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I have always thought the Deuce handling was a bit "slow" or "heavy" is the best way I can describe it. I have figured out that replacing the 21" wheel/tire on my '05 Deuce will reduce trail from 5" to 3.28" which should make the bike handle a bit "quicker" or "lighter" or easier to turn in. Apparently keeping trail between 3" and 5" is the "safe" range to maintain high speed stability. I was hoping someone had made that change and could confirm how it affected handling.
Max,
I have changed project focus from an early model as a project to making some changes to my '05 FXSTD. One of the changes I am considering is replacing the 21" front wheel/tire with a 19". Haven't looked into what is available, i.e., spokes or mags but do want to run tubeless and a wider tire. Question is, according to an online calculator, trail would change from current 5" to 3.28". I am not sure exactly what the means in terms of handling but I think it means a bit "quicker" turn in? Everything I read says reducing trail will affect high speed stability but at what speed and to what affect to become dangerous is not discussed. Educate me.
Dropping the 5 inches of trail to 3.28 with a 21 to 19 tire change.. About the only way you could do that is if you forgot to put the tire on. What calculator are you using? What numbers are you inputting?
What size 21 are you running? What size 19 do you want to run?
Going from a 80/90-21 to a 110/90-19, you are the same size..
I run the 110/90-19 excedra tire on my bobber to get ground clearance for cornering. Bike is a softail with 33 degree for rake and FXDX front end.
I run a 110/80-19 Bridgestone T32 FXDX with 28 degrees of rake..
I've run 90/90-21 on softails and they are significantly taller than the 80/90-21. You get about 9mm more rubber on the tallness of the tire..
Currently running 90/90 21 54H; I don't have any idea what 19" I would run since I don't understand the dynamic of the change. Per my post, I have always felt the Deuce front end handling was "heavy" or "slow" compared to the '02 FL I used to have; always felt more confident on the bagger when pushing the bike. I also have a 120x60 21 M/G on a HD "Gasser" wheel that I ran for a while. Not much change in handling but I liked the look and would have kept it but I couldn't find a fender to cover it and getting caught in the ran on the Three Sisters is not fun. I ran it for a while and then reverted back to the 90/90 for a fender. The suspension has been modified with emulators and RaceTek springs; Rick helped me set it up and I don't have any problems with the suspension.
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