I know there's quite a few on here that run them. I've never tried them on a motorcycle but I did many years ago change the handlebars on my old Schwinn from mini apes to bmx bars. Thought some of you might get a good laugh out of this I just saw. 
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Ohiobellboy
T-Bars or....
I know there's quite a few on here that run them. I've never tried them on a motorcycle but I did many years ago change the handlebars on my old Schwinn from mini apes to bmx bars. Thought some of you might get a good laugh out of this I just saw.
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Just a different look with Grip Placement pretty dang close to both Ape and T
One day, I'll get a wild hair up me arse and look for a T-Bar Neck and Beach Bar Handle and go more wide and low vs the Narrow and high of my current set up......which is only a 12 as with age, I have gone from 18s to 14s and now run 12s
One day, I'll get a wild hair up me arse and look for a T-Bar Neck and Beach Bar Handle and go more wide and low vs the Narrow and high of my current set up......which is only a 12 as with age, I have gone from 18s to 14s and now run 12s
T-bars were OK on this bike that was only ridden on a trip one time.
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After that ride I realized it wasn't going to be a touring bike and went all in on the look.
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After that ride I realized it wasn't going to be a touring bike and went all in on the look.
You can get apes with similar geometry - just a new fad and lotsa money to get there. Not my cup of tea.
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I kinda like the Tbars, but only on performance bagger builds. But I absolutely hate the gauge relocation “in your face” to the top of the bars so it kills it for me….. If I was gonna do Tbars it would only be on a ‘23+ model which has the gauges in the display. Else if it was a Rushmore bike, I’d have to do the LRST integrated top clamp gauge…….
I find my gauges are in a perfect spot and can be seen much better than stock and have a full view of the nav screen. My bike is built for my comfort, it’s not a performance bagger but suits my style of riding. Some guys like meat hook bars which are a bitch to wire, that’s ok too. The bar/riser combo is real easy to setup for an individuals comfort, super easy to wire and if you don’t like the bars easy to change. I think this fad is here to stay and will catch on more.
Guess I'm a happy T-Bagger then. I rode for 50 miles on stock bars while waiting for my KST Spearheads to come in. Added those and loved them, but got a wild hair up my ass and swapped to T-Bars. Haven't looked back since. I like the look of apes better, but love the way that the T-Bars feel. Brings me back to my Dyna days. Comfortable on long trips and comfortable in the twisties. The price point is ridiculous, but so is everything else on these machines nowadays. Happy with the change though.
Love my setup. 9.5 Thrashin with gauge relocation and triple tree. I did buy it from the dealer new this way, just with 6.5. I changed them real quick for comfort.
Comes down to what "looks good or feels good to you". No one else. Like all other mods, make it yours, don't look back.
It's all VERY SUBJECTIVE!
Comes down to what "looks good or feels good to you". No one else. Like all other mods, make it yours, don't look back.
It's all VERY SUBJECTIVE!
I love my t bar setup. Been on the road for a week, no pain whatsoever. Used to get so bad I couldn’t turn my head at the end of the day, now I feel great. Expensive yes but I have no regrets.
The money for T-Bar setups is stupid compared to installing a set up apes. Sadly I couldn't make up my mind for the longest time and I'm on my 4th setup. The evolution of my bars...
Stock wheelbarrow bars. Lasted about 100-200 miles while I waited for my Saddlemen seat to come in.
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KST 14" Spearheads...Installed because apes are what you put on a bagger right???? I liked the adjustability of the Spearheads and thought they were pretty comfortable. On long rides however I would get a pinching sensation between my shoulder blades. I attributed that to my arms being spread too far apart.
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Thrashin setup...Installed at 6400 miles. This setup was great. They remove the rubber bushings and go back with solid bushings to the top tree. This was a great setup and I felt really connected to the road. No flex at all. Vibration was minimal...until I had my motor build done and the counterbalancer was removed. At that point, it just transferred too much vibration to the hands. I needed something with poly bushings.
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After the motor build, I went with Kraus. This is a solid bushing to the risers and then inside the kickback portion, they have poly bushings. This is just enough to give you the rigidity that I wanted but also dampen the vibration. I installed this around 9700 miles in and I'm sitting at 18,300 right now. This setup does not block any of the screen and I have full view of the gauges as well. My complaint was the stock fuel door location, so I swapped out my tank dash to accommodate that. Now this is dialed in.
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You can see that the cockpit is perfectly setup for ME in this configuration. I have 10" kickback risers with the T-Rex plate and FM bars that I had powder coated. This gives me right at 13.5" of rise plus about 3-1/2" of pull back. I have the standard reach Saddlemen Road Sofa with rider backrest. I comfortably lean back on it and don't have an unnatural bend in my elbows or stretch for the grips. I ran a phone cord through my fairing and up my risers over to the left perch clamp where I have a RockForm phone mount. When the sun bakes the phone and overheats it, I just unplug and cord and use a 2nd cord in the right cubby. I have my pistol on a RAM ball mount connected to the left riser and keep it in a Safariland QLS compatible holster that easily clips onto the paddle I keep on my person. I can also clip my Insta360 to the right riser as seen in the photo when I'm in locations that I want to record video. I'm running ODI Vans grips which are narrow like MX grips. This helps with hand fatigue, especially when wearing thick gloves. I did a 1K ride with this setup and my arms were actually comfortable at the end of the ride.
I love the look of apes over T-Bars on these baggers. This is truly a case of function over form for me though. I'm not saying this is ugly, but I like classic looks and apes are classic. I just want the best performing and most comfortable ride though. Scheduled for an advanced rider course in October where I'll really see how these do with slow speed maneuvers. I have no doubt that I will be quite comfortable with them.
To each his own on what they choose though. This is the right choice for me.
Stock wheelbarrow bars. Lasted about 100-200 miles while I waited for my Saddlemen seat to come in.
KST 14" Spearheads...Installed because apes are what you put on a bagger right???? I liked the adjustability of the Spearheads and thought they were pretty comfortable. On long rides however I would get a pinching sensation between my shoulder blades. I attributed that to my arms being spread too far apart.
Thrashin setup...Installed at 6400 miles. This setup was great. They remove the rubber bushings and go back with solid bushings to the top tree. This was a great setup and I felt really connected to the road. No flex at all. Vibration was minimal...until I had my motor build done and the counterbalancer was removed. At that point, it just transferred too much vibration to the hands. I needed something with poly bushings.
After the motor build, I went with Kraus. This is a solid bushing to the risers and then inside the kickback portion, they have poly bushings. This is just enough to give you the rigidity that I wanted but also dampen the vibration. I installed this around 9700 miles in and I'm sitting at 18,300 right now. This setup does not block any of the screen and I have full view of the gauges as well. My complaint was the stock fuel door location, so I swapped out my tank dash to accommodate that. Now this is dialed in.
You can see that the cockpit is perfectly setup for ME in this configuration. I have 10" kickback risers with the T-Rex plate and FM bars that I had powder coated. This gives me right at 13.5" of rise plus about 3-1/2" of pull back. I have the standard reach Saddlemen Road Sofa with rider backrest. I comfortably lean back on it and don't have an unnatural bend in my elbows or stretch for the grips. I ran a phone cord through my fairing and up my risers over to the left perch clamp where I have a RockForm phone mount. When the sun bakes the phone and overheats it, I just unplug and cord and use a 2nd cord in the right cubby. I have my pistol on a RAM ball mount connected to the left riser and keep it in a Safariland QLS compatible holster that easily clips onto the paddle I keep on my person. I can also clip my Insta360 to the right riser as seen in the photo when I'm in locations that I want to record video. I'm running ODI Vans grips which are narrow like MX grips. This helps with hand fatigue, especially when wearing thick gloves. I did a 1K ride with this setup and my arms were actually comfortable at the end of the ride.
I love the look of apes over T-Bars on these baggers. This is truly a case of function over form for me though. I'm not saying this is ugly, but I like classic looks and apes are classic. I just want the best performing and most comfortable ride though. Scheduled for an advanced rider course in October where I'll really see how these do with slow speed maneuvers. I have no doubt that I will be quite comfortable with them.
To each his own on what they choose though. This is the right choice for me.
Sorry. NOPE. To each his own but in my personal opinion they are FUGLY. But, I also understand that a lot of the shit I do is not everyone's idea of good lookin. These are Harley's, man. Supposed to be individual and unique to the rider by definition so if that's what you like....you do you....just not my cup of tea.....or T-bagger
I like the idea of the bars. Put thrashing mid bends on mine with 9.5“ riser setup and don’t like it at all. Bike is not rideable for more than a half hour now. Prior to the bars I added a Corbin seat which I love, but can’t reach the thrashing bars , seat moved me down and back. Put stock seat back On and the bars work but seat comfort sucks. If your considering t bars my advice would be do the bars first then find a seat that works with them. (Opposite of what I’ve always done)I have a saddleman seat as well that does work due to higher and closer seat position but after 2,000 miles just couldn’t get the thing to break in.
Thrashins definitely coming off just having a hard time paying dealer $800 to put the stock bars back on. So looking at KST pathfinders or spearheads just undecided. Have a little time to work through it before spring I guess
Thrashins definitely coming off just having a hard time paying dealer $800 to put the stock bars back on. So looking at KST pathfinders or spearheads just undecided. Have a little time to work through it before spring I guess
Consider a pullback plate to bring the bars closer to you. That made all of the difference for me.
Pull back plate or try rolling the bars back, might get enough rolling the bars back. Be a shame to change back as it’s a big dollar loss.
Did you do the Kickback risers or the straight ones? When I had Thrashin on my bike, I had a Road Sofa and installed their top tree with the risers in the closest location, used the 9.5" kickback risers, and their mid bend bars. It put me right in the comfort zone. I'm 5'-11" and installed this on my '23 Limited. I have since changed to a Kraus setup with a pullback plate like @Glidin22 mentioned. He has his dialed in pretty well after installing the Kraus Raptor plate.
Raptor 1-1/2 in. Pull Back Plate - Touring
The Road Glide Raptor Pull Back Plate bolts to your stock or aftermarket triple tree to relocate the bar mounts towards the rider 1.5" to clear the gauges.
krausmotorco.com
T-Rex Pull Back Plate
The Kraus T-Rex Pull Back Plate moves the bars back towards the rider 2.5 inches to clear the Navigation screen and stereo and adds 1-inch of height.
krausmotorco.com
SDC Dagger Pullback Plate
Upgrade your SDC Dagger Risers with this add-on for a 2-inch closer reach and an extra 2 inches of height. Available in anodized black or machine finish. Made in the USA from high-grade billet aluminum in collaboration with Kraus and SDC
krausmotorco.com
OG Moto makes them as well. I have the Dagger pullback plate for my Kraus setup. I believe that @Glidin22 used the T-Rex Plate for his AN setup. They all work together. It just depends on your flavor for what you need on rise versus pullback. I have a T-Rex pullback plate I took off of my setup that could work for you if you would be interested in buying that.
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