Bars Wiring & Removing The Fuel Tank

Like many others here, I am going to change out my bars here in another week or two. My horse is a 2004 FLSTFI. I have read many posts and have a good idea of what it is going to take to do the task. My question is: Is it necessary to remove the fuel tank to run the wires inside the bars? Is it because the connectors are under the seat? This is the only item that I am really a little unclear on.

Being that you have a Fatboy you have split tanks. Most of the wiring runs between the tanks. When I had my 1998 Fatboy I just removed the center unit from between the gas tanks to splice into the wiring harness. It won't be necessary to remove the gas tanks. Ride Safe, David.

Internal Wiring for Bars

the reason for removing the tanks is to get to the wiring plugs that are located along the backbone under the tank on the softail models. I would suggest getting a shop manual for your bike and you will be able to see exactly where the plugs are located. Also in the electrical section the manual shows how to remove the pins from the plugs. Become familiar with the procedures prior to starting the project. It is a very humbling experience when you take a partially disassembled, not running motorcycle back to the dealer to get it done right the second time. Extending wiring is not too hard a job, but it is time consuming and you need to know how to remove and reinstall the throttle cables and then get them properly adjusted. If you have to extend the wiring, you must solder the wires back together and use heat shrink to insulate each splice (usually 2 per wire) and make sure the splices are staggered so there isn't a big lump in one place. Don't leave any sharp protrusions in your splices as they will eventually wear a hole through the heat shrink and wiring problems inside the bars means a real bear to troubleshoot and repair. Also make sure there are no sharp edges on the holes in the bars that could possibly cut the wiring or wear out the insulation due to vibrations. Good Luck with the project, the end result and the knowledge you gain will get plenty of requests from friends to hook them up.