When Dawn inherited my ACE, it had 10" whitney Apes on it. She loved the confort of them bars, but wasnt comfortable
with the wheel squeek they cause by the stock cables being too tight. I never did reroute them and the clutch cable showed
signs of fatigue. I heard a story from a forum member (I think it was EJMOMENT) about that cable breaking for the same reason.
So I decided to order new cables. I figured why not go with a 12" APE since I had to get the cables anyway.
So I took the 10's off and installed the stock temporarilly untill I got the parts.
The following article/pictorial shows the process I did to install these bars and run the wires internally.
I am not sure if I did it the most efficient or "best" way but it worked and I beleive the job to be solid.
When I do this on my bike I know there are a few things I will do differently, I guess thats why it called "experience".
It was a fun project to do but it was time consuming. I think it took me literally all day, like from 10am to 10pm.
Here are the stock bars with the new Barnett braided cables dangling.
This was a very un-nerving step. Cutting the wires.
The left image shows the stock bars being stripped. The right image shows the new Apes on for measuring and mock up.
The left image shows Dawn checking them out. The right image shows the mock up.
Are you with me so far? GOOD!
At this point I began to drill the bars. Each of the switch housings have a nub that goes into the bar. I have heard of folks cutting off the nub rather than drilling the bars. If the nub is not there the housing can potentially spin on the bar. I decided to drill the bars.
There are a total of 5 drill points. The 2 numbs as discussed above. The 2 wire entry points and the center exit point located between the handlebar clamps.
Notice how I ran a single wire in the bars then snaked the loom through.
Now that the wires are through, I soldered them, shrink wrapped them and identified them (notice the meter on the bench).
Here are the bars ready to be installed.
The final step of reconnecting the wires in the headlight. Great care must be taken throughout this enire process so that the wires make it to the correct on in the light.
This is the final product. Well almost, I decided to reroute the cables a bit so they lay nicer on the bars.
If you want to use this article or its images somewhere else on the net please notify me, thanks.
Thanks for the write-up Joe. I had talked with you before about doing this, and you advised me well. Finally picked up a set of 12's with all the cables at a great price, and your write-up served as a great guide. Time consuming, to do it right, but well worth the effort.
Many thanks-
