My friend has a 2001 Road King with spoked wheels. He wants to pull a trailer, and has been advised to do away with the spoked rear wheel and go to a mag style. My question is, what wheel will fit? I have looked on ebay and nothing says 2001. Also will a wheel off say a 2005 touring work. and what size axle does it take? Also if he changes the rear out, should he change the front also?


Thanks

Joe

 

I would like to hear the reasoning for not recommending spoke wheels for pulling a trailer. I've never heard that before.

 

Tell him to save his money and stick with the spoke wheels. I have never heard of this.

 

Is there any truth to this: You should not pull a trailer with a bike with spoke wheels? I am not sure where my friend got his info, I think one of the guys we ride with told him to not do it. Any help would be appreciated.



Joe

 

Any help appreciated, I would like to save my friend some money if he don't need to buy new wheels, pulleys, brake disc etc..


Joe

 

While I do not know anything about a mag being better than a spoked wheel for pulling a trailer, I did install a mag on the rear of my 2001 Roadking to better allow for emergency roadside flat tire repairs (tire plugging). Often hearing that most flat tires occur on the rear tire, I put a chrome mag wheel off of a 2005 Roadking Custom. This installation only required that I change out the wheel bearing from a 1" to a 3/4" which was not much of a problem. In addition, I changed from a Dunlop 130 to a 140 which was also an improvement. The difference in the rear wheel's appearance was barely noticable and I rode 12,500 miles (14 states) this summer without any problems.

I never thought I'd give up on spoke wheels but like the mag wheel so much better (easier to clean) that I am going to put a matching one on the front this winter.

 

Can't address the trailer issue, but I can certainly speak to the mag vs the laced wheels. I ran the laced wheels for a few years primarily because I liked the way they looked with WWW tires. I go through tires pretty regularly, and I got tired of having to buy tubes with every new set of tires, and also new strips with every change. Not alot of $$ but usually always at least another $50-$60 more or less. Plus I hated having to clean them. Both the white walls and the laced wheels were a pain to keep looking nice. Oh, and if you happen to catch a nail or have any kind of flat, forget about fixing it with a plug. You're going to have to pull the tire and tear it down with the laced wheels and tubed tires. About 3-4 years ago I sent my original mag 9-spokes down to ChromeProsPlating in Corpus Christi, TX for chrome and polishing. They did a great job! $550 for both wheels. Then I mounted the Black Walls on with the chrome, and I couldn't be more happy. Cleaning time is less than 1/2. I can repair them anywhere with a plug kit, and no more tubes, and strips at every tire change. Couldn't be more pleased. So, there's a little info on the benefits for going to the mags, but I know they aren't for everyone. FWIW, the flat fix alone would drive me to make the change if I was your buddy, and contemplating pulling a trailer.

 

I am curious how the laws of physics can somehow be changed by going from spokes to mags…

 

The only thing I could add is to consider the side to side action that a trailer can put on the rear of a bike. I think that the laced wheels could loosen and or warp due to that and the added stresses. That being said, MOCO says no trailer towing. But I'm starting to shop for one myself now. I do have laced wheels and this might become a concern for my EGS

 

Lace wheels are stated as '...needing maintenance'. This maintenance is generally considered to be the usual cleaning, but also includes 'inspection' to assure that spokes have not loosened up. Why? Well, simple: Spokes can loosen up!! Think about it; all that riding 'stretches' the spokes over time. Granted, in most cases this is negligible, and most people never have a problem. However, this is not to say it can't, or 'won't' happen! The issue involved in pulling a trailer with spoke wheels is simply the added weight can exacerbate the problem, causing spokes to loosen up more quickly if they're going to at all. As most folks are NOT in the habit of checking their spokes regularly, this can simply create even more of a problem when pulling a trailer. I might add that it's not uncommon to either 'break' a spoke, or have a spoke nipple simply strip and become loose as well. Due to corrosion in the hub and rim, often a broken spoke will remain in a fixed position from this.......but if not, the tell-tale 'clinking' of the spoke hitting the swing arm and more can be pretty easily recognized unless your pipes are really loud (which again is not uncommon). This 'broken spoke' issue, when masked by loud pipes, can also lead to problems with damaged drive belts or brake lines. Again, more potentially 'unsafe' issues to be concerned with. A properly built and adjusted wheel will likely not produce any kind of a 'handling' problem from lateral weakness when towing that most people would notice. But,there is 'flex' that can occur, and this flex is what leads to problems down the road......or 'can'. Add all this up, and you see why the MoCo made it's recommendation to use a cast wheel if towing a trailer. In reality, it's not a difficult process to find a cast wheel that will fit most any bike....many with no modification at all. I recently replace the 'spoke' wheels on my '05 Ultra just because I'm tired of them, plus the chrome on the HD 'Profile' rim went to hell in a hand-basket! And, I'm now replacing the spoke wheels on my '01 Road King because, again, I'm just tire of cleaning spokes. I'll also add that as stated above, the simplicity of a 'plug' in a flat when on the road is a LOT more advantageous than having to deal with wheel removal and inner tube patching!! But, I just wanted to end by saying that I'm putting '07 Airstrike wheels on my '01 RK....and this requires both the replacement of the the wheel bearings, as well as replacement of the inner bearing sleeve (a factor often overlooked until you get around to doing this, then have an 'o-schitt' moment. Anyway, cost of these wheels on the 'used' market was all of about $200, and another $20 for bearings, $10 for the sleeve, and $20 for a cheap bearing puller! I can probably get $50 to $100 'back' in selling my RK's spoke wheels....which are in near mint condition! So, for the safety aspect of pulling a trailer, and for the few hundred bucks it can cost to swap out a wheel...... I'd go with the 'better safe than sorry' approach. Not fun to have a breakdown on the road!! WC