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Decided to trial fit my left over road king classic rear wheel to see if the 180 tire cleared the swing arm and it does for the most part, better than I thought it would. If I run this rim Ill swap the hub and make a spacer to move the drum over and run an offset front sprocket. The only downside is I don't think I can get a vintage looking tire in this width. The tubular drum brake swing arm I bought is in the mail on its way so this exercise could be moot.
Just a comment, my '70 has the round swing arm and drum brake, the 130 barely comes off the bike without removing the drum. It is snug, if I remember I take the air out of the tire first. Modern tires are much wider then back in the day. So my point is you may be building something that is a PITA to get apart for maintenance, but that is part of it all.
My Roadie front end is 1" under and the fender is lowered to about 3/4" from the tire. Add in a chunky Michelin tire and that front wheel does not come off the same way it did when new. And caliper removal is interesting with the fender so much closer.
Worth the pain, yeh, just be aware and maybe think about changing the tire a couple of years down the road and what that is going to take. Carry on.
Just a comment, my '70 has the round swing arm and drum brake, the 130 barely comes off the bike without removing the drum. It is snug, if I remember I take the air out of the tire first. Modern tires are much wider then back in the day. So my point is you may be building something that is a PITA to get apart for maintenance, but that is part of it all.
My Roadie front end is 1" under and the fender is lowered to about 3/4" from the tire. Add in a chunky Michelin tire and that front wheel does not come off the same way it did when new. And caliper removal is interesting with the fender so much closer.
Worth the pain, yeh, just be aware and maybe think about changing the tire a couple of years down the road and what that is going to take. Carry on.
Thanks for the feedback. Ill see how the arm fits the tire the moment it arrives then jump off the next bridge as I come to it. Based on what you're saying about the drum and not having it in front of me I may alter the backing plate tab on the arm so the wheel can come out compete with the brakes after disconnecting the brake line. We'll see. If the look I want means its a pain to service then Ill suck it up.
Thanks for the feedback. Ill see how the arm fits the tire the moment it arrives then jump off the next bridge as I come to it. Based on what you're saying about the drum and not having it in front of me I may alter the backing plate tab on the arm so the wheel can come out compete with the brakes after disconnecting the brake line. We'll see. If the look I want means its a pain to service then Ill suck it up.
Glad you understood. On my WL the rear of the bike was designed for a 18" wheel which is quite narrow. By 1946 they all came with 16" wheels which is what I have on the rear. No matter what I do I gotta take the brake off with the wheel, just not enough room between the frame. Fortunately the brake is mechanical and not too big of a deal, with a juice brake it might become a serious PITA.
Although the axle brackets are closer together on the tubular arm I have more room for the tire. The arm being underslung on the axle means the tire radius is further away up front! The wheel is all the way forward in the slots and only just touches with a 180 tire on a 16x5 rim.
I don't have a drum backing plate yet but I think I can cut the stud off and weld a nut in its place or a threaded sleeve recessed into the plate and use a bolt through the backing plate anchor hole. I wont modify this arm, the backing plate will go under the knife.
I see I need a shock about an inch longer since the lower mount goes through the arm rather than through a block welded on top of the boxed arm.
I want to rebuild the engine, problem is the machine shop I use for my engine machining doesn't have a fixture to do a single cylinder. They do amazing work but only race car and boat stuff so I feel my best approach would be to just buy a kit and then I might as well go larger. My original plan was to rebuild it stock but finding someone up here I trust to true the flywheels and make the bores straight is a dead end.
Thoughts on the S&S 93" siidewinder kit?
I ran a sidewinder kit in my 83 FXSB with an Andrews Cam & S&S Carb. It was a running machine.
I ran a sidewinder kit in my 83 FXSB with an Andrews Cam & S&S Carb. It was a running machine.
No doubt it was! What Ive read though is I need to machine the crankcase to accept the larger liners - makes sense. Problem is I wont modify my original numbers matching cases which means buying another engine to do that to. Then that leads to me thinking why buy another original shovelhead engine and build it when I can get a built engine instead from S&S. Then I think screw it Ill rebuild my original engine to 80 inches and put a cam in it because its the path of lease resistance without a $10K associated cost. So for now Im focusing on making this rear wheel fit and getting the missing parts I need to mount it to the bike then Ill decide on a path with my engine.
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