To begin this saga I purchased my very first Harley- Davidson last fall. It was a new 2005 Sportster 1200R. I wanted a Harley for years, but couldn’t afford one until last year. Of course I’m just like everybody else in America, working pay check to pay check. So buying a new motorcycle was a big deal and I still don’t see how I can afford this one.

If it would have been up to me, I would have probably had a Harley years ago, but I would be living on the street.

So, when I said I wanted to put a set of 16 inch ape hangers on my new motorcycle, she wanted to know how much this was going to cost her. Money wasn’t too much of an issue; the bars were only fifty dollars. So, I went ahead and ordered the bars from Paughco. When the bars arrived I realize that I will also need new cables and brakes. Like I said, I live pay check to pay check, so I had to do some research and check on some prices. After almost a year of paying for more important stuff, I went to Littlejohn Cycles, a local family run bike shop to order my cables. All the cables for Sportsters weren’t long enough. I had to order everything for a Road King to get the lengths I needed. I was nervous, but he assured me that all the ends would match up. A day later my parts arrived and I was ready to wrench.

Day one: first things first, I would love to go to school and learn how to work on Harleys but have yet to come up with the money for that one, so I am untrained and my new best friend is a 2005 Sportster service manual. The book is great, and a life saver, but it can get a little confusing.

Take your time and read everything as many times as you need to in order to understand what it is telling you to do. After some serious study time I began with the stock brake lines.

The service manual tells you to use a long tube to drain the calipers. That’s great if you have one.

If you don’t, things will get messy. When I got through removing the brake lines I cleaned up the mess that I just made. Brake fluid is very slippery. Don’t try this if you have trouble picking yourself up after you bust your ass in a pool of brake fluid.

Next, I unhooked the throttle. The end at the handle bars wasn’t that difficult, but where the lines connect to the carburetor proved to be a little more of a challenge. You must remove the air box so you can get to the carburetor. Then you need to get your fat fingers around the carburetor to where the lines hook in.

After some straining I finally got the lines unhooked. Next, I unhooked the handle bar end of the clutch cable. This step was a breeze. Then I unhooked the handle bar controls and took the stock bars off.

After I got the new bars on I stood back and admired the new and improved Sportster. After I realized I was drooling, I got myself together and located my holes for my internal wiring and drilled them. It was getting late so I called it a day.

Day two: I started out by smoothing out the holes I had drilled the night before so I wouldn’t tear the wires when I pushed them through. Then I decided to hook up my new throttle and idle cables to the carburetor. After a half hour of straining and struggling I started to wish that I had never quit smoking.

Fifteen to twenty minutes later the cables where finally hooked up to the carburetor. I installed the air box and was finished with that end of the cables. The handle bar end had to wait until I made my wiring longer.

Next, I started unhooking the clutch cable from the primary. This was the part that I was most worried about. All I could think of was all the small parts and the ball bearings that worked the clutch.

I started by draining the primary. Then I removed the clutch inspection cover and followed the directions in the service manual. It was a breeze. A service manual is the best thing you can buy for your motorcycle if you plan on doing any work to your bike yourself.

I hooked up the handle bar end of the clutch and then moved to installing the new brake lines. My bike has dual front brakes, so I install the two lower lines with 10mm banjo fittings. The top line has a 12mm banjo fitting that connects to the master cylinder. Something isn’t right; the stock banjo bolt doesn’t want to go through the new 12mm banjo fitting. I’ve had enough for one day so I decide to figure it out in the morning.

Day three: This really sucks. I have to go to work and wonder why my brake fitting isn’t working. I run by the local bike shop on my lunch break and find out that the biggest banjo fitting made is a 12mm. Great, but that doesn’t explain why my stock banjo bolt is so big. It seems that at some point with the recent redesign of the Sportster, Harley decided to use an actual 12mm banjo bolt instead of a standard 7/16. Seeing as how nobody makes a banjo fitting bigger than a 12mm I had to drill out the one that came with my brake line kit.

Too late today to buy another banjo fitting so I run by Wal-Mart and pick up a five dollar soldering iron. Be sure to make a diagram of what color wire goes where before you take them loose.

I spent the rest of the night extending my handle bar wiring. That heat shrink is some cool shit. I was amazed, it was the first time I had ever messed with it. I routed the wire through the bars and hooked up the handlebar side of the throttle and idle cables to my new nostalgic grips. It was frustrating, but not as bad as the carburetor end of the cables. After a long day at work and a long evening wrenching on the bike I was dragging my knuckles, so I call it a day.

Day four: I went back to the bike shop and pick up another banjo fitting. This time I am successful with the drilling. I hurry home after work to finish the brakes. All I can think about is that it is going to be a beautiful day tomorrow, and all I have left to do is finish the brakes and blast off. The drilled fitting worked perfectly. Then disaster strikes! I was in a hurry and striped the tee manifold that the three brake lines screw into.

It’s too late in the evening to get a new tee fitting so I have to wait yet another day.

Day five: When your project is at home, and it’s more important than your job, it really makes the day drag by. I went to the bike shop on my lunch break again. I bought a new tee fitting and waited desperately for 5:00 o’clock. It waited minutes for seconds to pass. Finally I raced home to hook up my brakes. Do not forget to bleed your new lines. I found some hose for the bleeder valves, but I still made a big mess with the brake fluid.

Finally I took the bike out for its first test ride. Everything was going okay, until I pass a transfer truck on a two lane road and the wind whips my throttle and idle cable around.

It got hairy for a minute, but I was able to muscle the grip back, slow down and pull over. After I figured out what exactly happened I used a wire tie to secure the lines to the handle bars so they wouldn’t whip around any more.

Although, I am not a licensed mechanic it wasn’t as hard as I had anticipated. It was a lot of fun doing the work myself.

I have to thank Bandit and his Road King high bar transformation for the inspiration (see it in the King Department). My bike was pretty much stock before the high bars.

The only other thing I have changed is the seat. It’s no Paul Cox creation, but I made it myself and I think it’s cool. Don’t ever be afraid to try something new, even when your co- workers tell you that you are crazy and your arms will go numb. It’s all about having a good time and looking cool.