Wide or Mid
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6th Gear
Joined: Jun 2012
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From: Iowa
Wide or Mid
Bought Switchback wheels for my Superglide. Gonna swap the trees this winter. Should I go with a mid or wideglide? Can anyone tell me the difference? I know its the width, but how wide are they?
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Joined: Apr 2007
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From: Seattle, WA
What year Super Glide ...? If it is '06 or later, you have the mid-glide front end as stock equipment ...
If earlier than '06, you can retro-fit the '06 and later mid-glide or wide glide of '05-earlier (41mm fork tubes) or the '06-later (49mm fork tubes) ... the triple trees for the Fat Bob are the same width as the Wide Glide but add no rake to the front end (unlike the Wide Glide triple trees which add 1.5 or 2 degrees of rake ... don't recall precisely off hand) ...
Since the FLD Switchback front end is 'wide' ... you will need to use either Wide Glide, Fat Bob or FLD triple trees to obtain the proper width for the front wheel ... if using a current front end ('08 or later) it should be a bolt on and you would just use the stock wheel spacers ...
Alternatively, you could take the front wheel to a machine shop and have the hub narrowed to the width for the mid-glide triple trees ... if you go that route ...
(As an aside, I am uncertain (but doubtful) the front wheel could be used with a narrow glide front end ... if the hub could be modified to fit, I'm not sure the tire width would fit within the space between the forks ... (maybe) ....)
If you go with fork tubes from a pre-'08 (I think) you might need to have the interior of the hub of the wheel machined to accept the appropriate wheel bearings and axle ... I think the current standard that the Switchback wheel uses are the 25mm axle/bearings ... if you use an earlier fork setup, it could still work, but you'd need to select the appropriate 3/4" or 1" axle bearings and machine the hub accordingly ... (note that the bearing thickness / depth of the groove in the hub varies, as well)
If you haven't done so, you might do a search on converting to a Wide Glide front end ... there are some more specifics to be found on some of the threads on the subject ...
Good luck with the project ... sounds cool ...
R/
'Chop
If earlier than '06, you can retro-fit the '06 and later mid-glide or wide glide of '05-earlier (41mm fork tubes) or the '06-later (49mm fork tubes) ... the triple trees for the Fat Bob are the same width as the Wide Glide but add no rake to the front end (unlike the Wide Glide triple trees which add 1.5 or 2 degrees of rake ... don't recall precisely off hand) ...
Since the FLD Switchback front end is 'wide' ... you will need to use either Wide Glide, Fat Bob or FLD triple trees to obtain the proper width for the front wheel ... if using a current front end ('08 or later) it should be a bolt on and you would just use the stock wheel spacers ...
Alternatively, you could take the front wheel to a machine shop and have the hub narrowed to the width for the mid-glide triple trees ... if you go that route ...
(As an aside, I am uncertain (but doubtful) the front wheel could be used with a narrow glide front end ... if the hub could be modified to fit, I'm not sure the tire width would fit within the space between the forks ... (maybe) ....)
If you go with fork tubes from a pre-'08 (I think) you might need to have the interior of the hub of the wheel machined to accept the appropriate wheel bearings and axle ... I think the current standard that the Switchback wheel uses are the 25mm axle/bearings ... if you use an earlier fork setup, it could still work, but you'd need to select the appropriate 3/4" or 1" axle bearings and machine the hub accordingly ... (note that the bearing thickness / depth of the groove in the hub varies, as well)
If you haven't done so, you might do a search on converting to a Wide Glide front end ... there are some more specifics to be found on some of the threads on the subject ...
Good luck with the project ... sounds cool ...
R/
'Chop
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