I've always liked the drag style bars better than the pull-backs. I wanted to change them, but didn't want to mess around too much with the cables and stuff.
The Savage Home Page forum (see Links) provided me with info that proved this job easy and fast. I love my new bars, both looks and comfort. I bought the bars for $51.00 from my local HD
dealer. I feel I somewhat overpaid, but they had them in stock the day before I wanted to do the mod. And they are close to perfect. Keep reading... |
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This picture shows the dimensions of the bar I bought. At the store, I thought these bars would be a little too long (big). They are the perfect size. Due
to the rise in the bars, no risers are needed and the hand controls fit adequately.Tip: make sure the bars you buy have enough of a straight part from the grip end to the
clutch/mirror bracket. I lucked out, I was looking at a set with a shorter straight part at the end. I would have had problems fitting the hand controls on that one. |
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To start, I took off the hand controls. Not going to get into details here. Use the Clymer manual and/or common sense to remove and set these parts. I
duct taped the master cylinder to my windshield to keep it out of the way. Also, the clutch bracket was goofy to dismantle, so I slid it off intact. Maybe this lead to a problem I ran into
later. I used a couple drops of nail polish remover under the top of the left grip to loosen it and take off. |
no pictures (I was busy!) |
I had problems with the bar thickness. I measured the bar and it was 1" thick. The stock bar was too. However, the controls seemed to want to
fit better around the stock bar. The new bar seemed a bit thicker, leading to problems fitting the controls back on. This did not pose much of a problem except the following: the end
caps wouldn't fit and the clutch bracket screw stripped. |
 I had to thicken up the inner
male piece to snugly fit inside the end of the bars. I used masking tape and this worked exceptionally well. Problem solved.
 I wasn't so
lucky with this other problem. Since the bracket (see red square) didnot close fully, I stripped the INSIDE of the housing when I tried to put the screw back in.
The bracket/clutch lever moves slightly without this screw, but is more of an annoyance than a safety issue. The clutch still works fine. I drilled
a hole through the top and put a bolt through it. Works perfect/looks good..
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As you can see in the photos, there is ample clearance for the bars. If these bars didn't have the rise they do, I may have run into problems with the
controls hitting the tank.The cables and hoses are a bit long with the new bars, but not much. And since I simply re-attached the controls, I didn't have to adjust any cables (so far so
good!). I did cable tie the black plastic enclosed electrical wires from each side of the bars behind the headlight. That worked out really well. I left the clutch and brake lines alone
where they ended up sitting. |
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Below are photos of the job completed. Sorry to ruin the look with the windshield. I wanted to take it off to see how good the bike looked without it, but it's
cold here in Western NY and it's kind of a pain to get on and off. I'm not ready to call it quits for the season! |
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