I just put 14 inch apes on last week I was moving my bike in garage to get attic door down and the kickstand didnt latch good, it started going over and I had a hold of the bars and bent the left one. That ****** sucks now I gotta do it all again. tried to staighten them but it would never be the same.
That does @#@#$ suck... I guess the good part is at least you had it happen at home vice out on the road. Just tryin to help ya find the positive side of this scenario.
Im not used to a bike without the saddlebag guards on it. I didnt know if the bag would lay on the concrete or not so I wasnt about to let it down and see. I slipped on wet concrete once in the garage and sit my roadking over like that but it just layed on those bars and I took my time getting ready to raise it. Im still not sure if the bag will hit before the front engine guard.
The engine guard hits first this happened to me only my spring had popped of the kick stand somehow and I gently had to her down on the crash bars because the bike was already to far over for me to just stand back up
I've never had apes but I'm guessing that most of them would bend under the same conditions. So you have a fraction of a second to choose what to replace; apes, bags or worse? Sucks dude.
Did the bike land on the bars or did they bend from you hold it but the bars? If they bent by holding it I would love to know the brand because I would never ever use one that bent that easily. Also if the it didnt land on the bars but was from you holding one end look at your risers. The risers can twist in the upper tree and will give the appearance that the bars are bent. Try loosening them and the bar clamps to see if the bars will realign. If not then the bars are definately bent.
I will look at that in the morning and see if thats the case, I hope it is. The bike never layed over, It gently came over and i tried holding it with the bars until I could get situated and get ahold of the frame or something down by the floor board I finally got my butt against the seat and pushed it back up straight. it looks tweaked down my the bar clamp, like it is bent back towards the tank before it turns to go vertical. They are W0572 chubbys
If you have decided the bars are junk already, then you can try straightening them. I have had good luck by putting handle bars in a solid vice and then using a 4 foot section of steel plumbing pipe over the end of the handle bar. If you have two people you can put the pipe over the end of the bar and the other person apply pressure down by the center and get it to move down there.
I have also used a 3 foot pipe wrench on the bar near the center to apply pressure.
If you not going to use it, you got nothing to loose by trying. If you think it has value to somebody now you could make it worse and lessen its value.
I usually dont use the bars to try to pick it up. I put my ass against the seat and grab the engine guard in one hand and saddlebag guard in the other and push it up with my legs. but this one doesnt have a saddlebag guard so I panicked thinking it was going to lay on the saddlebag and was trying to keep it off the ground. My fault I guess
Same thing happened to me. I was backing out of my garage and I'm not sure what happened but I lost control and layed the bike down. The bike layed on the engine and saddlebag guards. I used the usual method of backing to the bike grabbing the saddlebag guard and the handlebars. I got thebike 3/4 of the way up and it started rolling backwards so I let it back down. Luckily the fed ex manwas a biker and stopped and helped me. I did the same method a second time and he helped me. So the bars went through the pulling twice. You can't see that they are bent but I can feel them while riding( my left arm is more bent than right). I was on the fence about going higher with the bars any ways so I will be buying either 16 or 18 inches shortly.
I believe I could straighten those bars. Maybe a friend has a hydraulic press and a few blocks of wood. I have straightened all kinds of stuff in mine. Patience is the key to doing it. It's just tweaked a little which makes me think the bars could be saved.
I gave them to a friend. I always thought once a piece of metal has been bent it will always be weak in that spot. Didnt take long to change them out, Im not bragging but I think Im getting pretty good at putting bars on, this was the 5-6 set I have installed that needed wires pulled and plugs taken apart and reassembled. Its not hard at all you just really need to be by yourself where you can keep your mind on it and be patient. Double check everything before you put it back together.
How good of a friend is/was he? Just kidding...if he knowingly wants to take a chance, then that's on him now. I agree with you that once most metals are bent, that will be a weaker spot in the future if just bent back.
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