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Been learning from you guys for a while but finally made an account.. picked up an 07 deluxe back in Nov that I have been bonding (and fighting) with between its various issues but mostly have them all squared away. That being said there are two big things I want to do and wanted some feedback.
First being wheels. I am not looking to drop 3k on this, the bike gets ridden a lot and less for show so I was just considering replacing with new spoked wheels as my oem ones are flaking chrome badly. Considering 18" front and back as I want the neutral posture.
Second thing is I want the swingarm conversion to have external shocks. Miami has rough roads and I've already kinda scraped the shocks a couple times but outside of that I just don't agree with the design and figure I'd be happier performance wise as well having dyna or road king shocks outside, that and the drain plug would be easier to reach down there.
Are there any issues with how this would all come together?I've thought "just get a dyna" but too much effort has gone into getting this bike to where it is at to lose money selling it for another that i got no idea where it has been and im not even at 16k miles yet. Let me know what you guys think!
I take it you mean the transmission oil drain plug.
I am not familiar with the drain plug location on an '07 Softail. Is it located on the bottom of the transmission?
the location I am familiar with is on the right side under the transmission side cover.
I've seen pictures of Dirty Bird Concepts FL Style Swingarm Conversion for Softails.
I would call them or any other manufacturer of a conversion kit like that to ask about issues that must be dealt with during the conversion.
I can't think of any possible issue that would prevent you from using 18" wheels with the conversion. Again, you could ask the conversion kit manufacturer.
Since no one else has responded to your question it looks like you are considering doing something not often done.
I wish you luck with the project and hope you post pictures during the conversion process if you go for it.
For the 07s there is the drain plug straight from the oil tank down to the frame but there is another that I think is the transmission and thats inbetween the two shocks and you need an extension with the socket to reach it. The kit that I am referring to has been out for a bit I believe but I only found out about it from the Kruesi Originals videos on YT. The kit itself is mostly bolt-on with I think a 1/2" drill bit needed to alter one pair of holes.
It seems neat and does change how the bike is overall so I'm not scared of giving it a try but its not super urgent and am more concerned about my wheels because it calls for 18'' wheels in the rear "for best clearance" but I want 18s in the rear anyway.
I just got done putting a dirty bird swing arm and external shocks on one of my bikes. I was honestly blown away how well it rides. I would highly recommend using dirty bird if you want a swing arm.
Sounds good, did you have any difficulties with the kit not outlined up front? I'm afraid you'd have to be the front man for this as I am low on $$ so I stuck with putting progressive shocks in my deluxe for now lol. What shocks did you throw on there?
First being wheels. I am not looking to drop 3k on this, the bike gets ridden a lot and less for show so I was just considering replacing with new spoked wheels as my oem ones are flaking chrome badly. Considering 18" front and back as I want the neutral posture.
You can purchase 18" "hoops" ( Excell and others) and stainless spokes from Buchanan and re-lace to your existing hubs and then fit 140 ( maybe 150) 70-18 tires
It APPEARS that you have the PROFILE wheels which are Tubeless , you will lose that convenience in the conversion above
It APPEARS that you have the PROFILE wheels which are Tubeless , you will lose that convenience in the conversion above
Not necessarily. My '06 came with the "profile" or "Smoothie" wheels as pictured. But they were tube type. I retro fitted Smoothie Profile TUBELESS wheels from a 2015 onto my '06, but for the rear, the hub is .400" wider. So I had to de-lace the wheel, modify the hub, and relace. The front required spacer bushings, which I manufactured myself.
At any rate, it's easy to tell the difference. The tubeless wheels with say "TUBELESS" right on the rim. The tube type will not.
I am a huge fan of the fat spoke 50 wheels. You can find them at a good price on Ebay all day long in black, chrome and even combinations of both. They mostly come with 3/4" bearings so if you run the will it fit app it will tell you it won't. Just concentrate on the diameter and the width and you should be fine. They sell bearing kits to update to what you need as they are interchangeable after 2000 I believe And the added benefit is they are usually all set up for a tubeless tire.
DNA makes a nice wheel. I have an 18/16 combo, be warned tho, if you want WW's your choices are limited to Vee Rubber, Shinko and the Continentals, I have the Conti's, and I'm here to tell you the WW's aren't nearly as white as the Dunlops I had prior.
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Wheels & Swing arm conversion
