Everyone covered this very well. Many years back we starterd running the 21 because the goodyear tires in the 60's were the same 25 inch diameter for 16 rear as 21 avon speedmaster front. Went straight but slip and slide in corners. The newer wide rim 21 out today handle very well on the big twins and new choppers. I owned a 05 sporster 1200 custom with narrow 21 rim and tire and it handled poorly.It picked every groove, tar patch.and rut in these crap Pa. roads. Dont care to do the watuszi on the highway. Imho; the sportster 1200r with dual disc,stiff springs,fork brace and metz880 on the cast 19 inch is the best handling set up harley has. I had that front end set up on a 82 fxr and it flat handled like a slot car. Its great we have a lot of rim.tire sizes and compounds available today. Now i ride springer classic, slow down for the corners and enjoy the heck out of the ride.

 

Dave: Yes, I am just one opinion here and that is exactly what the original post was all about, "stated opinions on apparent handling differences between the various sized H-D front wheels." I tried to give my stated opinion supported by as much 'fact' as I could muster, but it all boils down to our individual 'opinions'. You are the type of critic that oft appears here that makes me always to try to preface anything that I write with "IMHO". That is one time that I forgot to include 'IMHO'. Of course you are entitled to your 'opinion' just as I am.

I am not 'just' a rider of Sportsters. I own two Sportsters and one Road King Classic at this time. I have plenty of riding time on both types. These bikes are my 35th, 36th and 37th bikes that I have owned in my adult years. I have ridden bikes with small front wheel like the Mustang all the way to a 23 inch. front wheel on a CZ desert bike. The cornering ability and 'feel' of a bike's handling is a sum of all sorts of engineering and construction factors; some of which contribute more to this 'feel' than others. IMHO, the amount of flex in the front fork system, the spring rate of the fork springs and the brand, style and air pressure of the front tire contribute much more than the size of the wheel. But, that was not the original question by this thread's originator. ............... BC