Have an older front end and wheel on my 73 FLH, replacing the bearings and see that they are caged roller bearings, Looking at the parts for sale its difficult to tell if the sealed units replace the rollers and internal sleeve?

Anyone??

 

Ya might re-think what you are asking because the wheel hubs changed in 73 (not compatible with 72 and earlier) and basically stayed the same until L81 for FLH models. Internal design and components changed in 67 and stayed similar until the dual flange hub in 73.

So the short answer is no...your early hub parts are not interchangeable with later components. Have seen a review for a guy that was adapting old star hubs to a later sealed bearing hub, but I would have to research to see if he was still offering the services.

 

Its a star hub, the internals are exactly like to 59-66 diagram in Clymers, I think the front end and wheel is from an older bike. So all that can be done to this wheel is replace the rollers and cages?

 

All the internal components can be replaced. You would have to research who can do it, but the races can be replaced as well. Stay away from Taiwan Tedd and J&P for your rebuild kits. Try www.nosparts.com and www.olddude.com for your parts.

 

Got digging through some of my old files. Back in '04 there was a company called Star Hub Pros that was converting caged roller hubs to a modern Timken set up. They are no longer in business.

There was another guy back in '07 that was also doing the conversion. I did not keep his name around but his email address was msockwell@aol.com.

 

Interesting.. Thanks very much.. now, if i might modify my question somewhat:

The bike is a 73.. The front end seems to be about a 66 and has a drum brake.. Id like to put a new wheel on there. Its pretty worn out.

Can I buy a 73 style wheel and safely adapt the drum brake to it?

Can I put a 73 wheel, and a PM disk brake on and will the disk caliper attach in any way to a 66 fork tube?

Id much rather put something modern on there.. If I cant, is there a source for a replacement 66 wheel, J&P only lists one in black..

Your help is appreciated!

 

Packrat,
This is just my opinion. There is nothing wrong with the earlier star hub wheel. If you need to replace the guts, Kick-Start Motorcycle Parts can supply the parts. Their Phone # is 616 245-8991.
HD used that hub for a while and only changed for production and maintainance reasons. And to modernize the brakes. Mecanical drum brakes are not as dependable as disc and require more attention for proper fuction.
If you want to update the wheel/brake you will need to change the the sliders of your front end. Don't try to make a disc brake work on the old sliders as your life is worth more than the $'s to change sliders. And if you don't agree to that, someone else's life is!
Some things can be mixed, but you will need better advice than from a forum where you don't know who is giving it.

 

Can I buy a 73 style wheel and safely adapt the drum brake to it? NO

Can I put a 73 wheel, and a PM disk brake on and will the disk caliper attach in any way to a 66 fork tube? NO but with a caveat. I set up one of my chopped pans with a dual disc PM set up back in the late 80s. It was a dual flange hub and as I recall I had a spacer made for the left side axle hole so that the late style axle would work. I do not recall if I had to make a spacer for the axle on the right side or not. I then ran the brackets for the brakes off my front fender mounts because I was not running a front fender. I made up spacers to properly center the brakes over the discs.

What can be done...Fork tubes and components are the same from 49-E77 so you are good to go there. For sure you need a dual flange hub, new axle kit and left side slider to accommodate the disc brake. What I am not sure about is if the right side (non-brake side) can be used or if you need to replace that slider as well. But if the lower end is shot you might as well get both sides (polished or chrome) and not have to worry about worn out slider bushings on one side down the road.

You can unlace the spokes and use them plus the rim on your dual flange hub. Rims are basically the same. In 62 they added a safety bead and I believe the rim remained the same until around 80 (think still same but changed valve stem hole size?) And somewhere around there I thought they changed the holes for the spokes on the hub for a different spoke size as well.


Performance Machine brakes is the way to go. Not cheap by any means but I still think they are the best on the market. Ran front and rear on a couple of chopped pans that were stroked and bored. Damn near stop on a dime and give you 9 cents back.

 

HD upgraded the brakes because disc brakes do function better than a drum or hydraulic drum (although the jury is still out as to wether the banana caliper was ever that much better).

Mechanical drums are dependable (but do not stop as well) and require no more attention than a disc. The nice thing about a disc is that to inspect pads all you need to do is look and pull the brake assembly off to measure your pad wear. On a drum brake you have to disassemble the front in order to inspect the brake lining. As your pads wear on a disc the fluid takes up the space to keep the brakes functioning properly until the pads wear to a point that they should be replaced; at that point you change pads, and have the disc turned (or if required replace) so that the pads and disc have godd surface-to-surface contact when the brakes are applied. With that comes the required service intervals for changing brake fluid as well. On a drum brake it is an adjustment screw that takes slack out of the cable that actuates the brake lining; when the lining is worn you have to pull the wheel, install new lining, turn the drum, assemble and check to ensure the brakes are centered. Both take about the same amount of time and attention to detail.

HD changed to Showa sliders and internal components to improve the dampening action of the front end and not for maintenance and production reasons. If you do not change your fork oil at required intervals your front end is still going to take a dump on you even if you have a modern bike.

I have been riding and working on pans and shovels since 1970. Made it to age 64 so I must be doing something right. Only thing I do not do is painting, machining, welding and some motor work. And you are correct it is just an opinion but there are many like me with a similar background in the shovel and pan sections who have equal and/or greater experience/background than I. So anyone is free to take it or leave it. And that is why people come to a forum, to get information in order to make an informed decision on how to proceed in a particular direction (or not).

 

Just to play devils advocate here why don't you consider going with a 2000 or later frontend setup ? The tubes are the same length will bolt directly into your tree's using your cowbells and you end up with single or dual disk brakes to boot . Best part is you can get everything off craigs list or around the local indy shops cheap from their pull off piles wheel & rotors included for $300 or under . Done a few like this already myself and there's a ton of how to pictures & articles to be found on google .

By the time your done dicking around with all the looking , digging and false starts that didn't work you'll be in for more money and still not be happy with the finnished product .

Check this link out .

http://www.motorcyclemetal.com/Download.html