Yes, I know we have gone over this before. But I have something new to add!

I purchased a 6 spike mag a few weeks ago on ebay. Got a good price and thought I'd see what all the noise was about refering to solid rims on Fatboys. I have a 2004 Fatboy with the stock rims on. This mag rim I purchased is a HD rim that comes off some stock model. Not sure what model but it has Harley Davidson markings on it. It also says "made in Australia".

Anyway, I had a new standard Dumblap stock new tire put on it. I put the stock rotor on and had HD service balance it. I mounted it to the front of my Fatboy. FYI....Total cost for everything was around $350.00. Rim,tire,mounting,balance.

So I took the Boy out for a spin on the freeway. Got it up to 60+ and I noticed that the bike would tilt left to right like it was riding in gruves on the road. But the road was smooth. Kind of like a plane yawing back and forth. I have had the mag on for a couple of weeks now and this seems to always be the case at speeds higher then 55mph. It is very slight but noticable and the solid rim did not do this anywhere near as much as this mag rim does.

So my question is, Is the shape of this mag causing the movement. Maybe as the wheel spins it creates some vortex that makes it do this. Or maybe HD didn't balance it correctly? Bottom line is, The solid rim seems to be more stable and if that is the case I think I will go back to it. I actually like the solid look anyways....

Thanks for reading my jabbering on..........

 

Very interesting point. Something I never really considered. While I noticed that on windy days the Fatboy gets pushed around by the wind with the flat discs, I haven't taken note as to how it handles on calm days at high speeds with my new wheels. I suppose in theory, the flat discs could make the bike more aerodynamically stable in a straight line at highway speeds with no wind. I'll have to pay more attention on my next long ride to see if I notice a difference.

 

Hi there,

Something not right here, I have an 01 Fatboy and have just fitted a new HD cast wheel, I have a new Avon Venom WWW fitted and even without balancing she is steady as a rock, regularly cruising 80MPH plus hit 95 two up yesterday! Much more stable than the original wheel which was prone to shifting with heavy wind either off the back of trucks or crosswinds.
Is your wheel new? if not could it be out of true, or could it be balancing, personally I dont like the standard Dunlops but it shouldnt be that bad, I find they track lines on the road too much, Avons go where they are pointed.

[IMG]local://upfiles/6115/8CCBCB55F2FF449FB47202ADA34C0FFA.jpg[/IMG]

 

You know, the freeway I am on is not completly smooth. It does have a clearly defind crown and of course there are auto/truck created grooves from long use. I wonder if the "New" dumblaps could be tracking in them? I did deflate the front tire to 38 PSI from 40PSI and it didn't make a difference. My old solid rim has a dumblap on it but it is about half used, if that makes a difference.

As I said the shifting isn't terrible just noticeable and much more then I noticed when I had my stock rim on the bike. The mag rim is used but in very good condition as I can see. What I was thinking was this particular mag pattern might be causing the shifting. I don't know what other models might be like as I havn't tried any others. But I don't believe the rim is defective. So for now I would have to rule that out. Again, can a unbalanced tire cause this problem? Should I take it back to HD and have them re-balance it?

Mark.......

 

When I put my six-spoke on it was nothing but a massive improvement in every way.
It sounds like you may have the same rim as mine - I love mine.
I don't think that it's at all possible that your rim is changing shape as it spins... It would come apart.
Perhaps it is slightly bent, and only noticeable at higher speeds. Also - it might just need to be balanced...

I wish that some magazine or reputable shop would do a test on the solid wheel getting pushed around in the wind issue, so we can put this issue to bed. I for one think going to a six spoke helped a lot - but then again there are others that don't feel that way....

 

I put a set of H-D 5 spoke mags on my bike. It rides and handles much beter.
Was F-spokes and R-solid

 

Yes your 6 spoke mag is the same one I have. I will say that the mag on the bike feels more nimble and as I said earlier, becuase the tire is new it might just need breaking in and it is the grooves in the road that cause the shifting. Again this shifting is noticable but not so bad that it would be dangerous.

Yesterday I took a ride to my HD Group meeting. I was on a different strech of road and it wasn't as bad. So I'm begining to think it is not a problem and the mag is just different in the way it rides compared to the solid rim.

Since I have made other changes in the bike recently it is hard to judge. For instance, I changed out the handle bars to heritage bars. ecuase they are further back the balance of the bike is different. This could even cause the feel to change.

So I guess I will ride it for a while and see if it is just me trying to notice something that isn't there

Thanks for letting me vent..al..ate...

 

Just curious, My 05 Heritage Classic calls for 36 psi front and rear solo or 36 psi front and 40 psi rear when 2 up. Could the extra 2 to 4 psi make that much difference?

 

It will help the treads wear more evenly. You probably won't notice any change in how it handles.