Just saw a video on YouTube where the guy had a 160 rear on his Iron.

Is this possible without any mods etc?

Does that tire fit on the stock wheel? It looked like he had stock wheels on it.

 

It depends on the tire brand and model. Not all 160's (or any other sizes for that matter) are the exact same width.
A Metzeler 880 or Dunlop E3 160/80-16 will fit without mods. Unless you change the aspect ratio (the /80) in the tire size, tires get taller as they get wider. Both the Metz and Dunlop listed above are taller than the stock 150/80-16 and you'll likely have problems with it bottoming out on the fender if you have the stock/lower suspension.

 

So not a good idea if you have something like the Burly Slammer kit on your bike, good info thank you. There is not much difference between a 150 and 160 anyway so not that big of a deal.

 

Not all tyres are the width they say on the side wall! As examples, I have used a 140 that was actually 139 measured, a 150 that was 153 measured and a 160 that is 166 measured. Each of those measured widths is different from the manufacturer's stated actual width, so this is not an exact science.

In addition, be aware that on a stock 3" wide rim most brands recommend 150 as the widest we should use. To go up from a 150/80 on a 3" rim on my Glide, I have gone to a 160/70 on a recommended 4.5" rim. Funny things tyres!

 

I know it is apples to oranges here, but I am running a 160 avon on my superlow (17" rim) and it is tight, but clears and no issues with bottoming. j&p usually has the tire dimensions under the specs tab- the tire I am running is 166mm (6.5 in) wide, and 654mm (25.7in) tall and fits with about 1/4" clearance at the tightest point (to the sidewall) and just about 2 1/4" to the fender (suspension unloaded). using that as a reference- a dunlop D206 (170/70/16) should fit just fine, as it is 169mm wide (6.65")- just slightly wider and 25.4" tall- just a touch shorter.
dunlop K555- 6.54" wide, 25.9" tall should work as well.

 

tree88, you and I can be smug with our SuperLows, as we have 4.5" wide rims! So we can safely fit a wider than stock 150 tyre, which then brings us the challenge of clearances, as you describe.

 

squeezing a larger tire onto a narrower rim (within reason) is not going to affect the installed width much. it may detract from the load rating just a touch- but the tires I mentioned are rated for far more than the factory issue tires. I have seen people put 180 tires on stock wheels with no issues. just throwing it out there.

 

You are correct, many of the popular replacement tires have a higher load rating than the stock Dunflop 401.
The Metz Tire Fitment Guide also recommends their 880 160/80-16 as a replacement for the Dunlop 150 on the stock, 3.5" rim. But again, I've run several of the 880 160's but I don't recommend using them with a lowered suspension.

Here's a chart I put together that will give you a comparison of some of the common tire options.

 

I had a 160 on a stock softail wheel. It was an Avon and I think it was 167 mm wide.

 

and if you will notice- the specs I posted were for a 170 width tires, so a 160 should be a no-brainer.