2007 fatboy wheel change
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Novice
Joined: Apr 2010
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From: UK
2007 fatboy wheel change
Hi all
I've been getting together a pile of bits for my 2007 fatboy. The main modification I'm looking to do is change the front for a twin disc set up.
It appears however that in stock trim the 2007 fatboys have a 12mm offset on the front wheel.
Has anyone done the change to twin discs ?? How did you get round the offset or did you just set the new wheel central ??
Centring the front wheel seems fairly easy and I so far think I will only need some very minor machining of the calipers ie skim 1mm on caliper and 1mm on fork mounts and everything lines up.
If you've centred your front wheel I'd be interested to know if this affected handling much ??
Regards
I've been getting together a pile of bits for my 2007 fatboy. The main modification I'm looking to do is change the front for a twin disc set up.
It appears however that in stock trim the 2007 fatboys have a 12mm offset on the front wheel.
Has anyone done the change to twin discs ?? How did you get round the offset or did you just set the new wheel central ??
Centring the front wheel seems fairly easy and I so far think I will only need some very minor machining of the calipers ie skim 1mm on caliper and 1mm on fork mounts and everything lines up.
If you've centred your front wheel I'd be interested to know if this affected handling much ??
Regards
Advanced
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 57
Likes: 1
That's hard to believe. There has been a running thread regarding the offset of the 07 Fatboy front wheel that originated back in 07 when the bikes were first sold. Since then others have added to it along the way. The original poster seemed upset and wanted to force a recall once it was realized a design error was put into production and sold. Folks seem to be using 08 and up parts (spacers, mostly) to recenter the wheel. Others have reported they don't care and one has even suggested the 07 bikes were a collector's item (that might have been a joke) I haven't read about anyone machining calipers yet. No ill effects have been reported regarding recentering the wheel but the accepted rationale is the bike requires the offset to track straight due to an error in how the bike was initially designed to accommodate the new (at the time) 200 rear tire.
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Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 57
Likes: 1
I did a forum search with the words fatboy and offset just now. The first thread I uncovered was at: https://www.hdforums.com/forum/softa...eel-ofset.html There were several others but that will give you a start.
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Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 5,361
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From: auckland,new zealand
I did a forum search with the words fatboy and offset just now. The first thread I uncovered was at: https://www.hdforums.com/forum/softa...eel-ofset.html There were several others but that will give you a start.
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Joined: Jul 2007
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When I wrote what I originally posted I was in a hurry to leave for work; just shutting down my computer for the day but wanted to let the OP know it was there to be found. I'm sorry if I offended you. I've seen it done plenty of times myself and feel somewhat the same. However, now I realize why at least one person (myself) might do such a thing. Now that I have the time to respond more appropriately I went back and wrote with more detail. Just as I am doing now. Thank you for your input.
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Novice
Joined: Apr 2010
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From: UK
Kiwiduece thanks for support. No offence taken though ackackadak
I was under the whip at the time I was posting and couldn’t find exactly what I wanted hence asking.
Anyway guys here’s an update where I am now.
It appears I certainly have managed to get this quite complicated.
The Tourer wheel I chose (2008 Tourer 18" Reaper) uses the newer centre less floating discs similar to those on the vrods and newer tourers.
I have now bought a set of Brembo calipers. I found the stock design 2007 calipers will fit but would need machining since the centre to centre dimension on the fat boy is different to the Tourers. So even once the wheel is spaced centrally the disc was 5mm too close to the fork leg or quite off centre in the caliper.
I'm planning to machine the fork caliper mounts by 2-3 mm each side. This should only remove the raised section that the bolt goes through and have little or no structural impact on the strength of the caliper bracket on the fork leg.
The same operation will be applied to the caliper mounts on the caliper it's self also to get the required 4-5mm each side. There should be some tolerance in the calipers themselves even though the discs should be central the pads and the brake cylinders should have some tolerance to allow slight differences as long as everything is parallel.
I found that there wasn’t a wheel fitting kit that had the bearings and spacers combination I needed so bought some stock steel tube to make up bearing spacers and will fit bearings centrally in wheel hub which should simplify the spacers for the wheel / fork.
I found that best way to get bearings was ignore Harley parts and see a bearing specialist as most combinations seem to be available.
Once finished these jobs my front wheel will then be central in the forks and I'll have my twin brakes. On the basis that the load in each fork will be halved over a standard Fatboy I doubt the machining will weaken anything sufficiently to present a problem.
New cowbells apparently 2" longer and came from one of the after market suppliers have also been sourced.
I already have the new discs and materials to make up custom brake lines in S/S to suit.
The Tourer fender adapters fit nicely and do a tidy job of holding the fender
The rear wheel also presented a minor problem as the 2007 fatties have 3/4 axle size and the wheel (17" reaper) is designed for 25mm or 1" axle so I will make up the spacers for the bearings and the wheel to suit the bearings. The bearings i.e. 2" 52mm OD and 3/4 19mm weren’t easily available in UK but were sourced easily via eBay from US.
I really didn’t see the point to changing the rear axle to a 1" or 25mm as I'm sure this was unlikely to be straight forward given matters so far.
A rough mock up last time I was home suggests there isn’t any big problem here but I didn’t have time to check every thing exactly. There were no obviously signs of anything not aligning or catching such as belt etc but I was running out of time and had a flight to catch the day I slotted the rear wheel in loosely.
I can’t see any need for anything other than possibly a 1-2mm adjustment here and that I'm sure can easily be fixed with spacers on the disc and or the belt drive.
I was using the original spacers as well so unless there is an offset built into the rim things should be fine. More details to follow.
The only thing I don’t know at this point is how much effect on handling and ride the centering the front wheel on a 2007 has so if anyone has done this I'd be really interested to get some feedback.
I was under the whip at the time I was posting and couldn’t find exactly what I wanted hence asking.
Anyway guys here’s an update where I am now.
It appears I certainly have managed to get this quite complicated.
The Tourer wheel I chose (2008 Tourer 18" Reaper) uses the newer centre less floating discs similar to those on the vrods and newer tourers.
I have now bought a set of Brembo calipers. I found the stock design 2007 calipers will fit but would need machining since the centre to centre dimension on the fat boy is different to the Tourers. So even once the wheel is spaced centrally the disc was 5mm too close to the fork leg or quite off centre in the caliper.
I'm planning to machine the fork caliper mounts by 2-3 mm each side. This should only remove the raised section that the bolt goes through and have little or no structural impact on the strength of the caliper bracket on the fork leg.
The same operation will be applied to the caliper mounts on the caliper it's self also to get the required 4-5mm each side. There should be some tolerance in the calipers themselves even though the discs should be central the pads and the brake cylinders should have some tolerance to allow slight differences as long as everything is parallel.
I found that there wasn’t a wheel fitting kit that had the bearings and spacers combination I needed so bought some stock steel tube to make up bearing spacers and will fit bearings centrally in wheel hub which should simplify the spacers for the wheel / fork.
I found that best way to get bearings was ignore Harley parts and see a bearing specialist as most combinations seem to be available.
Once finished these jobs my front wheel will then be central in the forks and I'll have my twin brakes. On the basis that the load in each fork will be halved over a standard Fatboy I doubt the machining will weaken anything sufficiently to present a problem.
New cowbells apparently 2" longer and came from one of the after market suppliers have also been sourced.
I already have the new discs and materials to make up custom brake lines in S/S to suit.
The Tourer fender adapters fit nicely and do a tidy job of holding the fender
The rear wheel also presented a minor problem as the 2007 fatties have 3/4 axle size and the wheel (17" reaper) is designed for 25mm or 1" axle so I will make up the spacers for the bearings and the wheel to suit the bearings. The bearings i.e. 2" 52mm OD and 3/4 19mm weren’t easily available in UK but were sourced easily via eBay from US.
I really didn’t see the point to changing the rear axle to a 1" or 25mm as I'm sure this was unlikely to be straight forward given matters so far.
A rough mock up last time I was home suggests there isn’t any big problem here but I didn’t have time to check every thing exactly. There were no obviously signs of anything not aligning or catching such as belt etc but I was running out of time and had a flight to catch the day I slotted the rear wheel in loosely.
I can’t see any need for anything other than possibly a 1-2mm adjustment here and that I'm sure can easily be fixed with spacers on the disc and or the belt drive.
I was using the original spacers as well so unless there is an offset built into the rim things should be fine. More details to follow.
The only thing I don’t know at this point is how much effect on handling and ride the centering the front wheel on a 2007 has so if anyone has done this I'd be really interested to get some feedback.
6th Gear
Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 11
Likes: 0
From: Jacksonville, Florida
From what I have read the swingarm is off about a 1/4" on the 07 FLSTF "Standard"... The Screaming Eagle is not... It was corrected in 08' on the Standard... Since the Rear was off, Harley offset the front wheel and fender... If you check the clearance between the fender and the lowers you will notice you can slide your finger between the left sid and not the right... The lowers are different in 07 as well... Since Harley shifted the front wheel over, they had to shift the fender over as well to make it look right... I understand it is also moved over on the springers in 07 as well which would make since (but I have not confirmed that)... I understand the only way to correct all of this is to use a 2008 swingarm, Wheels (both front and rear) and Forks...
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