handlebar swap and clean up questions

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  • firstripholdmybeer
    Senior Member
    • Apr 2018
    • 337

    handlebar swap and clean up questions

    Howdy CC,

    Wondering if any of you out there have ideas or links to some stuff that will help me clean up the switches on my handlebars. I'm planning to get rid of my stock ones for some rabbit ears and I figure no point if it's going to look clunky and covered with plastic shit! I'm on a 96 XL 1200C

    Right now, everything's stock (signals, horn, headlights, kill switch, ignition). I'm wanting to keep all of this but rewire to microswitches. wondering where I can find some switches that look nice or some fresh ideas from you all.

    cheers!
  • Tattooo
    Senior Member
    • Sep 2012
    • 12407

    #2
    It's been done many times... Have you searched here on CC for threads??

    Comment

    • 7and7is
      Senior Member
      • Dec 2012
      • 812

      #3
      If you are running a front brake the brake line will have to stay, the brake light wiring can be ran in the handlebars, throttle cable, if dual, you can eliminate one, or you can run an internal throttle, the start/kill switch can be rerouted to another location on the bike with a with a toggle switch (off, on, momentary on), if you are keeping the signals check out these https://www.deadbeatcustoms.com/posh...h-1-handlebar/ the high/low beam can also be converted to a toggle switch (on, off, on), and mounted to the headlight bucket, also in some stated you have to have a high beam indicator light, which can also be mounted to the headlight bucket, not sure if they make an internal clutch, if so you could do that, advice; find a wiring schematic for your bike, and study it.

      toggle on headlight bucket


      on, off, momentary on switch mounted to battery box.


      Not the cleanest set up but cleaned up
      Last edited by 7and7is; 04-28-2018, 8:59 AM. Reason: fucked up grammer

      Comment

      • firstripholdmybeer
        Senior Member
        • Apr 2018
        • 337

        #4
        Originally posted by 7and7is
        If you are running a front brake the brake line will have to stay, the brake light wiring can be ran in the handlebars, throttle cable, if dual, you can eliminate one, or you can run an internal throttle, the start/kill switch can be rerouted to another location on the bike with a with a toggle switch (off, on, momentary on), if you are keeping the signals check out these https://www.deadbeatcustoms.com/posh...h-1-handlebar/ the high/low....
        beautiful bike man. thanks a bunch for all that info, exactly what I needed. going to look for that schematic and some toggles now and see what I come up with. cheers!

        Comment

        • MOTher
          Senior Member
          • Sep 2012
          • 347

          #5
          In the pic below, also a '96 1200C, the cleanup only consists of getting rid of the stock enclosed risers and running the wiring internally, but this may be of some help. The bars are medium apes knurled for one of HD's Springer Softail models, because on those the knurling is farther apart, so when I cut the center section out, they'd be even narrower. The riser clamp is the standard HD part for 2 piece bars, along with the stainless cover found on Sportsters of the era. It's mounted backwards here. The bolt holes are the same spacing as your Sportster's stock speedo housing, which here is flipped and the two locating tabs on the inside removed. It's spaced up a little so I can see the idiot lights through the gap.

          The XL1200C's handlebar wiring harnesses are pretty short, so they either need to be extended (a pain in the ass, but do-able.) or replaced. I picked up a set of take off switches and harnesses from a Police Road King of about the same year, swapped the switches into the Sportster's housings, eliminated the extra switches and wiring, and used heat shrink tubing to make it into a covered harness once again. I think I only had to solder 1 connection, maybe 2. You should probably have the special tool to get the pins and sockets out of the plug-in connectors, but it's pretty cheap.

          And a tip for the wiring diagram. If you have a service manual, scan the B&W wiring schematic into your computer, trying to get it as square to the page as possible. Open the diagram in Microsoft Paint, and draw different colored slightly fatter lines over the wires you want to follow. That way, when you print it out you can concentrate on the colored lines and ignore the rest.

          Click image for larger version

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          Last edited by MOTher; 04-28-2018, 11:56 AM.

          Comment

          • firstripholdmybeer
            Senior Member
            • Apr 2018
            • 337

            #6
            Originally posted by MOTher
            In the pic below, also a '96 1200C, the cleanup only consists of getting rid of the stock enclosed risers and running the wiring internally, but this may be of some help...
            thanks big time for saving me all the hassle of finding this out on my own. So I took off the shield to the wire housing on my fork, but didn't fully dive in. I actually like the look of those bars a lot and like that you were able to hold on the original switches. curious, how were you able to flip the speedo? I'm assuming you had to flip the internals as well?

            Comment

            • Dougtheinternetannoyance123
              Senior Member
              • Apr 2012
              • 1021

              #7
              MOTHer,, that looks well done and executed. Could we see some more pix of the rest of the bike by chance??

              As to the wiring, there is a number of micro switches that can be done and use relays, but it adds a lot of complexity,,There is a thread in the sportster section another guy did using some new fangled switchs, and a similar one in a Buell forum I am on where some very talented people wired up some amazing electrickery. (Badweatherbikers.com)

              I like what MOTHer did here though because I have done some degree of switches and such and used to convert some bikes using Jap bike housings (Smaller, simpler, cheap) But when you get wrapped up in extensive mods and THEN have a problem, trouble shooting a bad electrical connection, duff wire or momentary or intermittant shorts or failures is a serious PIA when all your wires are hidden inside the bars or tucked away, Especially on the side of the road, parking lot or behind a bar somewhere with a flashlight clenched in your teeth.

              A show bike is one thing, a rider is another. (Just say'n)

              Comment

              • MOTher
                Senior Member
                • Sep 2012
                • 347

                #8
                firstripholdmybeer, Yes, I had to flip the internals in the speedo too. I had to disconnect the wiring from one end or the other to do that, but it's been 10 years or so since I put this thing together, so I don't remember the specific details. It wasn't that hard. As you can see, I also switched to an eyebrow style headlight, and put some of the plugs and connections inside it. The eyebrow also gave me a place for the idiot lights. Or maybe because it gave me a place for them I ended up keeping them, I don't remember that either.

                Doug, thanks. There are more pics of the bike in the stickied thread "Sporty pics, (yours only) any style," in the "everything Sportsters" subforum in the American Bikes forum. post 6835 page 342.

                Comment

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