how can i find out what rims will fit my sporty, the rear rim is really pitted and starting to rust and i'm thinking of switching to an aluminum one and i want to keep my 140 tire. any info would be great.

also i was thinking of switching to a belt drive i've seen one with this sone before and i thought that would broaden my rim selection as well

 

doesn't anyone know anything about this? maybe skip?

 

well i dont know if i can help but to switch to a belt drive (i've never seen one on a ironhead but)you would need to change to a disk rear brake.......little bit of work there but it does open up the wheel selection......... one of the ways to do this is to change the rear swingarm to a '79 arm and do some mods from there..........http://www.sportster.org/tech/disc-conv/ this link will explain..........then from there you can run any wheel for the 79-81

 

Why don't you simply buy an aluminum rim that is the same size as your rusted steel rim? The tire will fit without a problem that way. Measure inside to inside of the rim. You can make up a wooden caliper to obtain this distance with the wheel as it sits with the hub still spoked up, and then measure that tool out to out. Pull the tire off and you will find the rim size stamped into it is another way to get this size.
Measure your old spoke length and buy a set of stainless spokes & nipples of that same length, or a bit longer as yours have been ground down after the wheel was built. Tedd Cycle (VTwin) is one source for the rim and spokes and there are others as well. Buccanan makes SS spokes............piniongear