Apehangers

The July 2011 of my Cycle World Magazine has an article titled “Planet of the Apes.”
A comparison of a Harley Davidson Street-Bob and the Victory High-Ball, both of which have so-called “apehanger” handlebars.

Photo by Jeff Allen.

Harley (left), Victory (right).

The Harley isn’t that extreme, only about a 12-inch rise, so-called “mini-apehangers.”
The Victory is more extreme, 15-inch rise. Not as extreme as true apehangers — see illustration above.
As one who rides motorcycles, I’ve always had no use for apehangers. They ruin control.
To better turn a motorcycle, you need leverage from the elbow, which apehangers ruin.
This article is sure to prompt angry blustering from the macho Harley crowd.
Plus sonorous blasts of ear-splitting thunder from unmuffled exhausts.
Apehangers are part of “the Look.”
Full-throttle blasts with arms reaching high to apehangers.
The Look is attractive to me, but ruins control of the motorcycle.
You better hope your angry blast can be arrow-straight.
With apehangers you won’t be able to change lanes suddenly.
Years ago I was in a parking-lot next to a main highway.
I heard an angry unmuffled blast coming.
Sure enough, apehangers.
The grizzled rider was reaching for the sky — the ultimate expression of extreme machoness.
Straightline full-throttle blasts between traffic-lights; no curves.
Hotrod cars are similar.
The transmission floor-shifter is also sky-high.
To get to the actual shift-knob required a reach into the stratosphere.
It also was part of “the Look,” and required a car be an open roadster — a coupe wouldn’t allow the sky-high floor-shifter.
Function required a really short shift-lever. My TR3’s shift-lever was about three inches high. It had been hacksawed short, with a bolt hammered in, wrapped with electrical-tape — the taped bolt-head was the shift-knob.
Shifter throws were about three inches. A sky-high shifter would be well over a foot.
Just motoring, the driver might shift grabbing the sky-high lever about halfway down from the knob.
But for “the Look” ya grabbed the knob up high.
So too with apehangers.
And since the clutch and throttle controls are up high, ya can’t compromise.
The most famous motorcycle of all time, “Captain America” from the movie “Easy Rider,” has apehangers, although not extreme, but on extended handlebar mounts.


Captain America.