Need a little handlebar help.

I just put some new bars on my Road King Custom and I had to tighten the clamps down scary tight (thought I might strip the bolts or something) to get them to not move when I pull on them or push on them like when I stop hard. The bars are the same size but are not gnarled, they are just slick. Is their something I can do to make them hold better? They don’t move now but I had to tighten them much tighter than the stock ones were. I plan to run the wires on the inside and put on some new grips soon so I will have to take them off again anyway and would like to feel more secure about the bars.

I changed the bars on a Sportster I used to have. The ones I put on had the narled section but the ones I removed did not. There was a small piece of rubber in there. It looked like a piece of tire tube or at least very similar. It seemed to work fine.

Good luck!

Personally, I wont run a bar without Knurling I just don't trust the bite of the clamp. Under heavy breaking with your arms exerting a lot of force on the bars, a slip is the last thing you need.

I thought about roughing it up with a file too. Is there any thing stronger than Red loctite to use on it? Or maybe use a sharp punch and make a bunch of dimples. The metal that sticks up around the dimple is what will give it the grip I think. Do you think that would be better than tacking material away with a file? Of course even if I did take metal away there is plenty of room for the clamp to hold it if it had grip. I am not asking you advice and then arguing with you all, I’m just thinking out loud here. You thoughts and advice are welcome and appreciated.

I think red is the strongest at least according to their website. Perhaps a Dremel with a coarse rotary drum and a liberal coating of the red loctite so it can get into all the spaces?

Look for 600 series Loctite Retaining Compound (green)

This is serious stuff. It's used to retain bearings, sleeve, pins, etc. in bores that have lost their press for some reason or another.

#601 - 3000psi sheer up to 300 F
#680 - 4000psi sheer up to 300 F
#620 - 3000psi sheer up to 450 F

As with any other Loctite it is anaerobic and sets up in the absence of air in the presence of metal.

-RCR

Too hard,

I have had this problem a few times. I worry about very high strength Loctite as it can be a pain to remove; especially from softer alloys!
An old trick is to cut a strip of aluminium, from a drink can or similar and wrap it one layer around the bars. This will provide a medium to grip. It's a lot easier than trying to file or punch chrome. It lets you keep the torque down on those precious threads.
Good luck

Locktite

I'd be careful with the Locktite. Some of it requires heat to be able to remove the bolts once it's used. I'd try using some sand paper to rough up the inner surface of the clamp and let it grip the chrome bars.

I'd use tape of some sort. I've used hockey stick tape...quite similar to medical tape and put some thin wraps in where your bar clamps are gonna be then bolt the bars on nice and snug and then see if you can get the bars to move..you may have to get a little physical with it..stand on the pegs or boards. The tape will grip the bars nicely and the outer surface should be rough enough to give the clamp something to bite into. I like the rubber idea and the aluminum ideas previously posted too.

my 2 cents

One thing I will thank the HD parts guy for was recommending a different clamp for my RK when I went to 16 inch bars. This clamp is really for softtails because it is chromed out and will hide under the cover on my RK, but I needed it. It worked good for a while and then I hit a bump and pulled the bars back. So then, I got 2 small set screws from Home Depot and drilled and taped this nice chrome clamp. That worked for a while too but even that moved so I went back in and drilled dimples in the bars so that the set screws could seat into the bars. Now that worked for the rest of this summer and hasn't moved yet.

PS - no lock-tite used in this operation. Would I do it again?? YES those bars are great. Would I use the Arlen Ness throttle grip with the internal bearing??? Heck NO! They sucked. Sorry, I digress...

Hey guys they all sound like good ideas. Thanks. As soon as I get my new grips (under the tree-I’m sure of it this time) I’ll be running the wires inside the bars. I’ll let you know what happens. Also any advice on putting the wires in the bars is welcome.

Machine shops, maybe even the automotive type, can put knurling on anything you want and where you want it. I wouldn't think it would cost much and the piece of mind having it evenly applied. Just my 2cts.

knurling

To my knowledge, knurling is a turning process (i.e. done on a lathe). Unless the bars in question are straight, they will not be able to be knurled in their current state.

-RCR

You might be right, I only know of knurling pistons etc on the exterior. I've seen knurling on other outer round surfaces, not exclusively automotive, but if it has to be chucked in a lathe, then the idea is no good.

http://www.martindaleco.com/pdfs/Electricians_Hand_Tools/Knurling Tool.pdf
I emailed this company and they say the price for this tool is $48.38. I might use it more than one time ever but I think maybe a machine shop would have some thing like it and could knurl my bars for just a few bucks. Or maybe this is just the excuse I need to add this tool to my inventory. Yeah, that’s it. That’s what I’ll telling the wife. I need that tool, my life depends on it…literally.

That looks like the ticket. I've never heard of hand knurling. Let us know how it turns out if you decide to go this route.

-RCR

When I did tool & die, we used to use a tool like this. It works like a charm for expanding the metal a little bit. It can aid in fixing any screw-ups while machining.

Handlebars

Have used the can trick a couple of times and am using it right now on my dyna. Works great and have never had any slippage. Don't like the idea of loc tite. At some point your going to have to take it apart for some reason.