So, having a 17" front on my '09 has turned out to be a pain in the ***. It severely limits my tire choices and there's no visual difference between the 16 and 17 so they didn't do it for looks. Was it a necessity with the new frame or something? I may go back to 16" or head on up to Pimp Town with an 18/21 setup.

 

The 17" front wheel is part of the whole 09 Touring Frame / Suspension change. Because of the new frame/suspension, they needed to modify the front wheel to make the steering geometry acceptable for handling.

You're going to find that the rear tire isn't very easy to replace with anything other than the OEM tire as well. If you are wanting to have more options available, it may be necessary to, as you said, 'go to pimp town with an 18/21 setup'

Good luck.

 

The 09 Road King comes with a 16" front

 

Looks like 88b is right here!

 

Ummmm, no.....the Road King Classic has a 16, the regular RK has a 17"

 

If he's right then the HD website, my owner's manual, and my front tire are all wrong.

 

so the MoCo could make more $ by selling proprietary tires for them.

 

That seems like the only logical answer. If it was a frame/steering thing then they'd have put a 17" on the FLHRC. Unless, of course, they couldn't talk Dunlop into making a 17" WWW tire.

 

Yep. Picked up a bolt in my front a few weekends ago. Local shop trailered it there, but couldn't find anything the proper size for it. Explanation was that HD had a contract with dunlop for that specific size. Had to drive to the dealer to pick up an overpriced OEM replacement.

 

Why do you have to go all the way up to a 21" front? Can't you just do a 18" front?