Installing Reach handlebars on a Road King

[CoolMaker]

I just finished putting the Reduced Reach handlebars (56152-04) on my RKCI, it was fun and an easy job. The wiring went inside the bars and this was a nice touch, the plugs must be removed from the harness to get them through the bars. Take your time and make a hand drawing of where the wires are in the left and right plug, then no problem to put them back in proper order. A wiring harness extension kit is needed (72184-04) Everything else is normal stuff, except when you have to set up the throttle cables. This bike has cruise control, and you have to remove the wiring plug fron the cruise module to set up the "roll-off switch". This requires a VOM for a continuity check to be sure the switch is set right. The only problem I had was when I plugged the meter leads in the plug, they were abit large and tripped the ends back, then they did not make contact, therefore the cruise did not work...Oops... Had to take the two wires (orange/violet & violet/yellow)out of the plug and trip them back. Presto, cruise worked again. Please use a very small lead end to probe the plug, or use a small paper clip and then the meter leads for this. It will save you allot of time and aggravation... As always the factory manuals are a necessity when fooling with wiring..

The bars helped straighten out my back and make for a much better ride. I am 6'0 tall but they helped allot. Next is a better seat for the ride. Hope this helps someone. If anyone has any questions, please feel free to ask.

[Squirrel]

Great post Cool and thanks for helping me with my bars.

[shadow]

Great article Cool. Did you say You installed these to try to keep from leaning forward? and straighten up your posture? I have a Road King I'm about 5'9" and I feel comfortable but do not know what my posture looks like. What keeps my back straight is sitting up straight to look over the windscreen. The top is almost right in the middle of my line of vision so I can either straighten up or hunker down. I was curious if I should do a windscreen mod or if a set of the REACH bars would change my posture enough to change my view of the road. By the way, I did change seats on mine and opted for the Sundowner seat 51615-99c. It is comfortable for the rider and the passenger seat is wider so that it is also more suitable for longer rides when you have a passenger. My wife sez it's a lot better than the stock seat. Thanks for the great info and keep us up on any other mods you do.

[speed]

Len, put something small (like a set of keys) on the ground 25 feet in front of your bike. Sit in your normal position and wherever your line of sight is through the windshield that is the height you should cut it down to. You can buzz it with a jig saw then smooth the edges with some fine grit sand paper.

SM

[Squirrel]

Originally Posted by speedman

Len, put something small (like a set of keys) on the ground 25 feet in front of your bike. Sit in your normal position and wherever your line of sight is through the windshield that is the height you should cut it down to. You can buzz it with a jig saw then smooth the edges with some fine grit sand paper.

SM

Yep that will work just make sure you use a fine tooth blade and go slow. Cut to fast and you risk cracks or melting the material. I modified a buddy's windshield to fit around his 7" Headlight on his Softail. Works great. :wink:

[shadow]

Thanks for the great tip Chris and John. I guess mine is a little on the tall side, but I also think it is the king size windscreen. Good to know info.

[CoolMaker]

Originally Posted by shadow

Great article Cool. Did you say You installed these to try to keep from leaning forward? and straighten up your posture? I have a Road King I'm about 5'9" and I feel comfortable but do not know what my posture looks like. What keeps my back straight is sitting up straight to look over the windscreen. The top is almost right in the middle of my line of vision so I can either straighten up or hunker down. I was curious if I should do a windscreen mod or if a set of the REACH bars would change my posture enough to change my view of the road. By the way, I did change seats on mine and opted for the Sundowner seat 51615-99c. It is comfortable for the rider and the passenger seat is wider so that it is also more suitable for longer rides when you have a passenger. My wife sez it's a lot better than the stock seat. Thanks for the great info and keep us up on any other mods you do.

As they said, the windshield height is important. I changed the handlebars to prevent me from leaning forward all the time and getting lower back pain. I am using the same seat as you have, with the "butt Buffer" pad installed inside the seat. :wink: