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Regarding the 120/70-21 on the 21 x 3.5" wheels... We have had an excellent turnout with these. 95% of the wheels we sell are these and we have never had a customer dissatisfied with them. The only complaint we have had is that the 21" raises the bike slightly and shorter riders have trouble reaching the ground.
The 140/70-21 is not as popular and we have sold very few. No other mods are needed besides swapping out your fender. This tire is too wide for your stock FL fender.
The 130/60-23 and 23" rim requires a lot of work to do it correctly. There are a few ways to get it accomplished, but this is not necessarily the best thing to do.
You can...
A. Swap your fender and run heavy fork oil to keep the wheel from hitting your frame. EXERCISE CAUTION! VERY DANGEROUS.
B. Change your trees to 3 degree FL trike trees and change your fender. (Note: This does not retain the stock trail and is not recommended either but a lot of customers have done this and are very happy with the turnout.)
The 140 is just about the same diameter as the 130/23 wheel and tire combo. I wa going to do the 23" on my ride but the pocket books was not quite deep enough. I looked at the 4 degree Hawg Halters trees which would let the factory headlight tins bolt right up to. But their trees are designed to add 2" to your factory tubes which did not look right at all. But you can get some -2" tubes and make it look just right for the 23" wheel. But you would also have to measure and fit the bump stops so you don't damage your new wrap fender on the bottom of those new trees. And the fenders are like gold. Seems like any 23" fender was at least $350 to $600. So I just decided to stay with the 21" with the 120 because I have driven it 17,000 miles already without a problem.
If we are still talking about feed back on a 21' then I will say that my 120/70 Vee rubber tire on a DNA fat 52 rides smooth as silk.
All I had to do was buy a wheel and a tire and when it went on I had to lift up on the front of the fender before I tightened the fender bolts and that was it...done. Total cost $600
Is it really worth it to spend all that money to rake the frame for such a small difference in overall size? I run my bike up to 85 on the expressway and I almost feel like its better than stock now although I never had problems with the stock wheel...just feels good to push that big wheel up front.
Thanks for the feedback as well, Motown. That is a beautiful sled you have there! l think I am leaning toward the 21" with the 120/70/21 for all the reasons that many of you have pointed out. Just seems like a lot more work, $ and unknowns for the sake of 2 more inches of rim.
Is it really worth it to spend all that money to rake the frame for such a small difference in overall size? I run my bike up to 85 on the expressway and I almost feel like its better than stock now although I never had problems with the stock wheel...just feels good to push that big wheel up front.
How many beans are in a beanbag chair??? True or false
Kinda hard to say cause you can go nuts with some of the wheels and brakes out there but without going crazy you can do it for around $2000. Like I said though you could spend that on a wheel itself. I do the frame work in my shop for around $250. The trees are around $750. Like I said its not for everyone but, its definatly a option to think about.[/quote]
Did you have to modify an off the shelf fender or can you buy them for a bigger wheel like that?
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