I just ordered Chrome Housings and lever perches for my RK, and all the SS front end pieces: Brake Lines, Throttle, Clutch. I figured since I'll have the whole handlebar set torn down I may as well route the wires through the bars.

I saw a writeup about drilling a hole under the switch housing and another between the risers, but I still have a few questions.

Are there any issues with length of the wire?

Will the wires fit inside a standard handlebar?

Since I'll have the switch housings apart would it be easier to feed the wires from under the risers to the switches, or do I still have to take the connecting plugs off the nacell end of the wires?


Thanks,

J

 

Will save a lot of grief by getting fatter bars, designed for internal wiring! Hey, is that a new paint job?

 

The diameter of the bars is not a problem, I ran the wires inside a set of RK High bars and they're not any bigger than the stock bars. I had no problem with the length of the wiring. You take the individual wires apart from the connector behind the headlight, make yourself a map of what color goes where and then put it all back together. It really cleans up the front end.

 

Did you take the protective sheath off the wires between the connector and the switch housings?

 

Still getting used to seeing that picture and saying "hey, that's mine" [8D]

I wanted to take it to work today, but it was 35 with snow flurries when I left this AM.....so I took the cage.

 

Leave it on.

 

When you make the holes in the bars to run the wires, make extra sure you deburr the holes, and also edge treat the area with a good coat of primer and paint, you don't want rust to start and then the chrome will begin to lift and crack.

As far as pulling the wires from the grip side, same as from the bottom.
Insert a good strong pulling wire through, tie off wires you want to pull and gently feed and pull through.

 

I'm with bountyhunter on this one. Bars with pre-drilled holes are the way to go. For looks in proportion to a bagger: fat is where it's at.

Went with 1-1/2" diameter bars on mine - now 1" bars on a bagger look like toothpicks stuck in a marshmello to me. Note that 1-1/2" bars require a riser clamp change. Most 1-1/4" bars, like Chubbys, have a standard 1" clamping area but still recommend changing to a 1-piece clamp.

IMPORTANT: whichever way you choose replace the stock rubber riser bushings with polyurethane (H-D 56298-03 or equal) to keep your bars from sagging over time.

Wiring & cables should reach if you don't change the bar dimensions (pull-back, width & rise) too much.

 

The ship has already sailed on the handlebar decision. I'm sticking with the stock bars since I already have the chrome controls/housings. Thanks for the polyurethane bushing tip though.

J

 

JM , check this out.
https://www.hdforums.com/m_262490/tm.htm
Deburring the holes cannot be over stressed.
Pretty good how-to for this project and a link for more.
Mick