The King Enters The Evil Religion Of The Ape,

Photos and technical assistance by Frank Kaisler

There's an unwritten rule in the Code Of Chrome that says, if you slip a set of highbars on any motorcycle you save it from mediocrity. There's more, an evil punishment for this often illegal gesture towards the rebellious arts. As soon as the unsuspecting rider throws his leg over the saddle and reaches for the tall grips, his sideburns expand down the sides of his face and a goatee springs forth from his chin. The cuffs of his t-shirt roll, and he begins to smoke a pack a day. An treacherous grin spreads across his smoke tainted teeth, as if a deadly rash, and before the week is out he's left his lovely religious wife and ravaged several other women. Hearts lie broken in his tire-burned path. It's an ugly sight. So what did we do to the King next--Highbars to the stars.

As soon as a date was set for the Arizona Run I called Frank Kaisler, "We've got two weeks. Let's install the highbars."

"You're nuts," Franks said, "but we all knew that. Let's do it. Make sure you have a roll of thin 60/40 solder, soldering paste and a wide variety of long shrink tubing from 1/8 to 1/2 inch. Oh, and you can get a head start by drilling holes in the bars for the wiring and a slot at the bottom for the wires to exit. Start small and work up to and beyond 1/2-inch holes.

With multiple drill sizes and burr bits I formed over 1/2-inch holes after holding the bars up to the bike and trying to estimate the position of the grips. This is critical. I unbolted the grips and measured the distance in from the end of the bars where the wires would run and noted the position of the wiring.

This was nervous work since it was not precise. Even the slot at the bottom of the bars almost 2 inches long and 5/8-inch wide had to be carefully positioned not to put undue stress on the wires.

I took the riser housing off so I could see how the wire looms and cables ran. When Frank arrived he brought along a sack full of tools that included emery bits and a dremel tool to smooth out the sharp edges particularly on the inside.

We quickly rounded out the edges of the holes so as not to cut the wiring. Frank used his trick of shoving a tissue paper in each hole to test for sharp edges or burrs. If it snagged the least amount we continued the edge-softening procedure. He also kicked me during the process and reminded me to disconnect the battery.

Next we had to carefully strip the headlight housing and handlebars. To remove the riser housing there are two screws adjacent to the ignition switch (pop off the guide ring around the ignition switch with a screwdriver), but that doesn't do the entire job. The headlight ring must be removed. Take the sheetmetal screw out of the bottom of the ring and then lift out and up. The ring is held by a notch at the top and supported by a spring that will snap loose. When it pops free there are eight small black screws holding the headlight assembly in place (the other silver screws are there to adjust the lens--don't mess with them). After they were removed the assembly came out easily but needed to be unplugged from the wire connection at the rear.

The wiring seems daunting, but it's not bad and very organized.

The last small bolt holding the riser cover in place goes in this hole under the nacelle strip. The strip hooks into the slot above it.

Then you need to reach up under the cowling and feel along the bottom for the very small nut that holds the bezel strip in place. Once the strip is removed, the riser cover can be removed.

Here's the cover removed. A lot of work to reach the handlebar clamps.

The two 5/16 dome nuts holding each side of the bezel also hold the runners for the windshield and the passing light bar, which we removed along with the front crash bar-- Living dangerously.

Then the passing and turn signal light bar was removed for ever more, and the bezel removed with the 5/16-inch dome nuts on either side of the front end (make sure you keep all the fasteners together including the windshield runners). Set the chromed bezel aside somewhere out of harms way. That's a big chunk of visible chrome.

This photo reveals a handlebar clamp being removed. It's bullshit. We didn't remove the handlebars until much later.

If you have a pal in the garage drinking beer and watching, get him to take shots of this process. If you must wait a week to re-install all this crap you may need a reference guide and photos help a feeble memory. Or, of course, come to Bikernet and print out this tech. Don't forget to cover the tank and fender with something soft to protect them from scratches.

We noted that the electrical plugs on the left side of the bike were different color from the right. We also noted their location and the distance from the bars were measured before unplugging each connection to the handlebar switches.

Don't remove any wires before you draw the diagram below. This cap performs a couple of functions. It seals the plug and internally is pinches each wire lug in place. Once it's removed a small screwdrive will pull each catch away from each individual wire lug so it can be removed easily.

Check your diagram twice, no three times, before removing any wires.

We also noted the position of the throttle cables before removing the bars. Then the grips were removed and switch housings loosened so we could begin on the left side of the bars.

We handled the left wiring extension first. This shot is of the right side and doesn't show a helluva lot, but it's important. To remove the throttle cable housings from the throttle body it takes four miniature hands and two dinky screwdrivers to pinch the spring ring that holds the cable in place. Be patient.

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