars that may help alleviate "between the shoulder" pain on longer rides, I went with the KhromeWerks Sweeper +2, #300515 for 08 and later FLHT bikes. Got them on eBay for $60 or so shipped, and they sat here for a couple of weeks while waiting for my +4 clutch cable to arrive from Zanotti's.

Some notes on the install:

I'm not a decent wrench on my bike...I've got the "what the fu*k" bike that every techs says repeatedly since if something can go wrong, it does. So, I had a HD tech friend of mine help me, and his "2-3" hour estimate turned to a job of 8+ hours....and he made the famous statement above about 10 times...and he's a bike tech and I've seen him in action on other bikes...I just have the "Christine" back that hates to be modded.

Only thing that went internal in the bars was the TBW connection. I quickly decided that paying for the $80 replacement TBW cable and trying to jam everything inside the bars wasn't economical for me, and it doesn't bother me to have the other cables on the outside like the stock. Took us less than a minute to tie on a string, and use the shopvac to pull the string through, then pull the stock TBW cable through by itself.

The stock clutch cable "almost" would have worked. It was 2 inches short from allowing a full turn of the new bars....so we had to use the longer new clutch cable. All the other cables were plenty long enough to reach, externally anyways.

We did everything possible to prevent taking off the exhaust. We ended up taking the right side Oval slip-on off, and loosening the exhaust from the exhaust ports. I was able to hold it up while he got under it with the allen wrench. Oh...that was after two hours of trying to get the bolts freed up....HD must have used super glue on the bolts going into the exhaust ports...unbelievable how hard it was to get those loose. Even with decent Snap-On tools and using the correct sizes, we managed to fubar 2 of the bolt heads...but he had replacements to replace with. Seriously, they had to be some of the tightest bolts that I've ever touched...our knuckles are now trophies, and Christine gets another blood sacrifice as payment.

Little tip on installing the new clutch cable for those that never have...there's two angles going inside the cover. Hint: Don't line cable up to the first opening and try to catch the threads. We were so tired last night by this point, we both couldn't get the cable threaded. After a break, we quickly realized it gets threaded in at an angle into the actual entry into the gear casing...so don't try to thread it based on the exterior hole (in other words, look closely before trying to thread).

We cranked on the exhaust repeatedly so hard, the bike started moving on the lift towards the right (our side), even with anti slip coating on the lift. Always be cautious and keep an eye on your bike...we could have had a serious accident that would have ended up with one of us being pancaked. Just a reminder to everybody...

Of course, to jump to the end real quick...after getting everything back together and exhaust tightened back up...we look over at the top of the work bench, and the snap ring that holds everything inside the clutch housing was sitting there, hidden amongst the Redline fluid that was coating the work bench from doing the swapping of the cables since that's where we did that work. Nothing like doing "two" installs...just to get the snap ring re-installed. This ended day one last night, and we started back up this morning re-energized and refocused.

As we are putting everything on, I had bought some Custom Chrome chrome levers to install. Of course, keeping my excellent luck going, the clutch lever had too thick of chrome coating on it...looks great, but was was too thick to get it inside the housing, and getting the pin to line up. After an hour of messing with this and trying to rig it in, the stock levers went back on. Guess HD parts are better for a reason...so I'll save the pennies and just expend the funds to get the HD ones in the near future.

My quick review of the Custom Chrome levers: Chroming looked very nice...but their tolerances are out of whack, and you may get a set that doesn't fit. Save up for the HD ones.

Let's see...oh, I have an amp under the fairing. After buttoning everything back up except for the outer fairing, it wouldn't work. After 30 minutes of taking off and reinserting the wiring to the amp to ensure great connections, took seat off and saw the blown fuse going to the battery. Replaced that, and it works again. (Note to self: always check fuses first for electrical problems in the future).

We stayed busy on the bike for 9 hours total, and finally got the job done. Had the correct tools, the service manual, printouts of install info from the forums here, and a knowledgeable tech. Without having the problems and owning the "what the fu*k" bike, I can see how some get it done in just 3 hours, especially with a friend helping you out. Local HD dealer quoted me "around $400" for the swapout, and if they had these problems at their $85 an hour flat rate, it would quickly have been a $700+ job. My friend gets a Franklin for his time, a case of his favorite beer, and continued invites to my summer BBQs

Now, the first impression of the bars:

As soon as they got installed, I immediately thought that I was going to hate them. We left a gap of about 1/4" before hitting the inner fairing...and they looked WAY TOO LOW. Even now, they look lower than stock. Before tightening things up and climbing on, wasn't sure I was going to like "the feel" or the placement at all. Once tightened down, and sitting on it, it does feel more "natural", and I got thinking why doesn't HD put out bars stock that are more comfortable?

Once we got everything tightened up, I took it out for a test ride....34 degrees, trying to get it up to 4th gear in the subdivision, riding without leathers, and tennis shoes with low socks. Wanted to get it through the gears up and down as much as possible. My first in 5 months, very enjoyable 5-8 minute ride I must say in this lovely weather Took two carafes of coffee to warm up afterwards...

I need to spend some time on this bike and go through the gears and get up to faster speeds to see if I really like it, but first overall riding impression is I think I'm going to LOVE the changes. It has a much different feeling, and from the few minutes I've had on it, cornering is more "stable", it feels more natural. With the extra spread and pullback, the shoulders feel looser too...so I'm hoping this solves the problem for me that others report it's helped them out with as well.

Oh...don't know if I had an issue with the stock clutch cable not being tightened right...I always had "clunk" issues between gears, even with Redline, and it never felt smooth no matter how I adjusted the cable. With the new cable install, no more clunk, and it's smmmmooottthhhh going up and down the gears...almost like a totally different bike.

I didn't take pictures....there's plenty on other threads here, and mine now looks the same as everybody else's Ultras that did their install. With everything installed, it does look a little different, but not in a bad way, and my wife actually liked the overall new look the first time she saw it. But if anybody really wants pics, I'll get some taken in the next day or two of my filthy bike sitting in my cold garage

I'll provide an impression update after I get some time on the bike when it warms up. Oh yeah...Butler won, so with that, and new bars on after a miserable install...and no found new problems in a few minutes of riding, it's a nice way to end the day today.

 

doing a similar job with wo575's. going internal wiring. takes a while.

good luck with yours.

tin

 

Mine's already done...good luck with yours

 

Good write up --- You'll love the bars ..

.

 

i know, read that - you are lucky. broke my grip and dont think i will get it done for another week. long story.....

tin

 

Ouch! I got my old PM Renthal grips off with a little extra muscle twisting on the clutch side...but it's so cold here, can't get the grip to stick when I put it back on the new ones...gonna have to heat the garage up tomorrow and reapply.

Give us a writeup of how your WO575 install goes. I seriously considered those as well, the pricing and a little more favorable angle specs for my size led me to decide on the Sweepers. The 575s should make a nice change out as well.

 

Where do ya live maybe we can ride together this year.

 

Not too far from the loop on the NE side. Sent ya a PM.

 

Thanks for the writeup. I have some out in the garage or about a month now. Waiting for a few more parts. Fixing to tackle the project. +2 sweepers here too.