So I finally got around to working on the bike(2008 Heritage Softail) this last week. I had my rear inner-tube go bad on me last month while riding. I ended up getting my bike towed back to our apartment.

So while it was down I decided to order a Sportster 68 tooth pulley off a 2012 1200c. It uses a 1 inch wide belt just like our Softails. I also went to HD and got new wheel bearings and a inner-tube. I searched on here for input about if it would fit or not, but most Softail guys hadn't tried the swap. Dyna and Touring guys have have been doing this for awhile.

Here is a pic of the part number I used, I'm sure there are a couple others that would work too




Anyway the main benefit to doing this swap is a change in gear ratio for more torque. The stock pulley is 66T and the new one is 68T, changing the gearing to the 09 and newer touring bikes. The stock gear ratio in 6th gear is 2.79, by changing to this pulley the new ratio is 2.875 in 6th. So this isn't a big change, but should bump it to make 1st gear shorter, and bump up the rpms slightly on the highway, without killing the mpg.

Most guys are changing the trans output pulley to 30T, but most the time you have to buy a new shorter belt, and pull the inner and outer primary. I wanted to avoid this by a simple rear pulley swap.

 

Here is a side by side pic, stock Softail pulley left, new Sportster pulley right


As you can see the new pulley is slightly taller


Also the Sportster pulley is thinner and does not have as much offset as a stock Softail pulley so shorter bolts where needed

 

New wheel bearing installed, new inner-tube, and new pulley w/shorter bolts and blue loc-tight


Installed on the bike:


Everything fits good, plenty of belt clearance even with the belt about a 1/4 inch closer to the tire. The only thing that didn't fit was the lower belt guard. I may try to fit it on later by notching it out, but not a big deal for now. The wheel moved forward about 1/4 of an inch, nothing major.

Last thing to do is adjust the setting on my Power Vision to make the speedo read correctly. I haven't been able to ride it yet, but I will today. Should get into the low 60's here in VA.

 

Didn't you have to fit different spacers to get the belt to track straight? Or did it just work out that the stock spacers and the different thickness/offset of the new pulley happened to be just right?

I'm interested in, perhaps, going the other direction as you did. I have a 5-speed and I want a longer 5th gear. I was thinking of going from my 70 tooth rear pully to the 66 or 68 tooth one for lower highyway RPM (our highway speed limit is 70 or 75 a lot). I'm interested in the difference 2 teeth makes on your bike.

Keep us posted...

 

Commander II, good choice.

 

So the front pulley coming off the trans is pretty wide. The rear pulley determines where the belt runs on the front pulley. The stock pulley actually puts the belt near the outer edge of the trans pulley. With the Sportster pulley it brings it toward the center of the bike about 1/4 of an inch. Now it is pretty much centered on the trans pulley. So the belt runs straight regardless of the spacing.

So no new spacers are needed, and there is plenty of room between the belt and everything else. I'll try to get a couple pics of the trans pulley so you can see what I'm talking about.

The only thing I would watch for is if you go the opposite way is the axle will need to go backwards if you use the existing belt. Check to see how much room you have for adjustment. You will probably need 1/4-1/2 inch. If you don't have enough room then you will need to get a different belt with less teeth.

 

In other words the front trans pulley has no shoulders on it.

Here is a pic, the best I could get of it, and I highlighted in green the area toward the inside that you still have left. I couldn't get the camera at the right angle to see how it looks toward the outside.


Here is a view of where my axle sits, now more in the center

 

If you used a 1/4 pulley spacer, every thing would fit as it should with no "notching".

http://vulcanworks.net/store_4/produ...9&cat=2&page=1

 

The problem is the new pulley is larger, causing the rub. It doesn't have anything to do with it being 1/4 inch closer to the tire. The belt guard is made for a 66T pulley.

 

Update:

So I've put a couple hundred miles over the weekend and rode to work today on the new setup. I have to say I like it! You can feel the difference in acceleration. It doesn't feel bad at highway speeds either, slightly more rpm but only by a couple hundred at most. I could see why people even do more gearing then this.

I filled my tank this afternoon and to my surprise is actually getting better mileage then before. I feel like I don't have to give it as much throttle as before to keep at a steady speed.

I hooked up my GPS and it's reading that my speedo is 2 mph faster then the GPS. I'm not sure how far they are off from the factory but I'm guessing 3-4 mph. So I'm going to leave it as is, I don't mind having a cushion even if it's only 2 mph. My 6th gear light still works and all of that.

So anyone thinking about this mod, I would say go for it!

PM me if you have any questions and I'll try to help