How to Install a Lindby Multibar on a Victory Vegas

For my Victory Vegas 8-ball, I wanted something that worked with the lines of the bike, but also was black. Black, black, black. More chrome just would have looked odd. Which led me to the Lindby Multibar. I got mine at CruiserCustomizing.com since they had the black powder-coated version, but you can also pick it up at Motorcycle Superstore, which is my online store of preference.

But when it came time to put the bars on the bike, I found all kinds of references and videos for other bikes, but nothing specific for the Vegas. And given the sheer number of questions I had going through the process, I thought I'd share what I did to help anyone else like me - mechanically handy, motorcycle dumb.

So here's how to install the Lindby Multibar on a Victory Vegas. Mine is a 2012 8-ball model.

Protect Your Bike

• Keeps the bike up off the ground if you happen to topple over. The back side is less protected, but the footpegs, engine, tank and headlamp should definitely be protected.

Protect You

• If the bike can't go all the way to the ground, your leg is less likely to get trapped under the bike.

Comfort

• The Multibar has rubber sections on the tops meant for your feet. Stretch your legs out while your ride by propping your feet there rather than on the pegs. Other bars make it possible for you to add pegs on the sides for the same effect.

Pick Up Your Bike

• If you've ever learned how to pick up your bike by walking it up, you know how much help it can be for the bike to already be a little bit up before you start.

The old pictures of the Lindbar show it as one piece, so I'm not sure entirely why they changed the structure and added the crossbar as an extra piece to install. My Cobra Fatty bars were all one piece and a dream to put on. But we get lots of extra steps here with the new Lindbar.

Now, having it as multiple pieces does mean it should be easier for one person to install by themselves. Except that it's far more convenient to have someone on the other side of the bike and pass the hex wrench back and forth when tightening everything up that to constantly be getting up and going to the other side of the bike.

So, when you lay everything out, you should find:

• Bar - two side pieces, one cross piece
• Two u brackets
• Four short bolts, six small washers, two small nuts
• Two long bolts, two large washers, two large nuts

What you don't get that you'll also need:

• Hex wrench - depending on the bolt, I used anything from 10mm to 15mm
• Spanner - again, depending on the bolt, anywhere from 10mm to 15mm
• Two extra washers if you're anal like me :-)

Start by removing the foot peg bolt and putting the provided long, large bolt in its place. Include the large washer between the bolt and the hole.

I got confused about just which bolt I was supposed to remove and ended up watching a few videos and looking at pictures of other bikes until I was pretty sure I was taking out the right bolt. The whole "measure twice, cut once" thing.

This is the biggest bolt you'll be working with and I think I used a 13mm bit on it.

There's a piece of the bar that is flat and sticks out at a 90-ish degree angle from the rest. You'll place the hole in the end of that piece over the long bolt you just inserted, then use the large nut to secure it.

This part is pretty simple once you've figured out which bolt to remove. You're just trying to get them screwed on well enough to hold them on there as you go through the rest of the process. Don't tighten them up too much!

Now it's time to attach the top part of the bar to the bike. What you're doing here is putting the u-bracket around the bike frame, then attaching the bar to the bracket with two screws. Easy peasy on the clutch side of the bike. Not so easy on the brake side.

I desperately wanted the bracket to go around the bar on the brake side. Tried every angle possible, but there just wasn't room for it to slide in there between the frame and the header pipe. Room for it to be in there, just not room to get it in there. So what you have to do is loosen the nuts for the header pipe so you can shift it back a bit and slide the bracket in. Those nuts aren't easy to get to; you'll definitely need an extension for your wrench to reach them. Space is tight and there are a thousand ways to scratch things up so take care.

As with the lower bolts, don't tighten these up just yet. Get them on there well enough to hold the bar on, but not tightened all the way.

Time to connect the right and left sides with the crossbar piece. You'll be using the remaining short bolts and washers. This is where I ended up getting some extra washers so I could have one on each side so that it didn't matter from which direction I tightened the bolts.

We ended up having to use a spanner to hold the nut while we tightened the bolts. Otherwise, the bolt just kept spinning with the nut along for the ride. And the nut is really tight so I couldn't just hold it by hand.

I also struggled to get everything lined up correctly. I'd tighten one side and the other would slide down. Realized after I took a ride that I had actually gotten the bars on in a non-straight-across fashion, which contributed. Sigh.

Loosened everything up again and kept working it until I got it all straightened out.

Work your way through the various bolts, tightening up each a little at time until you get them all properly tightened.

Says to manufacturers specs - not sure just which manufacturer they were talking about, but I assumed Victory since if they meant the bar manufacturer, well, that would be them. Basically, we just tightened things up securely, but not to any specific torque.