I am planning on upgrading my 1998 FLHTCUI here soon. I am wanting to upgrade the rear swingarm to newer style and change out the front fork lowers to accept new style calipers.

The swingarm upgrade is pretty much straight forward. New wheel/tire, brake disc, caliper, axle...etc. Few questions though, Would I have to go to the narrow drive belt along with the narrower pulley as well? Next would be transmission.....what is everyone here doing since the hole on our transmissions are smaller?

I am thinking about updating the front as well. I know the new style fork lowers bolt right up to mine with no problem. I know I need wheel, axle, disc, and calipers......no problem. What to do with the cable driven speedometer? Has anyone modified this or does it work without any problem?

I just need a few answers before I start collecting......

Thanks

 

From what I've read, the tranny hole needs to be enlarged. This is what is stopping me from doing the change. Other than that, you can use existing belt setup.

What I have done so far is have the exisiting swing arm beefed up around the axle area (this is where they are cracking) by having plates welded here (Do not put a plate on the inside due to clearance issues).

I don't know if any after market trannys have the enlarged hole or not. Wanting to go to 6 speed also?

As for front end, I'm doing this:
https://www.hdforums.com/forum/evo-c...ttle-help.html
No need to get new rim, axle, brakes, etc. Just calipers and 2 adapters.

 

I’m in the middle of changing the rear swing arm on my 1998 flhrci to a 2002 version. The big difference in mounting the new swing arm is the shaft size. In 2002 the shaft was changed to ¾” vs. the 5/8” shaft that’s in your bike now. You could drill the mounting hole in the back of your transmission to accept the lager shaft or CCE (Custom Cycle Engineering) offers a conversion kit that allows the use of the 5/8 shaft in the newer swing arm. Pay attention if you go with the CCE kit as they do not supply bearings in their late model swing arm retrofit kit.

The rear swing arm/tire combo you get will dictate the belt size. I don’t know when Harley went to the wider rear tires but my 2002 set up is the same size as my 98 so no problems there...yet. I’m waiting on a new drive belt before I bolt it back together.

I have no idea about the speedometer cable drive but will be interested in any answers you get as I have a fairing assembly that might get installed next winter.

 

If you can do a little searching, Graham over in England is in the process of doing exactly what you want to do. He ran into a couple of hiccups I believe with the conversion that he is in the process of solving. Maybe he'll see your thread and chime in. He usually comments on the Ultima threads.

 

That'll be me!

Bike is back on its wheels, but I have yet to ride it and prove everything is OK. I hit a few snags with the change over, but also with a couple of unrelated things, so have been delayed getting the bike rideable. Should not be long now!

I have used a 2007 swingarm which I got with brake calliper and wheel axle. I bought separately a 2005 wheel, which came with brake rotor and narrow pulley. Simplest way to install the later swingarm to an early bike is to fit new bushings in the swingarm, which will take the 5/8" axle. Bushings are available from StaBo and HDF sponsor Motorcycle Metal. Howard of MM has a couple of articles about doing this on his website, so take a look.

On my bike the new swingarm is longer than the original, and moves the wheel about 3/8" further back and the original belt won't fit. So one of my snags was that the existing belt wasn't long enough (later bikes have a 3 tooth longer belt).

I tried to make my original wide pulley fit, but the hole in the centre was smaller than the 2005 wheel. I had it machined out to fit, but it sits closer to the hub than the later pulleys, so I used the 2005 narrow pulley and had a longer belt fitted.

If you use a stock or 140 wide tyre, and you have a later wide pulley it should fit, but another snag I had was I fitted a 150/80 tyre (I don't do things by halves!). If I spaced the pulley out far enough for the belt to just clear the tyre, the pulley hit the swingarm, so that was another reason I went with the narrow belt.

So in summary, use MM or StaBo swingarm bushes. You may find you need a longer belt anyway, so go with either narrow or wide as both should fit, as long as you don't also fit a 150 tyre. The stock gearbox pulley will be OK with either belt, as long as it has plenty of life in it.

I will be happy to answer any questions. Even happier after I prove it actually works!

Added later:

Part of my upgrade is a pair of Ohlins '#3-3' shocks from Howard of MM. I have yet to tackle the front forks.

 

Read how to do it HERE No trans drilling and make sure if you would drill it out use reams (slip fit) or I can show you several tans housings I have with the back end of the pivot shaft housing broken off.

 

Well, the swing arm swap will be no big deal.....it looks fairly straight forward. I'm in the process of gathering all the parts. Gotta any good deals from a Trike Conversion or anyone here needing to unload? Once I get all the parts and 2010 riding season is over....then the swap begins.

As far as the front fork upgrade.....the speedomter pickup mounted at the front wheel will cause some issues I believe. For one, the speedometer pickup is designed for 3/4 axle and it acts as a spacer. I don't know if the 1 inch axle will fit through the speedometer pickup or not? Any ideas or know-hows on this matter?

Thanks

 

Can't help you with the speedo drive. I haven't given any serious thought to that end of the bike recently! When this thing is roadworthy and I am happy with it I might join you.

 

The fork upgrade is gonna have to wait.....a pain in the butt I do believe. If the bike already had the electronic speedo.....it would be an easy upgrade. The electronic speedo would be a pain in the butt as well, since there is no place on the transmission for the sensor. In fact, there is just as small hump where it should go. Any ideas on what is just below that hump? Is it drilled and tapped to accept the sensor?

So, it would make sense to upgrade the transmission to one with the electronic sensor capability. A late 90's Roadking transmission would work perfectly and probably the least expensive. Still, very time consuming and expensive just to upgrade that part.

I could swap out the transmission case.....at that point, I would be asking myself, "Is this worth it."

 

Grahan & Howard,
Thanks for helping him out, at least he'll be on the right track and that's what we are all about.