You can see the 3/4\" grade 8 "spacer", thin washer and rubber washer in new order next to brake mount

Dont reuse this. Save it for later??

3/4" grade 8 flat washer from the hardware bin


Proper clearance is critical!

Fenderless for now

Longest post of my life...and probably some of yalls too...

Little background first. I have been a Master ASE Certified Automotive Tech with L1, Med Duty Trk, Certified Parts Specialist, yada, yada, yada for 29 years. Teaching automotive service classes for almost 26 years. Built multiple cars, bikes, etc. Handguns, Harleys and Hot Rods kind of guy.
I'm confident in my abilities and what I can do with my tools. That said, I cannot recommend, condone or guarantee your success should you try to do what I did.

First, I bought the 21x3.5" wheel off Egay from Jireh cycles. Part # 36-653. Black rim, chrome spokes, black hub. Paid $168.99 shipped. It is a 1" sealed bearing wheel, so you need to swap them for 3/4" bearings at 8.99$(x2), plus you will need the CORRECT tool (55$) to remove and install the sealed bearings... Youtube is NOT your friend here. Don't forget affirmation that the wheel spacer is correct for the new bearings, etc. Don't skimp here you cheap bastards!!!
OR, do what I did, spend 12.40$ shipped, and get a set of reducers that slide right into those new, correctly spaced, 1" bearings, that will now fit the 3/4" Crossbones axle.
Tire needed. I got a 120/70/21 Shinko 777HD tire from Chapperal. 84$ shipped. I have had great results running the 777 on multiple bikes. Choose what pleases you.
Next I bought a replacement front fender bracket, because I didn't want to mess mine up extending it for the new wheel, in case I wanted to go back (I won't!!) Egay from Panic Cycles 54$ shipped to the door.
I also splurged and bought a polished spoke rotor from an Egay vendor I can't recommend for $43.00 shipped. Your factory rotor will bolt right on the wheel, so you don't have to buy shiney new stuff...

First is removal of stock parts. Everything comes off pretty easy with simple tools, so I won't bore you. I removed wheel and tire, fender and mounts.

When I removed the fender, I noticed the fender brace that everyone cuts apart to reuse as a spacer, is simply that, a wheel spacer. It rides on an extended bushing off the right rocker, and has a washer that rides against the wheel bearing, and is really just an axle spacer with a mounting arm for the front fender. No need to dremel, grind or cut IF YOU USE THE WHEEL I LISTED. Just get a .250" (1/4") thick wheel spacer ( I had one from a previous build laying in a box), reuse the washer that falls out of it, and as you can see in the pictures, it will space the wheel ALMOST perfectly centered in the forks. And you'll have your original fender arm if you need it later.
I say almost, because if you look at most of the wheels HD puts out on their bikes, they are rarely centered in the forks or swingarms. Thats the case with the springers, a few which are almost 3/4" off center!! My Crossbones was actually pretty centered with the factory setup, and I wanted the 21" to be as close as original.
So you now should have the right side (sitting on bike) factory rocker, with its extended bushing/spacer the original fender mount bracket rode, on sticking out (exposed), a 1/4" thick spacer, and the original washer that was between the fender mount and wheel bearing originally. This is the wheel spacer setup on the right (as sitting) , or "non-brake" side of the wheel. Easy!


At this point, if you were to put the spacers together and slide the axle in, you would see there is very little space on the left (brake side) of the wheel. You would observe too, that the rotor is closer to the forks than it was with the original setup. No fear, we got this...

So, now you have a wheel hub that is a little wider than the factory wheel , that moves the brake rotor closer to the forks. You have to compensate here to be able to mount the brake caliper correctly. Here's what I did...
Working on the left side now (as sitting on bike) Don't use the large wheel spacer that was on the brake side of the wheel originally. Put it somewhere you won't lose it, in case you want to revert back to stock.
Work the caliper mount back and forth until it slides off the pivot so you can remove the rubber seal washer and it's flat washer. Remove the little rubber protective boot, called a "4 seal washer" or something like that. It has a flat washer with it that fits over the caliper mount pivot bushing that's a part of the left rocker.

Now clean the pivot bushing you just slid the caliper mount, seal washer, and washer off of real good, and apply a light coat of antiseize or grease to prevent corrosion, as a small area of the pivot bushing will be exposed if you are doing things my way. You could make a small rubber washer to cover what will be exposed if you choose. I didn't as you will see it is indeed small, and antiseize will prevent any rust, etc.
So now you have a clean and lubed pivot to slide the caliper mount back onto. We will put this back together in kind of reversed order. Slide the caliper mount on first, then the rubber "4 washer" thing, then the metal washer. You will notice they all fit over the pivot bushing, and fill the space to its end. When completly mounted the caliper centers up and leaves only a slight gap between the rocker and the brake caliper mount on my bike. You have now allowed the caliper mount to slide over and give you the room needed to line the caliper up with the rotor on the wheel.
You will notice if you install the axle, there is minimal clearance between the installed components and the left bearing now. I simply installed a hardened 3/4" washer straight from the hardware supply bin. I would guess it's not quite 1/8" thick, and in fact I haven't measured it because it seemed to be the perfect width for my needs of centering the wheel in the fork.

BIG DISCLAIMER HERE!!!!
I am NOT one of those guys who thinks the wheel spacers have to be the correct thickness down to the thousandths of an inch!! I have built more than a handful of 10k mile, road riden cycles over the years using spacers, washers, and even water pipe pieces as wheel spacers WITHOUT a single issue. I don't believe in "preload" tension at the fork base, and any number of other stuff I've read... some on here. I think you could tighten the forks down and "draw them in" a smidgen, without a problem, just like I believe you could add that @ 1/8" thick grade 8 washer that requires the rockers to spread "just slightly"...and centering the wheel nicely, while at the same time giving the caliper better position over the rotor, and NOT HURT A DANG THING. Your milage may vary...

Skim coat of antiseize and Slide the axle through, making sure it passes through the washer, and torque the axle to spec. Spin it! Rolls nicely right??!! Should be centered to within about 1/4" off center in the forks. Mine was really 3/16" to the left. Exactly what the original wheel was offset.

Now you need to mount the brake reaction link (hanging from the left fork leg. You removed an acorn headed bolt with a keeper clip from it to remove the fender) to the caliper mount. You will notice it may be real close to the fork. Mine hit. You moved the caliper mount over, and now you need to space the reaction link away from the fork. Once again, I had a 3/16" thick chrome bushing in my stash to install between the link and the mount to get everything back straight. You can stack flat washers if you need too until you get a nice spacer. I DO THINK IT'S IMPORTANT THE REACTION LINK BE STRAIGHT AHEAD AND NOT AT AN ANGLE TO THE CALIPER MOUNT. An angled reaction link can cause the caliper to drag or otherwise not meet the rotor squarely under hard braking, causing issues.
I reused the factory link, acorn headed bolt, with a properly torqued nut (originally the fender mount was threaded so there wasn't a need for this nut. If you have modified the fender mount, no nut needed. Going fenderless like me until I get the mount fixed, you need the nut. 3/8 x 16?).
Reinstall the safety keeper (or cotter pin) in the end of the bolt!
Mount your brake caliper, squeeze the brake lever a few times to reseat the pads and verify caliper is centered and releasing nicely.

Originally, I mounted the aftermarket fender brace using the original fender support arm (the one we didnt cut apart on the right (non-brake) side), and was really happy that it appeared the 3/16" of clearance was good enough. I even got an old 21" cheapo fender out of the stash and hammered it out to mount on the fender bracket temporarily. Was kind of proud of how it all turned out, even though it was ugly, rusty, etc. THEN I WENT FOR A RIDE AT 75mph. Tire grew and the little wisp of rubber smoke accompanied by that rubber burning smell...easily noticeable even at 75mph... told me IT'S NOT ENOUGH CLEARANCE! !!! The fender bracket needs to have a 1" stretch job to clear the factory fender mounted to it, which is in my winter plans. So, for now, I go fenderless...

Installing the 21" tire lifted the front end 1 1/2" maybe 2". It is noticeable, but I don't mind the look at all. I've riden 12" over choppers though, so a couple of inches of front end height isn't a deal killer for me. I actually have the Vulcan raked neck in the garage that will rake it and drop it back down level, but doubt I will ever install it. I am that pleased with the results right now as far as handling and ride are concerned.

I can't express with words the difference in my bikes handling!!! Yes, it is "heavier" trying to move the bike in the garage. Raising the front end effectively added some rake...And I think maybe I had a tire (Michelin Commander) on the way out? with the original wheel, but OMG what a difference. Smoother, tracks straighter...I frequently ride with no hands on the bars using a throttle lock... 25 miles at a time on my daily commute. Never felt solid doing that with the 16. Would drift to the right, shimmy on dips and rough patches, etc. The bike Would go into tank slap on a decel situation if both hands weren't on the bars around town, didn't seem to hold the line on the straights or when cornering in the twistys, and more. Multiple trips to dealer service, neck bearings, neck bearing adjustments, new front wheel, tire balance. All warrantied work, but no change. Now...just wow. Dead straight, smoother, and hands free at 80 with the wife on the back! And it just looks RIGHT! I'll never go back to the 16" on the front of my Bones.