Wheels are from a 99 Road King and the fork lowers are (or will be) 2000 up touring lower legs

OK, Just so everyone knows, I have used the search function on this topic and I believe I'm correct when I assume that I can:

Swap out the 3/4 inch bearings in the 99 wheels for 1 inch bearings and run the 1 inch axle for the 2000 and up lowers. The 1 inch bearings are the same OD and the same thickness as the 3/4 inch bearings.

Am I correct?

Thanks in advance folks!

 

I have no experience with the '99 specifically. However, the '95 wheels I have are 3/4" tapered bearings. The sealed 1" will not fit. I would just find a 1" wheel instead.. However, you will also need rotors..

 

Yes, from the best account of research I can share is you need to run the 300mm rotors. I have not personally tried this but it is 11.5" vs 11.8".

 

Not sure we're talking about the same thing.. The 11.8" is actually whats needed for the Brembo's, the 11.5" is for everything else. The real issue is the center hole.. Just did the '00 lowers with Brembo's on mine, 1" wheel and axle with 11.8 rotors to fit the calipers.. With a simple '00-'08 caliper, the 11.5 should work if it fits the wheel..

 

3/4" tapered axle bearings are smaller OD (1.781) than the newer 1" axle bearings. The 1" sealed axle bearings are 2.047 OD. I have a custom rear wheel that I just had the bearing pockets cut to accept the newer bearings because I switched to a 1" rear axle from a 3/4' axle with tapered bearings. I could not find a bearing that would switch to 1" and fit the hubs.

 

If the 3/4" ID bearings are sealed *****, you can indeed replace them with 1" ID bearings. I did that with my Deuce rear wheel. However wheels that were intended for 3/4" bearings may not have enough clearance through the centre of the hub to take a 1" ID bearing spacer, so you may have to bore the hub. That is what I did with my Deuce wheel, which doesn't prevent the wheel reverting to 3/4" bearings.

 

This was the info I was going by that I found in previous threads:
Thread: https://www.hdforums.com/forum/softa...e-axle-qs.html
Thread:https://www.hdforums.com/forum/touri...n-01-axle.html
I will pull one of the bearings out of the '99 RK rim to verify the OD.

Rotors:
The wife's '99 RK has 11.5 inch rotors on the front, there are also 11.5 inch rotors available for the 84-99 touring models in the JP and Dennis Kirk catalogs.

Lower legs and calipers:
My plan is to use the '00-07 lowers and calipers since, IIRC, HD started using Brembos in '08? Someone can correct me if I'm wrong on this.

Enlarging the bore in the hub for a 1" axle won't be a problem. I have a friend who could enlarge the bore in the wheel for the bearing if necessary

The 99 does have the 3/4 tapered bearings. I understand what you are saying about finding a 1 inch wheel, but I want to run matching wheels front and rear and I have this nice set of RK rims I got nice and cheap. That said I will do some searching and see if there is a 2000-up rim that matches the 99 spoke pattern, but if not, it may be cheaper to open up the bearing bore in the 99 wheel than buying another matched set of wheels.

 

here is what I do I make new axle spacers out of SS any machine shop can do this for you it is a lot easier than machining the hub

and either find a axle with a larger head or use SS and make a pair of washers for the outside

 

Just as a 'heads up' on this for anyone with a 3/4" axle bike considering this 1" conversion.

I just bought a pair of one season 'take off' fork lowers for $0.99 on Ebay. Yup, 99c plus shipping. They even have their original stickers on them.

Feel kind of guilty towards the seller but no one bid against me. The most I have paid for them is 50, and that was for a completely new, unused pair still in plastic bags.

Add in some 4 pot (Hayes?) or Brembo calipers and it's really cheap, no 2nd question asked upgrade to do.


The later wheel/axle combination is for 25mm, not 1" (25.4mm), however the fork lowers remain the same size. The bosses/threads/bolt end on the two different axles are the same. Therefore, say, a 2002 lower will suit a 2012 Brembo set up.

The clue is in the part numbers which are:

• SLIDER, slider (left)
Part No: 46496-00A

• SLIDER, fork (right)
Part No: 46498-00A

Which means they are the same from 2000 (or 00) upwards to 2013

If you have a Road King with spoked wheels and rims, check for rust and corrosion in the center of the rim as it was common and will fail eventually. The cheapest and easier upgrade for a 3/4" axle would be a similar aged Fatboy solid rear wheel, which would bolt straight in. You won't need to do nor pay for the costs of a swing arm conversion and, as you have bags cover it, visibly it wont matter if two wheel don't match ... and be a hell of lot easier to keep clean.

That way you can spend your money on your preferred version of a front wheel whatever size and design it is, e.g. alloy, rebuilt spoked, 18" etc.

Fatboy wheels on the front take a little more work.

 

you are right and a little wrong. the first time those legs were produced was 2000. but you forgot about the A means a revision change in 06 its the same casting but there was a machining change or a reflector change who knows and it may not be a major change but they are different