Soooo i got some sweet wheels on ebay that fit 3/4" axles, they came off an older softail. But i own a 2011 rocker and it looks like they use a 25mm axle... did i make a huge mistake or can it be fixed? i really like the wheels.. any and all advice is welcome!

 

Man... that won't be easy... but it is not impossible,

The bearings on 3/4'' older wheels are "double row" bearings.. they are wider than the current "single row" 25mm bearings.. now.. if you measure the width of the wheel hub from one side of the bearing wall to the other side of the bearing wall (basically the width of the hub) .. the width is usually same for both your 3/4'' wheel and the 25mm wheel.. so you should not have issues in that respect.. or you can always buy a set of outer axle spacers and shims to adjust the outer spacers.. the real issue is the distance wall-to-wall of the inner walls of the hub.. they are different between the 3/4' and 25mm wheels.. allow me to illustrate:



As you can see the distance between the "inner hub walls" is different between the 3.4' 'and 25mm wheels. one VERY important detail is that the length of inner hub spacer is EXACTLY the same as the distance between both inner hub walls.. this is important because the bearings MUST seat flushed against both the inner wall and the inner hub spacer, otherwise it will generate pressure inside the bearing causing it to fail and seize while you are riding.. a potentially fatal event.

I did try to adapt a 3/4'' wheel to my Softail Blackline.. I bought the components but then I found another wheel and then discarded the idea.. now.. you might say... well.. it is just a matter of buying a 25mm inner hub spacer with the same width as the 3/4'' ... unfortunately Harley does not make them since there is no such 25mm "double row" bearing wheel produced by Harley.. but!!.. years ago I found a guy on Ebay that made this special spacer:



the seller name is AZHarleyBob, here is the link:
http://www.ebay.com/usr/azharleybob

In addition to that... you will need "double row" 25mm bearings.. that ebay guy used to sell them.. I went to his page and I didn't see either the hub spacer or the bearings.. try to contact him.. perhaps he still sells them..

You also have the alternative of buying a longer 25mm inner hub spacer from harley then take it to a machinist and get them cut to EXACTLY the same width as the 3/4'' inner hub.. you will also need to drill the inner wall to be wider than 25mm.. remember that the hole right now is for a 3/4'' inner hub spacer..

Are you in Brisbane, California.. or Australia?

I hope this helps.. Thanks!
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got a pic? might be better off selling em to try an get your money back an trying again. If the "pocket" for the bearing is big enough you may be able to use 25 mm bearings or finding some that will fit the pocket an have a 25 mm axle hole.

 

Thank you so much Joe! That is more helpful than i could have possibly expected. I know a guy that does engineering and lathe work not far from my house in Australia, my sneaky plan was to hand him a heap of parts and see what he can do but it seems unfair after seeing the amount of work involved lol

I guess i wont be showing off my shiney new wheels on my big ride in 10 days from now haha

Looks like my first job is getting the bearings out on the new wheels...

im new to forums Langwilliams so i hope the pics come through ok

 

those are some nice looking wheels....good luck getting them to work.

 

nice wheels!!

A word of caution on removing the bearings.. get a quality bearing puller / installer.. once you remove a bearing it cannot be reused because the extraction process causes stress and damages the ***** / internal race..

installing the bearing you need to be very patient and careful, use grease and the proper procedure with the tool,, the walls need to be very clean.. if you notice that the bearing is crooked while inserting.. carefully remove it and try again.. do not try to force it.. there are quite a few good videos on youtube on how to properly do it..

about the bearings.. I will try to find the correct part number.. I still have the inner spacer and bearings somewhere in boxes.. I will look for them.. I am sure that at least I can give you the correct bearing number for this application.. gimme a couple days..

UPDATE:
ok.. I found the bearing.. it is model SKF 3205 A-2RS1

Here is the link to the technical specs:
http://www.skf.com/group/products/be...=3205%20A-2RS1

once you remove the bearing you can measure it and compare against the technical data.. even better.. take it to a local bearing supplier and ask them to show you the SKF 3205 A-2RS1 so you can compare the size against the 3/4'' bearing currently installed on the wheels.

This is the cheapest I found on ebay:
http://www.ebay.com/p/SKF-Double-Row...1C3/1301738363



Happy riding !!
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Awesome!! It will be little while before i can start this project now, but i can start getting the parts together thanks to your links, you have been a huge help.

Thanks again mate

 

has anyone tried using these 25mm Double Row Ball Bearing to replace the stock 3/4 bearings? if so what center spacer did you use

 

If you have a helper with a lathe, you can make a spacer/bushing to go behind the narrower 25mm bearings. It's more important on the brake side. Doing that, you should be able to use the existing axle spacer between the bearings.

This is assuming the new wheels have the same hub width as the originals. I did a wheel swap that was the reverse of what you are wanting to do, a late model wheel set on an earlier bike. The front was pretty straight forward. The rear required a bit of work as the hub width on the 2015 wheel was much wider than my 2006 wheels were. A bit of machine work and getting the right bearings, and it all fit together

 

Any machinist could make the inner spacers in less than an hour...you will need custom outer spacers also...I always mock it up with washers...then measure the washers, and order ready made chrome spacers.

The only other "gotcha" I can think of...some aftermarket 3/4 axle wheels have cast hubs that are too small for a 1"/25mm inner spacer to fit though...Kinda tough to machine on a lathe with the wheel assembled...you can mill them out...you can grind them out...but I have seem them crack from this being done...not enough "meat" left.