Changing Up Harley Handlebars For Cheap
If you picked up a basic (read: non-Touring) Harley-Davidson from the Evo or Twin Cam years, reworking the handlebar sitch is probably on your mind. If you’re new to the game or you’re trying to keep things budget-friendly, here’s a few suggestions on how to do it. Obviously we can't determine if every handlebar works with every bike, but if you follow this guide, you should have a rough idea on how to get a fresh appearance without breaking the bank on parts or making the situation more complex than it has to be. Shortcut to the end of the article for links to the parts to bolt on and go!
Keep your hands in the same place
If you’re replacing bars because you want to switch up the look, you’re in good shape. If your hands aren’t, try to change the sweep (wrist angle) of the bars but leave the rise (height) the same as what you have. The reason? Your cables for the throttle and clutch and the wiring in your controls can all be reused. Switching those out is possible, but it increases the complexity of the job.
Cheat a little
You can get a more dramatic look by eliminating your risers and mounting a bar with integrated risers. Your hands land in the same comfy spot, but your bar now has more rise since the riser is gone, giving the appearance of a taller setup with little of the cost.
Buy only dimpled bars
“Dimples” in the Harley world are recesses for the wires exiting factory controls. (You know, the boxy-looking things with all your buttons for the horn and starter and the like?) A bike sometimes looks cleaner without them (and the associated cables they help route), but the cost and complexity of swapping goes way up as your factory clamshells can’t be used.
Make sure you don’t have TBW
TBW is “throttle by wire,” meaning the throttle is controlled electronically. The opposite of this is a cable throttle, where a traditional cable pulls the throttle butterfly TBW bikes have a throttle unit that runs through the handlebars and require specific bars. If you’ve got a garden-variety Dyna, Softail, or Sportster, you probably don’t have TBW—Harley used it only on Touring bikes and some select CVO models, but it pays to make sure.
Don’t forget about the bushings
Most bikes from this era use rubber bushings under the risers to try to help quell some of the Harley vibes. They’re usually shot; plan on replacing them. Factory bushings were rubber and get sloppy fast. Urethane or solid inserts are the move here for an upgrade. Some later Narrowglide front ends feature solid mounting to the upper triple tree; if you have this setup you need neither risers nor bushings.
Swap to rubber grips
You can buy fancy grips if you like, but the rubber slide-on ones offer two advantages. First, they’re cheap enough to replace multiple times a season if they get gross. Second, because the only time the clamshells need to come apart is when you remove the OE grips, you make future grip swaps a snap.
Here are some handlebars that are a direct bolt-in for most Evo- and Twin Cam-era Sportster, Dyna, FXR, and Softail factory cables and wiring with no rerouting. Pair them with your choice of riser bushings and grips and you should have everything you need for a simple swap. (Make sure you order the dimpled versions!)
Some bikes will allow for a slightly taller bar, like our Rabbit, Bootlegger, or BMX models—if you have a pretty tall OEM setup, like a mini-ape or an aftermarket bar a previous owner converted, you might be in good shape. These are also all integrated-riser-type bars, so they're even better for saving money and giving the illusion of height, but they won't fit on everything right out of the box.
If you’re not sure, stick to the items on the bulleted list above and it's likely your swap will be pretty painless.
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