While on patrol today I saw a bike on the shoulder that looked like this:
The rider (Kevin) and his wife (Kim) were traveling on a two lane limited access highway when the handle bars started moving back and forth. Kevin, quickly realizing a problem, pulled off the road onto the shoulder and then suddenly the handle bars snapped.
Two half inch bolts were no match for this weighty, one and half inch thick ape hanger.
Below, Kevin kindly holds up the ape hanger to show what they should look like, thanks Kevin.
Kevin holding up the ape hangers
Kevin said he wanted to test ride his friend’s bike to see if he liked the ape hangers for hiw own bike.
I suggested his friend follow up with the outfit that sold him these bad boys and that he get his friend to buy him and his wife dinner.
If it weren’t for Kevin’s quick reaction this situation could have been alot worse. Good job Kevin.
Thanks to Kevin and Kim for allowing me to share this with you.
8 responses so far ↓
Canajun // 07/05/2009 at 10:43 pm
Wow! I’ve had bars come loose in the clamps, but this is just scary. Luckily he had his wits about him and got off the road before they totally broke away.
Mr. Motorcycle // 07/07/2009 at 8:11 am
That’s really scary reminder that no matter how good of a rider you are, things can happen on the road that you have no control over.
Derek // 07/07/2009 at 10:24 pm
If you’re going to replace equipment, make sure the replacement is up to spec. As the old saying goes, “Chrome don’t get you home.”
Young Dai // 07/08/2009 at 4:13 pm
Not so much Ape Hangers as Hound Dog Ears !
Perhaps if he had leaned forward over the tank he could have ridden the bike home like a cafe racer
Road Captain // 07/19/2009 at 9:01 pm
Cool post!
SKULL // 08/03/2009 at 6:50 pm
If there were “HARDENED STUD’S” mounting those Riser’s…they wouldn’t have broke…I had 20″ Ape’s on my 38′ KNUCKLEHEAD & I now have 20″ Ape’s on my Softail & have never had a problem…by the way…”NICE BIKE”…Glad thing’s turned out OK!
David Salter // 08/09/2009 at 12:09 am
Bikes are like airlplanes. Any thing less than a stop with 2 feet on the ground and a motionless bike is a crash. Any thing that goes wrong on a bike while in motion tends to cause a crash. Oh well. Some crash a lot and some don’t.
9lives // 08/23/2009 at 9:03 pm
are apes dangerous to ride