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My 1997 Wide Glide, came with spokes. Went to Daytona in 1998, my FIL was enthralled with the spoke wheel, I liked the solid wheel on his 1989 Softail Custom. He knew a small Indie shop in Ormond Beach, we went over there and for about $100 total they swapped the wheels and tires for us. That winter I took the wheel off my bike and polished the hell out of it to makes the aluminum shiny, then painted the rough insert and the holes satin black. Hard to see in his picture, rode around like that for at least 10 years. Then I got nostalgic and found another original laced wheel and had it powder coated black to match the front wheel.
Still have the wheel from the '89, thought about putting it on my Sportster. Was definitely the "look" in the 90's.
I like it! Also digging the tool-roll. Might go that route at some point to lighten up my sidebar and free-up some space in there.
...I've always preferred the solid wheel myself but admittedly, Im old and spoke wheels use to have tubes, and nothing sucked worse than getting a flat that you couldn't quickly fix on the side of the road.
Damn - I hadn't thought about this. Now I am SERIOUSLY considering moving on that cast rim...
I’ve been on the fence with the style/look of the tail light for sometime now. Apparently, I’ve got bigger problems.
While riding with my son last month he let me know the brake light sucked from a functional perspective. He was following me most of the afternoon and said he had trouble recognizing when I hit my brakes.
The CD ProBeam lamp can be installed “up” or “down”. I recall reading somewhere that in one of the positions, the orientation of the LEDs is less effective. Apparently that’s the way it fits on my bike.
So…. New brake light for me. I settled on a Joker Machine LED taillight. Problem was, they do not offer a compatible mounting option for my bike.
I bought the cheapest compatible taillight I could find so that I had a bracket to work with. I drilled the bracket to fit the Joker Machine taillight.
The bracket did not completely fill the space under the fender and I wasn’t happy with the gaps.
I cut a 1/16” rubber overlay for the bracket to fill the void. This also provided a more stable and slip-resistant surface for the taillight.
The license plate mounting surface was wider than the plate - wheel cutter made easy work of that.
I filed the edges clean and painted all exposed sides and edges flat black.
I wired-up a Deutsch connector for the taillight and tucked the wiring against the back of the bracket.
I cut and fitted an additional rubber sheet to create a mudflap over the wiring.
I’m digging the final product - and feel much better about being a bit more visible when braking.
All parts for the front-end are in house - I hope to be on the road Sunday afternoon.
Last edited by Old Sport; Feb 21, 2026 at 09:13 PM.
While not a "must-have", I did find some value in the Jims fork tool...
I'll get some additional use out of it when I service my Street Glide forks.
I still need to perform the fall-away adjustment (planned for this weekend) but I did get out for a few miles. As I fully expected, front-end brake dive is gone - much more measured, stable and predictable.
One thing I am rethinking is the fork-brace...
The brace requires removal of the fork caps, so there is no wiper above the seal. Also, I am not digging the look like I thought I would - I really like the wide-glide stance and the brace looks out of place to me.
Opinions welcome - but truth be told it might be gone by the weekend.
Glad you like the cartridge so is.. did you use 1 or 2 spacers per side?
I doubt you'll see speeds in excess of 100 mph where the brace is an added feature.. I've been over 135 on my Fatboy and never seen the need for it... Although I have considered getting one but that's a far as it went..
I have a Screamin' Eagle brace on my Low Rider narrow glide forks. IDK how much it contributes, but the bike feels planted on twisty back roads. It also has a ridge so you can put the dust cap on. I"m surprised they made yours without that, form over function I guess?
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