Hi all


new forum member, long time Harley owner.


stupid question for my first post. The valve stem for the cast wheels on the 94 Ultra are angled in the wheel and stick out a bit to the side.


the question boils down to, which side?


bit of an explanation. I bought this particular Ultra brand new in 1994, sold it in 2002 after which it passed through a few further owners hands, spotted it for sale on the local Buy and Sell recently, and went and bought it back.


bike needs a bit of work, both cast wheels were stained and grubby, needs new wheel bearings, tires, etc. I do all my own work.


pulled both front and rear wheels, marked the orientation of the front wheel for re installation, then cleaned, stripped, polished, etc. In the process both wheels came back up looking great, but I lost the orientation marks on the front wheel during the cleaning/polishing.


new tires, valves stems, wheel bearings, brake pads, etc all arrived to day, but I can't mount the new tire on the front wheel until I figure which way around the front wheel is supposed to be mounted on the bike, which would most easily be indicated by which side of the cast wheel the angled tire valve stem should sit in relation to the bike once the front wheel is back on.


In addition to cleaning off the orientation marks, I was too stupid to even take a photo, bloody hell....


anyway, can someone take a look at their mid 90's bagger and let me know which side of the front wheel the tire valve stem is supposed to be on so I do not put the tire on the wheel backwards or the wheel on the bike backwards? Thanks so much. And yes, I do have a factory manual, did try to figure this out from the manual, but I guess the manual authors never figured on such a stupid question needing to be asked....


Paul

 

Your rear wheel can only go on one way...copy that valve stem side on the front

Right-side (brake lever side)...yes?

 

It should come off to the right side, to ease inflation when on the kickstand. The rear should be the same way, for the same reason.

 

Not for a Sportster Rear ...but we're not talking about that here

 

thanks, both of you! I know it was a stupid question but I just did not want to put the wheel on "reversed". Tire stem on the right on the front makes sense. Now I will go out to the garage and put the new Dunlop American Elites on the freshly polished rims, was a tough choice between the Elites and the Michelin Commanders. The Elites are leaning against the wall in my home office at the moment, those sidewalls feel bloody stiff, getting them on the rim may be a bit of a challenge, we'll see..... In anticipation, I ordered a pair of 16 inch long tire irons with the new tires to supplement my old 10 inch tire irons, more leverage has to be a good thing........


Paul