Customising Your Harley with the Right Controls

No matter what bike you have, an ideal riding position, with the bars, grips, pegs and seat honed for your riding position is the difference between comfort and safety, or a cramped, fatiguing ride and reduced control robbing you of riding fun. Granted, this differs between smaller sports or dirt bikes and bigger cruisers and tourers. But having the ride controls tailored to your riding style and height ensures that basic maneuvers, balance and the ability to make abrupt changes to speed or direction become second nature. 

How high or far handlebars sit, where your feet are positioned and how stretched out your hands are, all make a difference. The goal for most riders is balancing control and comfort. And this is as personal as choosing a bike brand. For perennial mile-crunching favourites like Harleys, the stock Harley Davidson controls fitted from the factory might be your ideal option if you specced the bike yourself. But no so if you're buying a second-hand bike, or passing the bike on to family or friends. 

Bike controls are what most people change before committing to performance, handling or style upgrades. And the good news is that the brand has a devout following with dozens of aftermarket brands offering Harley Davidson controls so riders cann customise their bikes any way they want.

Handlebars

Handlebars aren't just a styling element on your Harley. Different bars will ultimately provide a different riding experience, meaning differences in how comfy you get on longer rides, how fast fatigue sets in and how easy it is to turn or brake. And the wide selection of handlebars, from high apehangers to low and straight drag bars will have riders in a more laid-back or more forward seating position.

If you're intent on changing the stock bars, here are a few key factors to help with your next purchase: 

• Handlebar height - handlebars should be level with shoulder height (or just below). This depends on rider height, riding position and handlebar type. Higher bars provide an upright seating posture but may be too tall for shorter riders. Heights vary from 0 to 20", with risers helping lift lower-set bars a few inches. Risers are the more cost-effective upgrade if you want something slightly higher. 

• Width - how wide the bars are determines how easy it is to turn. Handlebar width is the distance from the end of the bar grips to the other. Like height, bars near shoulder width work best for most riders. 

• Diameter - most Harley handlebars have 1" tubing (or 7/8" in older bikes) throughout their length, including in the clamping area. This ensures a uniform look and the required strength. Fat bars can differ in diameter, but they are too thin out to 1" in the clamping area. 

• Pullback and sweep -  pullback is the angle between the tip of the grips and the front clamping area. Shorter riders will prefer bars with more pullback, with pullback risers also helping in incremental changes. Sweep refers to the degree to which your wrists rest on the handlebars. Riders can have hands positioned straight out or at an angle toward the rider. Both determine comfort by reducing numbness and the ability to steer. Changing sweep and pullback angles also changes your riding position and style, from upright to forward. 

Handlebar Designs and Styles 

Aesthetics is just as important as comfort, with dozens of aftermarket and factory options allowing riders to customise the look of their bikes. Popular high designs besides apehangers are window, H-bars, Breezer bars and Chumps (with heights generally between 6 and 16 inches and slight to moderate pullback). 

Popular mid-bar designs, with heights generally between 2" and 8" are mini-apehangers, T-bars and angled Z-bars. Riders of shorter stances and anyone wanting a more aggressive forward riding position are advised to go with low-rise variants, including beach, drag, tracker, clip-ons and zero bars. 

Lastly, choose established aftermarket brands that produce Harley handlebars in high-grade steel or aluminium, and finishes varying from chromed or coated black to ensure strength and weather resistance. 

Grips 

Grips and levers are the direct steering controls that also determine throttle input, braking and gear changes. They impact comfort and ride feel by absorbing vibrations, offering non-slip, textured surfaces for optimal control and in variants to suit hands of different sizes. Stock Harley grips are rubber or chrome-plated affairs that slot directly into the bar ends. 

Upgrading from worn and thinned-out grips means you can maintain a firmer hold on the handlebars, get proper, confidence-inspiring handling and improve comfort with variants that offer gel padding, heating and increased vibration absorption. Aside from various designs and materials, ensure diameters match those of the handlebars and that the replacements are compatible with your bike's throttle type (cable-operated or electronic/throttle by wire). Also, look into design specifics such as open vs closed-end grips (with matching sleeves) and suitable hardness levels. 

Clutch and front brake levers can be changed along with the grips to up looks with anodised, chromed or black powder-coated CNC-machined aluminium options. And to offer more adjustability for reach to allow improved brake actuation or crisper gear changes. Like grips, these need to be compatible with the bike, specifically with cabling length. If you're installing grips and levers on taller and wider handlebars, extension cable kits come in the required lengths for smooth brake and gear actuation. 

Foot Controls 

Pegs, floorboards, shifters and mid and forward Harley Davidson controls offer the customisation and comfort settings for riders of different stature and trips of varying lengths. Standard pegs on Softails or the Glide models cater to most riders, but there's always the option to go with varying builds, designs and material combos to offer more space, better grip, and improved vibration dampening.

Popular aftermarket choices are MX-style pegs with serrated metal teeth upping grip with boot/shoe soles; wider-platform pegs with more room to move and increase stability and comfort on longer riders and footpegs with rubber inserts for improved vibration dampening. There are also matching passenger pairs to maintain a seamless bike look. 

Floorboards go wider and longer in every direction, with the main aim of providing all the space for those longer highway runs. Go with mini floorboards for cruiser models and when considering a minimalist look, or choose full floorboards in shapes and designs for the most realty space when stretching your legs. With a larger "footprint", floorboards also take detail, fit and finish to a higher level. Choose from cast aluminium in anodised or coated finishes and rubber inserts or machined billet aluminium for higher strength and better corrosion resistance. 

Lastly, go with mid controls positioned directly under the rider for more comfort in everyday rides, better weight distribution and corner handling on B-roads. Or have longer linkages and adapters in forward controls for a more relaxed, stretched-out riding position on longer rides.