Yup, apes. I get the pain in my shoulders and back too. Bike is in shop and will be getting apes put on it. probably 14" or 16''. Im sure this will take away the pain

 

There are two types of riders: those with apes and love them, and those that are afraid to try them.

I'm kidding a bit, but for the most part I've found this to be true. Of course there are exceptions, I'm sure, but I've never heard anyone complain of upper back problems that went to apes and the problems were not solved. I too was afraid of apes, it looks very counter intuitive, but they are very comfortable.

If there's a way you can test ride a used bike with apes at the dealer or a friend, I would definitely give them a try.

Taller bars are your friend, the stock bars on the touring bikes are recognized as torture devices the international human rights commission.

 

I also had the upper back pain like right in the base of the neck. I started riding with one hand for some relief. After installing Wild One's 577's and a Mustang backrest no more pain. For reference I am 5'7 with a 30 inch inseam and have a sleeve length of 34/35. Hope this helps.

 

I put the HD reduced reach on my 2011 RKC. Took care of it.

FYI, I also put on a hammack for my angel. It stopped her complaints.

And an adjustable back rest for me. Very nice.

 

Yup. And grips turned more forward. Try bars at or just below seated shoulder height. Should fix you right up.

 

YEAH THAT...solved my lower back pain 10 years ago !!!

 

I've found the main thing is being able to drop your elbows closer to your body, like your sitting in your car with your shoulders relaxed.

http://www.motorcycleforums.net/foru...-position.html

 

Welcome to the forum Red, yeah the stock bars are the subject of many a threads and its rarely effective to move em up or down. I would do a search on roak king handlebars or perhaps Heritage bats for road king and you will unearth a lot of reading as well as what the cure 'could' be since its diff for everybody.

 

Same problem, put on 16" ape hangers, Love it now. Pain is gone completely. Buy a manual and do it yourself. It takes awhile but you can do it yourself, save some big bucks that way. I went with Wild 1 chubbies.

 

A backrest did it for me..