Just installed 14" apes on my 2017 FortyEight and I have a dilemma: handlebars are made for internal wiring however I heard people saying that running it internally could potentially lead to some issues as HD vibrates, cables can get damaged inside tubing and start acting up therefore I was told to put cables outside the handlebars. Still fighting with the idea of having electrical inside though statement earlier makes sense. So 2 questions:
- what’s your opinion running it inside vs outside ?
- if I go with outside option, zip-ties are the only option in my garage unless there are some other more-aesthetic ideas how to clamp cables to the handlebars.
thanks for your inputs !
I wouldn’t be too concerned but if I did run wiring internally, I’d cover it with wrap-around sleeving (link to McMaster-Carr but there’s lots of sources) and put a self-fusing tape wrap at each end and one in the middle to keep it closed.
Outside? Small zip ties, trimmed neatly. If you’re really worried about it, a wrap of self-fusing tape or sleeving around the wiring before securing it with the zip tie.
In thirty-odd years of motorcycling I’ve had one abraded wire and it wasn’t internal or at a zip tie, it was where the cable for a heated grip rubbed against a flexible bit of body panel exposing copper and I caught that before it failed.
