First of all, I apologize if this has been hashed over before. Didn't find any thing on the search tho....

I've got an extra set of wheels for my Honda RC51 that I'd really like to throw on my '07 Street Bob if its possible. Did some research & both wheels & tires are more than up to the task for weight capacity. I'm also seriously considering changing over to a sportbike front end too, so that would solve brake mount issues up front. And I'm wanting to swap to chain drive (purely for me, I know belts are super wonderful blah blah blah) , regardless of what set up I end up with. I would really, really appreciate any tech help on this. What I dont want is somebody saying how I'm trying to turn a Harley into something it isn't or isn't designed to do. I recently rode a 'Bob that had an aluminum swingarm, carbon wheels, upside down forks, all Ohlins suspension. I was absolutely blown away. It handled & stopped & rode WAAAAY better than any H-D has the right to.
(Sorry for the diarreha of the keyboard btw)
Thanks all in advance

 

My comment is that very nearly all discussion on HDF is on swapping Harley wheels between models, or fitting custom wheels. I don't recall seeing anything on using wheels from other brands, except front wheels with forks. So as far as the front is concerned changing the whole forks etc gets around any problems, except fitting the neck.

As for the rear wheel, metric bikes will have metric bearings! Harleys have only used them since 2008, when they went to 25mm ID bearings. So your challenge is going to be adapting to suitable axle/bearings, plus alignment of rotor and sprocket. The only way I can see of solving that is by making a start! You've got the wheels.....

You could soon have the only RC51 wheeled Harley in the Universe!

 

Good points, GR. I also posted this in the Dyna section, and a guy over there gave me the solution to front end issues, so it'll be a sport front end. It'll prob be a lot of trial and error on spacers for real wheel. Good thing I was gonna do a chain drive anyway! Thanks for the input, and thanks for not flamethrowing me w/ my crazy ideas lol
Jim

 

One of my own pastimes is fitting things to my Glide that are not intended to fit it, so I recognise a kindred spirit!

 

NavyShooter, how did the sport bike front end work on your Streetbob?
I have a 2004 Dyna FXDX that I want to put lightweight 17 or 18 inch front wheel on, in order to lighten the front end's rotating mass and reduce overall diameter to quicken the steering. Running the 18-inch wheel with a 120/70-18 tire would reduce my trail to 3.81 inches, the same as a Hyabusa. If I go with a 17-inch wheel and a 120/70 tire the trail will drop to 3.6 inches. I could mount a larger diameter tire on the 17-inch wheel, but if I do that the assembly gets heavier and the 18-inch wheel would have been the better choice.
Some suspension gurus say minute changes in trail greatly affect handling, but others say that as long as I am over 3 inches I should be fine. I would appreciate any insights from anyone who installed a 17-inch sport bike wheel on their Dyna. I know the triple tree offset plays a large factor in the trail/handling.

 

The last time NavyShooter posted on HDF was back in 2014, so it is most unlikely you will get a reply IMHO. I suggest you start a new thread of your own, to make a fresh start.

 

unfortunately photobucket blocked all the photos but here's a guy that used a sport bike front end an swing arm/mono shock rear on a softail build.

https://www.hdforums.com/forum/softa...ld-thread.html