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Need help with new handlebars

3K views 11 replies 8 participants last post by  Justin Turtle 
#1 ·
Hello I have a 2008 Honda shadow spirit 750 and recently purchased a set of bitwell 8” mini ape hangers to try and upgrade my bike a bit . I did a bit a research but it seems I did not do enough because once I had the bars installed I noticed the cables seem too short . Now before I go ahead and cry myself to sleep about the cost and technical difficulty of changing the cables I’m asking if anyone has ran into similar issue and if they found a better solution. I’ll be honest I’m pretty handy however I don’t have a lot of experience on bikes besides basic maintenance so the thought of changing the cables is alittle intimidating. I’ll post a pic of the bars thanks in advance
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#3 ·
How short are the cables? Sometimes just re-routing them to the inside of the triple tree instead of out side will give you enough extra. Do a search here in the forum.
 
#4 ·
I've had to unbolt the bars in order to get the throttle hooked up before as there was not enough slack to slide them on with the bars in place. And not enough slack to hook them up afterward without unbolting the lower bracket at the carbs. (2 screws) In your case, another option may be to swap to the shorter VT750CD Ace risers if re-routing isn't enough. Just pull the tank, run the throttle cables up the right side of the neck maybe... That worked on my 1100.
Also, I believe the 750 Ace cables are longer due to their wider bars and more pullback.

Note the bars on my avatar pic, those are stock wiring, cables and brake hose on Harley bars after some re-routing. Though the Spirit may have the shortest cables out there...

Edit: just realized yours is a 750C2, single carb. Ace cables may not work. 750 Aero might...
 
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#6 ·
Replacing cables is pretty much de rigeur if you increase the height of your bars by any significant amount. Good chance to upgrade to braided stainless brake lines at least.
 
#7 ·
Welcome,

If you are trying to slide the controls onto the bars when they are clamped in the risers, like in the pic, that will never work.
Cover the headlight/triple tree area with a towel for protection.
Remove the riser clamps and move the bar center section in front of the risers and DOWN to just over the head light.
This should give you enough slack in the wires/cables to slide the controls onto the handlebars in this position.

If not, move the bars to the left to install the right side controls and move them to the right to install the left side controls.
Once you have the controls on the bars, raise them up and back into the risers and re-clamp in place.
If you have done all this already, nevermind....

If the controls stretch too tight, lower the bars back down and re-route the controls to gain extra length.

I file the nubs off of the switch pods rather than drilling holes in the new bars for those nubs.
Without the nubs the switch pods can be rotated around the bars to gain slack in the wires.
If you don't have nubs, nevermind...
If your oem bars had internal weights, locate and drill holes in the new bars to mount them.

If none if this works out, consider shorter risers to get more control "slack".
I've never had to buy/install longer wires/cables using this method, but have had to install shorter risers.
jmo,
.
 
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#8 ·
By overall dimensions they should. I agree with Kenstone method. I do it this way but the last time I jipped tied a 1" tube to the front of the forks to hang my controls while swapping bars. The stock dimensions are as follows:


You have 3 1/2" less pullback and 3" greater height on the Biltwell thus should work just fine with stock cables.
 
#9 ·
Just wanted to give an update , after trying taking the handlebars off first and re routing a few lines I successfully got the bars on !!! Thank you so much for all the help everyone . I’ll post a pic with the bars on I still need to clean a few lines up and also may change the front break line as I find it is a tad too tight but no big deal !!
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#10 ·
Just be SURE you can turn it lock to lock all the way while running with no throttle cable pull. Watched a Victory make a hard uphill left hand turn with his new bars, Bike revved, jumped the curb and hit the bridge guardrail, laid it down on the left side and broke the shifter. We'd ridden most of the day before this happened... 200 miles from home. (Still not sure if it was the tight cables or him.)

EDIT: Bars look good!
 
#11 ·
As for the brake hose, my 1100 had an extra s-bend in the lower section that did not need to be there, re-did the clamp and gained an extra inch or so. Figured the clamp and the caliper are both bolted to the lower leg, cant move...
 
#12 ·
Use 2 inch risers instead of those risers i went with 10inch apes and 2 inch risers on my shadow 750 aero and have plenty of room on my cables and wires after re routing them on a shadow 750 you should be able to do 10 to 12 inch apes with stock cables from all research i have done
 
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