Ron. Ain't the truth my brother. Total craziness.

 

I dont know WHAT it is, but I know there is SOMETHING different with them. I had a Sportster and a Wide Glide before getting my Road King. Yea, my neck and shoulders would ache with those other bikes, but I'm talking about after hours of riding. On my RK, it only takes 10-15 min of riding and I get a tremendous burning right around my "atlas" vertebrae. So bad, it takes the enjoyment out of a ride. I push on, but it aint fun lol.. I'm swapping them ASAP, will prob give the wild ones RK II bar a try. I'm 6'1'' with about a 35" sleeve

 

Stock are okay for me... but want to lean back a bit, so going with 16 " Burly Apes. Not only comfort, but 16" apes on a RKC look totally sick!! Start them tomorrow! Will post when done...

 

You know, if you bend your arms to be parallel with the ground, hold your elbows to your sides, let your hands and wrists go naturally limp, observe the position they naturally go to. THAT is where a bar should put your, in my opinion. My virago came the closest to that. I never had wrist or scapular pain of any sort on that bike, and I took several long rides on that baby. The closest I could find are buckhorn bars, but I can't find any to work with a 2009 FLHP. Damn!

 

What's wrong with the stock bars? Nothing, if you're built like this......




Sorry Mike! LOL You have got to sit on my bike and try my bars next time we see each other.

 

i had my bars changed out with mini apes, gave me 3" taller and 3" back over the stock RKC bars.
Result, extremely comfortable, first ride of last week was 200 miles. I could have ridden another 200 without problem.

 

Where to begin...where to begin. I just don't understand what moco was thinking on these and how they could have gotten them so wrong. I'd bet it's something like 80% of the folks that purchase the King absolutely hate the bars. I understand you can't build a bike that will suit every type of rider out there, but they didn't even get close on the dimensions for the stock bars for even a small percentage of riders. 5' 10" here and had to fix them immediately. Finally ended up with 14" apes and they are super comfortable with or without the rider backrest. Thought about the Heritage style bars but read lots of bad things about the wrist angle and really wanted to go with 1 1/4" inch diameter to get that beefier look.

 

I tried rolling the stock bars back for about 1000 miles - lots of back pain. Then I went on to the 'Heritage Style' bars for about 2500 miles. Just could not get them set right without wrist pain and numb hands. Finally went to 16" WO Chubbies about 6 months ago...in a word, 'Amazed' by the difference.

I'm 6'3" with 35" to 36" arms and 34" inseam and had my right shoulder reconstructed 3 years ago - just for perspective.

I really wanted to give the stock bars a real try, but I must admit, the reading I've done out hear tells me that mostly folks over 6' have this issue but the fit of your bike is so subject to your body type and riding style. I've read plenty of threads where fellas over 6' tall keep stock, however, many go to the 'Heritage' or 'Haritage Style' bars as a great alternative for the stock set up. Two big benefits of these bars are that you can keep 100% stock wiring and do the mod yourself!! Side note: I also switched out my stock seat for a C&C solo (or a tall boy when the OL is riding w/ me)...

I wish now that I'd made my change sooner than I did. I really put myself through too much pain to justify the changes I made.

 

One man's junk is another man's treasure!

 

I installed the Heritage bars for Road King and did not like them. I put the stock bars back on, and gave the Heritage bars to a friend who wanted to try them.

I put a few thousand more miles on the stock bars and almost by a miracle they are now very comfortable! It's funny how some miles improved them!

I recommend being a bit patient and put a few thousand miles on before changing them out.