Just bought a 2019 Street Glide after years of owning Softails. 20-30 minutes into a ride, I have pain between my shoulder blades... Years of riding and tens of thousands of miles and I've never experienced this... I'm thinking bars but not sure, need some help. Thanks.
Ouch!
- Thread starter Golfdj
- Start date
I had the same issue on my '10 Street Glide and come to find out it the OE bars did not like my narrow shoulders. I ultimately went with the Arlen Ness Modular Apes simply because they allowed me to adjust the wrist angle which helped considerably with the shoulder aching.
That said, I'd definitely encourage you to look into a new set of bars at some point as I do feel it's likely a big part of the issue however, as BlkDragon eludes to, I also feel that you probably need a little more time on the bike to see if your body gets used to riding again before doing so. <imo>
Hope this helps!
LT :0)
Thank you for the input, although, I have been riding for years and had no down time between my Heritage and Street Glide. I already had over 2000 miles in this season before trading in. I've never had pain between my shoulder blades before... Thanks again, I do appreciate it.
It's definitely the wheel barrow stock bars. I worked a set of 10" LA Chopper Twin Peaks bars into the deal when I bought my bike. I had to wait about 2 weeks until I could get them installed and I was constantly getting the same pain when riding with the stock bars. After I got my bars put on it all instantly went away. I think the stock bars have way too much sweep on them.
I am seriously grateful for all the replies. Better info than I expected. I always thought apes were just for tall guys with long arms, but after reading these comments and doing more research, it seems that adding 2-3 inches of bar height and less pullback makes sense... I do want some bend in my arms though and not feel a full extension though. In all my years of riding stock bars on Softails, I never had any pain.
If you do decide to switch your bars out keep in mind that 10" and below do not require you to change out your clutch and brake cables and wiring. Some 12" bars will work with the stock cables too but no all of them. Makes the job much cheaper and easier.
Just going to throw this out there if your going to do the install yourself get Factory 47 bars, they are 1 1/2 and easy to pull the wires thru. You can install up to 14 inch bars without changing out the hydraulic lines you just have to reroute them you may need one wiring extension. There are several threads on here about what's needed so go check them out, may even have part numbers for you.
14" bars? Really I've never heard of going that high with the stock stuff, I always heard 12" is difficult to get enough length. I bet that's tricky.
I'm 6' 0", and these are 14" Factory 47's. They are a tad wide, but really comfortable otherwise.
I was wondering if the 8 inch LA Chopper Twin Peaks would have the same affect with the pain between my shoulder blades... The 10's look a little high, and I'm only 5'10.
I went with 12" Twin Peaks, ( I'm 6'), and can only say it totally changed my ride. Shoulder and wrist discomfort gone and the bike seems to maneuver much better. I was not expecting so much of an improvement when I installed them.
No cable change necessary on the 2016 for 12".
Maybe you can see a used bike at the dealer with 10" bars to get an idea. I know you don't want to do multiple swaps.
Good Luck.
No cable change necessary on the 2016 for 12".
Maybe you can see a used bike at the dealer with 10" bars to get an idea. I know you don't want to do multiple swaps.
Good Luck.
