there was a decent bike from old days around, it was parted out, it was cool as hell, it was a drum brake front end, laced to a 21, the front fender was the small style like on superglide, it had hard bags, & fairing, but wasnt exactly a tourer, but was toured with. this was an old late 50's panhead, like I said it was parted out, to restorers, & I came close to buying the front wheel assembly, still regret not.

 

I guess I am in the minority, and I'm a young guy. I've had a 21" wheel on two bikes and didn't like it both times. Once on a 1200C Sporty, and another time last year on my FLHTK. The wider wheel/tire on the touring bike wasn't as bad as the skinny 21 on the 1200C but it behaved similar. Florida is flat, but we get a lot of wind on the highways, when I had the 21 on the front of the Limited on windy days (almost all the time) the front end of the bike was all over the place, I also got caught in some nasty rain a few times with the 21 on the front and that wasn't fun either.

Also when you get off the highways in most places, the roads flat out suck, and on a lot of the freeways I ride the roads suck too.

I sold off my wheels to a fellow forum member who loves them on his bike, so different strokes for different folks. I went back to stock for now, but will most likely get another set of wheels in the future but not with a 21" wheel.

I also did some digging into the load rating of tires and what not, and I was not comfortable with some of the information I found with bigger wheels on my heavy touring bike. I love the looks of them, but prefer not to have one. What makes the decision even harder is most places you go buy wheels, a 21" front will cost you the same as a 19" or 18".....

 

I'm enjoying the 23" setup. Im running the Fat Daddys. It handles nicely other than the fact there isnt much room from the brake T to the fender.

I added the homemade air ride setup which raises the bike pretty level while riding. Still get the drop when you stop.

You really have two options. Rake the frame for roughly $800 and do the 23" or do the 21" with a 1" drop and Ricor Intiminators. A friend of mine just raked his over the winter and said it was pretty darn easy.

 

Hell I couldn't stand my 99 FXSTC(last year of the evo)
with a 21 on it, so put a 16 on it.
More rubber hittin' the road ya'll.
Definately a bigger footprint..

 

Why did you lower it if you touched flat footed, then raised it 1.25 inches to bring it back to stock height??? I am not understanding exactly what you did or accomplished, but then I'm easily cornfused.

 

I have ridden a bagger with a 21 on it and you can enjoy yours. One will not be going on mine. I like my bike to be stable and not all over the road.

 

I don't know if they've improved over the years but my 88 fxstc came with a 21. After bending the stock wheel, and then bending the 21 mag I replaced that with I then put a 16 on it. Been running 16s for 20ish yrs now and love the strength of it as well as the solid feel while riding. Maybe the newer 21s are less flimsy but I can't see them having the solid feel and perfect tracking I get with the 16" catsquasher.

 

Well it is a good thing that not everyone likes the standard plain black bike or we would never be able to find our own in a lot. I think that is kinda funny that guys come on here and bash someone elses bike because they don't like it. Well I didn't change my bike to please anyone else, just me. So just appreciate the differences in everyone elses taste and let it be. I personally hate the look of a stock black bike but I don't have to ride it so I don't care.

 

^ Amen Rammer. And that 16 on the softail custom, yeesh! Ruins the whole look of the bike for me.

 

Thanks. It's a work in progress (aren't they all) but I'm pretty happy w/ it, mostly the wheel! The 21 really makes these bikes look better, and I'm fine w/ the handling.