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Upright Seating Position for 2009 Road Glide

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twalte

Member
I'm a new rider and I am looking for some detailed guidance from fellow gliders. I purchased a 2009 Road Glide several months ago. Since then, I herniated two discs in my neck and I am having difficulty tiliting my head up enough based on the standard seating position. I have tried rotating the handlebars back to provide a more upright position, but it's still not enough.

I've seen a lot of reference to different handlebar setups in this forum for shoulder pain, but not sure what would work best for getting the best upright position. I'm confused between posts about other Harley handlebars, Wild Ones, Kurakyn, Krome Works, etc all make the decision that much more difficult.

If anyone has experimented with several different handlebar setups, can you let me know what you think would work best. I'd really like to get out soon before the weather turns too cold. Also, if I need longer cables is that a major expense?

Thanks in advance for any guidance you can provide?
 
Many in your situation (Road Glide) install Heritage bars. All existing cables can be used with Heritage bars. Heritage bars will be a little wider and will be swept back a bit.

Find a dealer that has a display rack set up to easily see and compare the different bars. Not all dealers have this rack, so you might have to shop around.
 
Heritage bars are the most common first step, some of the others went with Wild one bars, a buddy just went with chromeworks, they have a nice rise, and thet sweep back towards him, and they were 1/3 the price of the high priced ones.

FWIW, you can't add risers to a road glide, unless you plan on cutting out a bunch of plastic... go with handlebars, cheaper, and easier to return to stock configuration, if you sell
 
twalte said:
I'm a new rider and I am looking for some detailed guidance from fellow gliders. I purchased a 2009 Road Glide several months ago. Since then, I herniated two discs in my neck and I am having difficulty tiliting my head up enough based on the standard seating position. I have tried rotating the handlebars back to provide a more upright position, but it's still not enough.

I've seen a lot of reference to different handlebar setups in this forum for shoulder pain, but not sure what would work best for getting the best upright position. I'm confused between posts about other Harley handlebars, Wild Ones, Kurakyn, Krome Works, etc all make the decision that much more difficult.

If anyone has experimented with several different handlebar setups, can you let me know what you think would work best. I'd really like to get out soon before the weather turns too cold. Also, if I need longer cables is that a major expense?

Thanks in advance for any guidance you can provide?
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Don't know if it will help on an 09 but a buddy with an 04 needed to sit more upright and he used a set of FLSTC (Softail Heritage) bars. Got his arms up about 3" and his back stright. Talk to your parts people at your harley dealer.
 
I rented a 2009 Road King and absolutely hated bending over to reach the low bars.

My elcheapo Police RK came from the factory with tall bars. The rise is about 9” depending on how you measure it, and level of the grips is just above the horizontal band on the windshield. Very comfortable setup.

bars.jpg
 
I also have an 09 Roadglide. I have checked with my local dealer about the Heritage bars. They will fit on the glide without addition cables. They are supposed to add about 3 more inches of pullback. However, I guess there's quite a bit of work to change them out on the glide. They told me about 3 hours labor. You also now have to get a throttle adjuster with the new bars ($89), (recommended in the parts book). I guess they destroy the old one when they take off the old grips. I was quoted about $475 to install them on mine (including the bars). I'm still trying to decide if I want to do it.

You might also think about an adjustable rider backrest. I had one installed on mine and I love it. It's makes it a lot more comfortable on the long trips. Just my 2 cents worth.
 
Did you herniate your disks by riding your HD? I went to the Heritage bars - much better ride, less reaching
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I've installed the Heritage Softail bars on both of my earlier RG's. I installed the Touring pull backs on my RG CVO. They are both about the same except the Touring Pullbacks are wider. Both work well, neither require additional cabels but you will might need to replace your grips cuz, if they glued the left grip on, you'll destroy it taking it off. I've heard the clutch cable and front break line can be expencive and are not easy to replace and if ya gotta extend the wireing, that can get really expencive.
 
Thanks you to everyone on the forum for all of the feedback! I'll have to check around the different dealers to see if I can find anyone who has different bars on display. Sounds like the Heritage is the easiest option...wish the riser was an option on the Road Glide.
 
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