Hi guys , i have been around for only a short time ... on this site not in life ... but maybe some of you may reconise my old Shovel in my Avatar ... anyhow have finaly got myself a 2008 anniversery Softail ... { pics coming soon } ... was a huge dicission going the Twin Cam route as oppossed to the Evo route ... and as one does have allready started to change a few things , Mustang Solo seat , very comfortable ... Led tail light , great look filling out the rear gard ... smoked indicator lens with obligortry orange baulbs ... and pipes and air cleaner to come .

To the point of my question ... recently got a set of Ventura 1"&1/4 Low Western Bars to replace the stock 1" Mini Apes , $240 ... all was going well getting everything hooked up , throttle side all good ... got to clutch side and why i never noticed is beyond me but low and behold there is no dimpled recess on the clutch side for the control wires to escape past the clutch leaver and mirror clamp ... yes i realised these bars were meant for the wires to be internaly wired but i wanted to run the wires on the out side first to see if they were a fit for me and as well i wasnt real confident of not stuffing the job up of pulling the tanks off and then depinning the plugs and doing the job myself .

I proceeded to check with a couple of shops here in good old Brisbane ... 2 dealers and 1 custom shop ... needless to say my jaw is still in pain from hitting the ground ... 1st shop $700 ... 2nd shop $550 ... 3rd shop $600 .

Dont know if its just me but i carnt justify spending near on 3 times  the oringinal price of the bars just to run 1 set of control wires from throttle and clutch sides ... i think it is to dangerous to tighten the clamp up as it is sqaushing the wires serverly which could lead to a short plus the clamp isnt clamped up the way it was designed to be ...  so do any of you good folk out there know of any chuncky western ... beach or simurlar bars in the $250 range that have the dimpled recess on both sides or am i restricted to staying with standard 1" bars .

I do like the chuncky look but i like the Western low wide bar even more so 1" bars might have to be my compremise ... was hoping for some good news from the more experienced riders out there ... and while i am at it is there any reason the stock Softail Delux bars wouldnt fit as that is a compremise i could live with ... i think .

Tim .... p.s. ... if pic comes through it is how i bought the bike in oringinal condition 1200 km`s .

 

 

If you want to have a try at pulling the pins and swapping them over,  I can give you a hand. It's just slow, not difficult.  I'm at Springwood. drop me a pm.  beagle.

Thanks S.D.M.F. ... took your advice and got onto the Handle Bar Co. in N.Z. ... all going well my new bars should be here by the end of the week ... they say they have the indents / recess`s on both sides of the bars so here`s hoping they turn up ... bit of a paranoid Virgin with the whole buying stuff over the net thingy .

Beagle will send you a P.M. ... am going to run the wires on the outside for now untill i decide if they are a good fit and look for the new girl ... had something simurlar on my old Shovel , my Avatar pic and allways loved them but want to be sure before running the wires through .

Hey S.D.M.F. can i ask you what year your bike is as i am pretty searious about getting some simurlar Fat spoke wheels like yours from VPW ... want to go the 21" by 3 & 1/2" front wheel ... did you just swap out the .75 bearings for 1" bearings or did Walka sort something else out for you ... havent decided on rear wheel yet as i dont think they do a 17" by 6" rear ... pretty sure they have a 18" by 5.5" but unsure if that would interfear with rear fender and associated bolts and what not .

Thanks guys ... Tim .

Thanks mate , will be checking Ian out early in the new year .

Tim .