Help needed with wheel alignment and fitment
Thread Starter
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Road Warrior
Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 1,331
Likes: 13
Help needed with wheel alignment and fitment
Heres what I have:
2002 Road King Classic. I bought a set of 2008 OEM 9 spoke cast wheels (wagon wheel style) off Craigslist and had them powdercoated black. I was told that Harley used the same wheel from 2000-2008 and that they only difference was the size of the bearings (1" vs. 25mm). I had 1" bearings installed. Decided to go with MU85 wheel (140mm) and trimmed the belt guard and added a Vulcan 1/8" spacer between the pulley and hub. I went to mount them today and...
Problem:
The rear wheel is pushed to the left side of the bike, to the point that its actually touching the fender mount. Everything fits together fine, I checked the spacers and everything is in correctly, but the wheel is off-center and pushed over. Only thing I can think is that Harley make some type of change to the wheel and swing-arm (likely in 2008) that makes the wheel ride to the left.
Thoughts/suggestions?
2002 Road King Classic. I bought a set of 2008 OEM 9 spoke cast wheels (wagon wheel style) off Craigslist and had them powdercoated black. I was told that Harley used the same wheel from 2000-2008 and that they only difference was the size of the bearings (1" vs. 25mm). I had 1" bearings installed. Decided to go with MU85 wheel (140mm) and trimmed the belt guard and added a Vulcan 1/8" spacer between the pulley and hub. I went to mount them today and...
Problem:
The rear wheel is pushed to the left side of the bike, to the point that its actually touching the fender mount. Everything fits together fine, I checked the spacers and everything is in correctly, but the wheel is off-center and pushed over. Only thing I can think is that Harley make some type of change to the wheel and swing-arm (likely in 2008) that makes the wheel ride to the left.
Thoughts/suggestions?
Outstanding HDF Member
Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 2,630
Likes: 185
From: Mountain West, Big Sky Country
i just put a 09 18in front wheel on an 04. changing out the bearings from 25 mm to 1 inch, i noticed that the stock 1 in ID bearings were thicker than the 25 mm bearings. So i had to go back to the 25 mm bearings and measure them then purchase a 1 in ID bearing that was the same thickness. Once i did this, the wheel went on no problem.
did you double check the bearing thickness? I think the 08's were 25 MM bearings which were thinner but not sure.
did you double check the bearing thickness? I think the 08's were 25 MM bearings which were thinner but not sure.
Thread Starter
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Road Warrior
Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 1,331
Likes: 13
i just put a 09 18in front wheel on an 04. changing out the bearings from 25 mm to 1 inch, i noticed that the stock 1 in ID bearings were thicker than the 25 mm bearings. So i had to go back to the 25 mm bearings and measure them then purchase a 1 in ID bearing that was the same thickness. Once i did this, the wheel went on no problem.
did you double check the bearing thickness? I think the 08's were 25 MM bearings which were thinner but not sure.
did you double check the bearing thickness? I think the 08's were 25 MM bearings which were thinner but not sure.
Outstanding HDF Member
Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 2,916
Likes: 31
From: earth
Yes it could. After achieving a straight tracking alignment my tire was closer to the left side of the fender also, but not as extreme as yours. Does your bike track straight now if you let go of the bars? It may be time to investigate your swing arm bushings and isolators, although your 2002 should have the better spherical bearings instead of the cleve blocks in the swngarm, they do go bad also. If you do need to replace the spherical bearings, check with Sta-bo or Motorcycle Metal they have much stronger replacements. You can pop the caps off the off the swingarm pivot blocks and look at the pivot axle position on both sides in relation to the bore, if it sets far forward on one side or far rearward on one side or a combination of the two, it could be an indicator that that bearings or isolators are worn out, but even in a know good set up the pivot axle may not rest exactly in the center. This could be a challenging issue to figure out. How does your old wheel/tire set in the bike?
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Stellar HDF Member
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 2,578
Likes: 463
From: On a Lake, not far from the Gulf
Are your spacers the same size on each side? You may have them installed on opposite sides.
Check the alignment with a couple of long straight edges (fluorescent light bulbs work). If it is in line then the spacers or the bearings are off. If it is straight then the easy solution would be to figure out the center and put the proper sized spacers in there.
Check the alignment with a couple of long straight edges (fluorescent light bulbs work). If it is in line then the spacers or the bearings are off. If it is straight then the easy solution would be to figure out the center and put the proper sized spacers in there.
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Thread Starter
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Road Warrior
Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 1,331
Likes: 13
I appreciate all the suggestions, but I don't see how new spacers will help anything. The brake rotor is perfectly centered in the caliper so if I change the spacers that would move the rotor over and would hit the inside of the caliper. I am leaning towards either something being wrong with the swingarm or alignment. I switched back to a MT90b-16 (oem size) wheel and it still rides to the left. It's got to have something to do with alignment...
