Here is a complete writeup on how I was able to perform the modification on my handlebars. If you have any questions, comments or want me to clarify something, please feel free to contact me.
On with the show!
The
bars I chose to use are made by Road Iron. They're a 1 1/4" fat
bar with a 1" taper, to be able to install your controls. They come with
holes drilled to be able to run your wires internally. My bars have an 8"
rise, a 7" pull back and measure 29" wide. I purchased them from my
local Motovan dealer.
The part number is 87-110261 A nice set for less than $100.00
The two clamps that hold the Yamaha bars to the triple tree use 10mm nuts. The threads in the bottom of the aftermarket Drag Bars are S.A.E. So, in order to make everything fit, I brought the bars and the Yamaha clamps to my machinist. He took the parts and made me a couple of bolts that would both fit the Drag bars and the Yamaha Triple Tree. I guess I should mention that the handle bar mounts on the triple tree are 4" apart. If you're going to buy a set of bars, that look like mine, get a set of "Twin Down Tube Bars" with 4" spacing.
Threading the wires through the Drag Bars was a real exercise in tedium! Here's how I managed to get the job done. First, you'll need the following;
Ok, here's how it's going to work. First, tie the nut on to the fishing line. The nut acts as a weight. This will pull the fishing line through the bars. Feed the nut into one of the wiring holes on your drag bars. Tip, tilt and shake your bars around until the nut comes out the other end. Tie the other end of the fishing line to your 20 (or so) gauge wire. Pull the wire through the bars so that you can grab it on the other end. This wire is going to be used to pull all of the electrical wires through. We're using wire because the insides of the drag bars can be pretty sharp. Using twine or string would only snag, fray and snap. Wire is more robust. Be sure that the "Pull Wire" is long enough to go all the way through the bars but still have an end sticking out, so you can pull it back. A good trick I used, to ensure I didn't pull the "Pull Wire" all the way through, by accident was to tape a large washer on the back end of the wire. It really saved me some serious frustration! Remember, once you start fishing the electrical wires through, it'll be next to impossible to run a new "Pull Wire".
Ok then, you're ready to start pulling the electrical wires through. Using masking tape, tape the electrical wire to the Pull Wire. Try to keep the taping to a minimum, but strong enough to be able to take a bit of punishment. One wire at a time or several at once. Either way will work. Just be sure not to take too many at one time, it'll be that much harder to get the wires through. Oh I guess I should mention, if you're going to make things look really nice, be sure to run the wires through your wire loom first. Wire loom is the plastic sleeve that holds all of the wires together, from the switch pod into the hole on the drag bars. A lot of people use ordinary black tape, but this is messy looking and just isn't worth it!
On
the Virago XV1000 & XV1100 there's a switch mounted on the right hand control
pod used for switching to the fuel reserve. I mounted this on to the bottom
of my Harley switches by drilling some small holes into the switch housing,
using some double sided tape and a couple of small bolts. Also, there is no
place to mount the Hazard light switch. I tried to find a nice place for it,
but in the end just left it hanging behind my head light. I wrapped it in some
wire loom. It's still functional and hidden out of the way.
Finally, your bars should look like some sort of weird chrome spider. Switches dangling on one end and wires flying free on the other. Oh, just a word of caution, don't remove the "Pull Wire" just yet, just in case... Leave that till the very end. You never know when you're going to realize that you forgot to run a wire. The wiring is pretty straight forward. Just be sure to cut and solder only a couple of wires at a time, so you don't get them all confused. Also, label everything. I used masking tape to hold a couple of wires together and then wrote on the tape.
The only problems I came across when mating the Harley Switches to the Yamaha wiring harness was with the turn signals and the starter. The turn signals on the Harley have a simple "Make or Break" switch on each hand. Left turn signal is controlled by the left hand and the Right turn signal is operated by the right hand. The original Yamaha equipment was outfitted with a self canceling mechanism. We're going to dispose of this. Here are the colour codes for the wires. Common => Light Brown with White Stripe. Left Signal => Brown. Right Signal => Green. Cancel => Yellow with Red Stripe. In order to make your turn signals work with the Harley Switches, you'll need to splice the Common and Cancel wires together. This combination will go to each switch pod and be used in conjunction with the Left and Right wire on each of the respective switches.
The
Yamaha Starter switch has a whole bunch of wires coming out of it! You'll only
need two, as the Harley switch only uses two wires. Ground => Black Hot => Blue
with White Stripe Lights (1) => Red with Yellow Stripe Lights (2) => Blue with
Black Stripe The whole idea here is, when you start your Yamaha, the front lights
will turn off so that maximum amount of current can be routed to the starting
circuit. We're going to dispose of this method. Don't worry, your bike will
still start. Just be sure not to have your high beams on or something. Solder
the two wires, Lights (1) & (2) together. That's all there is to it. Take the
remaining two wires and solder them to your Harley Start switch. DONE!
Ok then, it's just a matter of cleaning up your mess. Route wires so they don't stand out. Trim wires where needed and use wire loom here and there to make things pretty to look at. When I changed my handle bars, I decided to use the original Clutch Lever and Brake Master Cylinder. Mounting these required a bit of machining. The Clutch Lever Mount was drilled out to 1" in diameter, as was the Master Cylinder mount. I also had to remove some metal from the forward portion of the master cylinder, where the brake line mates up, because my drag bars are Fat. They widen to 1 1/4" and interfere with the mounting of the Master Cylinder.
Ok then, that's pretty much all I have to say on the matter. Yeah, I know I probably left something out or didn't make myself clear on all points, but if you need some assistance, send me an email.