Hey guys and gals, excited to be here.

I've always wanted to ride but have never been in a good position to take it up, until recently. I enrolled in R.I.D.E. here in Gulfport MS and within two weeks I was a 2004 X1200C owner.

I have only had the bike about three weeks, and if I had more time it would have more than 750 miles I have put on it. I did manage to change the oil (what a pain in the butt!) and put on a set of Vance and Hines Short Shots that came with the bike (also bought the factory manual).

Onto my question. A friend of mine would not stop harping about the dangers and maintenance troubles of spoked wheels. Being a new rider I was a bit over-cautious about this and purchased an 07 Sportster front mag wheel for the bike. I got it for cheap..ish but was pretty dumb in not thinking that it would be a different size. To be more clear, I knew it was smaller, but I figured I could get a taller tire.

In short...could someone point me to a good tire that can make up the 2" difference between my mag wheel and my old spoked one? I don't want a huge gap between the wheel and my fender...

THANKS so much and hopefully I will see you on the road!

 

Oh, another question I had...

The bike has 2140 miles on it. I changed the oil at 1600 miles with Mobil 1 V-Twin 20W-50

I believe that is a synthetic oil. Seeing how I can't drain all the oil from the bike without some kind of pump and that it went during its break in period with whatever Harley puts in it...was it a mistake to switch to synthetic?

 

I've been running spoked wheels for 16 yrs on my EVO chopper. Never had 1 problem with them. They are still true, I even have drag raced (God that's fun!)

 

You mean you have a 19" mag to replace your 21" laced wheel? I dont think you will find a tire to make up 2" in diameter.

I am with DeJavu, your friend is exagerating.

 

I'm positive that he was...there are millions of bikes with spoked wheels out there. But I had a dumb moment and now I have this mag wheel so I am trying to find options.

DeJavu, that chopper looks awesome.

 

One of your options is to buy your friend a beer, but sell that wheel! Bikes have used wire wheels for a century or more and yours are not going to let you down for many years yet.

I prefer cast wheels myself, but there was an article in Big Bike magazine many years ago comparing the damage done in a front end collision. Wire wheels collapse and act like a crumple zone, saving the frame from serious damage, while cast wheels hold their shape and can destroy the frame, also cause more serious rider injuries.