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Remove the center plastic cover over the handlebars.
Loosen the 4 - 12mm bolts & move the handlebars.
Retighten bolts, check by turning the wheel L&R for any clearance problems.
Check the gas cable also.
Snap the cover back on

 

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They are adjustable as described, but rotating also changes the front to back distance as well as angle.. it is a compromise.. There are aftermarket kits to both raise and move the bars... My 1500 is too far forward with OEM hardware.. just beentoo busy to get to it, and it is not that bad..

 

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Basically, You can put them anywhere you want, even in the back seat.

 

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Not trying to hijack this thread but I have a quick question. sandiegobrass, can you post any info on the aftermarket kits to raise and move the bars for the GL1500? I have searched for years and have been unable to find anything for them. I know that they are out there for the GL1800's and others but not the GL1500. The only mod I was aware of was a modified handle bar made by MBL Innovations but they have been discontinued. http://www.mblinnovations.com/goldwing_1500_Handlebar.html

To deno55, just like skip20 said, they can be slightly adjusted, just make sure to check clearances. One thing I ran into when adjusting mine, I once adjusted them too far back. The clearances seemed ok until I put the radio cover on. I couldn't rotate the handlebars far enough to the left to lock the forks. I rotated them slightly forward and everything was ok again.

 

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It's a good idea to take a Sharpie and mark them before you start adjusting them so you have a reference point of where you started.

I'm pretty sure there is no riser kits for the 15's. There is no room under the ignition cover. It's pretty tight as it is.

 

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Dave: Your post says that the height of the grips is fine but the angle for the wrists is off. Same thing for me. The adjustment previously suggested will only change the height not the wrist angle on the grips. I did find, however, that lowering the bars some did help some with relieving stress on the wrists. No way to change that particular angle though.

 

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dingdong wrote:

Dave: Your post says that the height of the grips is fine but the angle for the wrists is off. Same thing for me. The adjustment previously suggested will only change the height not the wrist angle on the grips. I did find, however, that lowering the bars some did help some with relieving stress on the wrists. No way to change that particular angle though.

Same here, as a 'wide body' (6'2" 260& 52"chest) -- the 'wrists in' angle is a bit awkward, it'd be more of "elbows in" if my elbows didn't collide with the rest of me



I just bent the bars 6* on each side provided great relief, I still ride with hand about at the end of the grips/levers... I'm not sure most folks have a hydraulic tubing bender in ther shops though.



It'd be nice to offer an aftermarket set of bars. I would think that one of the custom bike shops (so many now that TV/Cable got ahold of em) could create a nice replacement bar set. As long as the bar diameter is factory (23mm?) and open the included angle 10 or 15 degrees (a little like beach bars)...



That said, my setup already touches the OEM windscreen at full lock and I should be modifying the lock-stops to keep my fingers attached in a tank-slapper incident.

 

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Is this problem related to height, weight or both ?

 

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Width, I'm afraid :cheeky1:

Just as much width as long arms (36" sleeves). Intruth - it's not a huge problem, but there is some discomfort for a few riders, and it does go both ways (wrists too far open and wrists too far closed)



I tried a quick sketch here to kinda illustrate some thoughts:

* The basic "focus" for a set of bars is setup by the wrist ange and where that bend begins on a bar.

* Kinda shown in the sketch, the "Big Fella" for these bars is knda cramped, he'd have to have his elbows jabbed into his rib-cage to get a 90* forearm-to-grip sort of ride

* Also kinda shown in the sketch, the "not-so-big Fella" for these bars has a better shot at reaching straight out from his shoulders to get a clean grip at the bar.

* The "girth" value for the "Big Fella" also shows that this bar would work best for shorter arm lengths (the blue lines), only a few inches, but it's there...



Of course, this totally ignores the 3rd dimention of height -- rotating a bar along its mounting axis (as suggested in some of the posts here) can allow for longer or shorterarm lengths, but does little to address the grip angles. That said, the grip angles will seem less severe when you can use your full arm length and not have your elbows crammed into your gut trying not to over-flex at your wrist -- so often, rotating the bars slightly forward, can relieve the wrist position presented in the original post.



I you thinnk back to the 60s, a fair number of aftermarket bars came out with the grip area of the bar bent 'downward' from the horizontal.There are some other control issues with that bar shape, but rolling those bars in their mounts changed the rider's perception of a tight-wrist angle quite a bit.







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Yeah, I was kind of afraid all I could do was rotate them. I sat on the Intruder tonight to compare, and my wrists are perfectly aligned with my arms and hands while I grip the handlebars. Guess that's why I don't get arm/wrist fatigue when riding it like I do on the Goldwing.

 

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Don't give-up entirely, try a few different positions for the OEM bars.

Remember that you'll likely feel better with the bars further away, and if you're tall, try rolling the bars toward you (lowering the grip height) that should open the angle on the pinky-finger/ulna side of your arm.

The adjustments aren't that difficult, but be sure that you recheck turning clearances with your hands on grips & controls as well as @ lock position with the radio cover on...