Got an old OEM 21" evo wheel with the right bearings, ready to mount.
Also got a new twin cam wheel (better looking hub) with the wrong bearings.
So, use the old style wheel or change bearings and use the new wheel?
Or does the new wheel not even fit in?
With the new wheel it seems the wheel doesnt line up when the caliper is on, just cant tell for sure, i dont got the right spacers jet.
Just dont know, please advise/help/shareyouropinion
if I only had those choices I would use the old one but you have to do more than just the wheel I found out on my 02 with apes and a 21 the bikes handling at low speed was horrible.
this is what I did to fix it I bought a new set of rims 80 spoke 18x5 rear 21x3.5 front. I did this for three reasons the 80 spokes fill the look better. the 18 rear gave me 1" taller tire without raising the sidewall height. and the 3.5 front fills the fender a lot better.
next I bought a 3 degree bearing rake that brought my trail back in where it needs to be. and it lowered the front about 1.5" now the bike sits level again and I have an extra 1" of ground clearance I don't drag my floorboards as much now.
the only other thing I did was slot the holes on my fender and rock it forward. I didn't need to but it looks better.
^5 on the 80 spokes...I put them on my 49 Panhead and they make all the difference in the (spoked wheel) world. Rocking the front fender slightly forward enough to keep it square to the pavement is another small mod that's well worth doing.
I don't find the handling to be any different with the 21" on the front. If you like the look, do it. You can always switch it back
I like the look or I wouldn't have done it. just like the apes I like them too. but im also very aware of what putting apes on a bike does to your ability to control the bike at low speed. and adding more trail to the front end makes it even worse. you can have any look you want and still make it safe. and if you do it right your bike will even look better. not sagging in the azz like most. if your going to do it do it right the first time. I've learned my lesson to many times. if I cant afford to do it right I wait till I can.
Speaking of looks. This heritage looks great, I popped over to your other thread with the before and after pictures and you did a great job on it. It's really coming along. I'd be proud to own this thing as it sits now.
I like the look or I wouldn't have done it. just like the apes I like them too. but im also very aware of what putting apes on a bike does to your ability to control the bike at low speed. and adding more trail to the front end makes it even worse. you can have any look you want and still make it safe. and if you do it right your bike will even look better. not sagging in the azz like most. if your going to do it do it right the first time. I've learned my lesson to many times. if I cant afford to do it right I wait till I can.
I agree with you. The scariest of the things you mentioned is the tail drag, specifically with the long shots I run on mine. I have a shotgun shock installed and ride it near stock, slightly lowered. If I slam it at a show and forget to raise it up enough, everything drags and its not a pleasant experience. I'm not disagreeing at all with a safety component of chopping these bikes up. From my experience, the safety concern is making sure you have enough front fender clearance from the tire so that when the tire expands on a hot day at 80mph, you aren't rubbing a fender into the tire. Controlling the bike at a low speed, for me, did not present a challenge.
I appreciate the feedback, i'l go with the evo wheel first cause its ready to fit.
And yes, the front definitely needs to be lowerd as wel so im ordering a progressive spring set.
I like the clean look on the 40 spoke wheel, 80 is so mutch "crowded" if you know what i mean
If im satisfied it wil be finished with a nice white wall in the front, maybe a dunlop tire because i got one on the rear wheel as wel.
11-03-2014, 04:23 AM
What to do, old wheel vs new wheel 21"
