Ok so I was at a bike event this past summer and saw some
incredible handlebars at a booth from Paul Yaffe. They were called Monkey Bars,
ape hangers for baggers and they were just about the coolest thing I’d ever
seen.

I wanted them but as we all know changing handle bars is not
a cheap thing to do. Especially when custom bars are involved.

It was just a dream. You know the kind.

I shared my idea back in October with my girl Shari and
showed her a picture of the bars on some random bike on a web page.

That was like a little seed that grew into a bigger idea for
her and she absolutely blew me away by putting those Monkey Bars under the
Christmas tree for me.

She is the absolute best ! I ain’t kiddin’

All right so now I have the bars… what am I going to do with
them ?

I’ve never changed bars before. I mean I’ve done a lot. I
keep learning more and more as I rack up the miles and battle the general wear and tear.

I knew changing bars was a lot of work since all of the
cables have to be changed and the wiring would have to be run through the bars
.

It took a little while to collect the necessary parts but
with the help of some mail orders from JP cycles, realhog.com and a trip to San
Diego Harley for some fluids and a new one-piece riser top clamp I was ready to
go.

The first part of the tear down went smoothly and quickly
since most of the stuff I’ve had off already when I had to replace my inner
fairing and various exhaust installs, repairs etc…

I was a bit concerned that I was about to begin such a
significant project to my motorcycle.

Cutting a wire harness and “partially” removing my gas tank
are not exactly things I want to be doing to the poor girl.

I decided that I would just extend the wires by using
extensions so I ran those extension wires through the bars first. That was a
bit tricky but done in short order.

(bars pre-wired and ready, cables and stuff)

I was able to solder the wires at the control side on the
work bench and reconnect again under the fairing.

It might not be how the pros do it but it came out really
clean worked efficiently and smoothly.

Things continued to move smoothly for the most part. There
was a tense moment when I found out those simple little snap ring pliers I’ve
had for years, the same ones that have  worked well for everything else I’ve used them
for were not much of a match for that giant steel snap ring holding the clutch
ramp and ball assembly together.

I got it though…everything hooked up, clutch cable, throttle
cables and all new front brake lines and connectors.

Next up more soldering…. If you want to keep track… there
were 14 wires running down the left side of the bars and 12 on the right side.
So that’s 52 solder joints… phew !

All done and assembled, Everything worked on the
first try. Like I said it was a time consuming task.

I started after work on Saturday night around 7:30 and
worked until 2:30 am…then back at it again at 6:30 am Sunday morning. All in
all I figure about 16 hours start to finish including breaks for those crown
and cokes my helper was bringing me and some ridiculous delays fixing little
things I found along the way that needed attention.

I’m happy with the end results, I think it looks sweet and
the bars feel real comfortable. They are a 12” rise and just sort of feel like
a natural place to put your hands.

Also I was happy that everything came apart and went back
together so smoothly and with the exception that even though the brake line
could have been a +4 instead of a +6 all of the parts I ordered worked perfectly.

I’m pretty sure the bike is faster now with the new bars ;)

That's cool JRK. Just went through that very same thing not moren a month ago. Went to 6" risers and 21" apes. Most people dont really realize how much work goes into it and the final cost of doing such a project until they do it themselves. It's not just changing bars, but adding wiring extensions, clutch & throttle cables, new front brake lines if you have them. And if you go too tall, repositioning front directionals becomes necesary as well. Then ya have to test hard left & right turns for clutch cable play and throttle tensioning, cause finding out you have a problem at the wrong time is not very fun and usually will cause some embarrassment and some sort of financial loss. LOL (Trust me on this!!)

Looks like ya did a jam up job there JRK. Oh yea, did they offer ya a free swing set with them monkey bars?? LMAO!

very nice

Nice work and great detailed blow by blow. Hell, it looks faster just sittin there!

Dayum J...looks saweet fershur!  I do however, want to see ya pic of you
in the saddle gripping those bars...~~woot~~
They do look really nice on there!

Oh the pics dont even do the beauty of the bars on Johnnys kick~ass Standard! The apes look like they were born on this bike!

I truly enjoyed watching most of the project with you Johnny! You created this most amazing transformation of your bike!~ Incredible! There was no doubt in my mind you had this licked!  The non stop wrenching & sodering that you took to get it all done..remarkable timing for sure! ..Yeh handsome, Im sure think'n after todays ride...yep your bike IS faster!

What made me most happy, the fact you were happy!

Great job and story Johnny, I know how jacked Shari was gettin those for you and she couldn't wait to give them to you. That is a big fucking job to do and real time consuming. You guys rock together and you better keep rockin for people like me, it does our heart good.

yup i agree with big brother Dave....Shari was stoked about gettin those for you....signs of a good womans love for her man...

It looks great!

thanks for the compliments folks

still tweaking a few things here and there this weekend but the rain has kept me inside for the most part.

for some of the technical part for anybody thinking of a similar project

my bike is an 05 FLHTI electra glide

bars - 12" rise

clutch cable stock length +6" (was a perfect fit)

front brake line kit. also a +6" (too long, a +4" setup would have been ideal)

i used a front brake line kit that came with all three lines fittings and flares already attached, the splitter and all new bajo bolts and crush washers.
easy to install and the flares and splitter fit like a glove under the trees.

throttle cables stock +6" (also too long, a +4" would have been plenty - they work fine,  just loop out too far forward in my opinion, all hidden under the fairing...but still.)

they looking fine on there too JRK! awesome job...I can't even imagine having the patience it takes to do that. Be careful though...I see you have the grips that Randy calls the "you're gunna bleed" grips with those spikes!  LOL IT looks awesome though! good woman you have but you know that.

Those bars look bad ass on that bike! I can see how those grips could be a pain ;-) They are in the perfect position too. Sitting on it they are just right there in that sweet spot. Im sure when you get the blacked out grips it will give it a whole new "new" look.

LOOKIN GOOD !!!!!!!!!!!!!!