ha, ha, ha! Yes, you are correct! Currently enjoy riding every day, will not be putting new tires on until end of riding season.
Like your enthusiasm though!
B Bop
2012 FLHR (Road King) Ember Red Sunglo & Merlo Cruise Control, ABS, Chrome Aluminum Profile Laced Spoke Tubeless Wheels, Security Package, Saddle Bag LED Lid Spoilers, and an array of accessories that enhances nostalgic appearance & blood curdling performance.
A politician is a fellow who will lay down “your” life for his country.
2012 FLHR (Road King) Ember Red Sunglo & Merlo Cruise Control, ABS, Chrome Aluminum Profile Laced Spoke Tubeless Wheels, Security Package, Saddle Bag LED Lid Spoilers, and an array of accessories that enhances nostalgic appearance & blood curdling performance.
Generally, in life you always miss 100% of the shots you do not take.
Bringing up this old thread. Does Harley even offer the tubeless wire wheels as an option anymore on the touring bikes? If so, what are the actual part numbers from the service department? I looked at the parts indicator and I see that they listed (back in 2012) the 16" front as 41898-11 and the 16" rear as 43664-11. Somewhere I remember reading that the part numbers changed when Harley moved the manufacturing from Australia to Asia.
Harley threatened to move wheel manufacture to China, but in the end never did, wheels are still made in Australia, have been for around 20 years IIRC. Harley still sell some new softail bikes with spoked wheels, not sure about the touring range. You can check for part numbers on a parts website.
Bringing up this old thread. Does Harley even offer the tubeless wire wheels as an option anymore on the touring bikes? If so, what are the actual part numbers from the service department? I looked at the parts indicator and I see that they listed (back in 2012) the 16" front as 41898-11 and the 16" rear as 43664-11. Somewhere I remember reading that the part numbers changed when Harley moved the manufacturing from Australia to Asia.
They made some wheels in China, but that wouldn't be a reason to change the part#
Looks like you have some part#s already (for 16"). Were you looking for a different size front? They are/were available in 17" and 18"
This thread is (again) interesting for me. Just a quick story - I have a 2013 RKC with tubeless spoked wheel option. In 2016 I went to dealer to change the tires for the first time. I was returning back home and after 30km my rear tire blew off on me on the highway, fortunately, the accident was just a bad experience, nothing serious happened to me or my bike. So I got towed back to dealer where they closely inspected the rim. They found some oxidation/corrosion on the inner side where the rim seal rubber is mounted and the rim seal rubber dismounted itself because of rough rim surface. At least that was the explanation.
For a quick (cheap) fix they put tube inside. Like you, I have read that this is a big NO-NO... but I had no choice. I then asked many people around - the answer I took in the end was - that tubeless rims are a PITA and many people use tubes inside despite the warnings - it generates somehow more heat inside but for Harley type riding it shouldn't be a problem. That was 2 and a half years ago. In the meantime I put on 12k kilometers on it with no problems, it even holds the pressure better than front wheel assembly that is completely tubeless.
I waited this long because I had extended warranty which unfortunately did not cover me getting a new rim, so I gave up on this route. Note to self: having a HD in Europe can be a PITA.
So like you I did a lot of research and according to OEM parts finder and other posts:
2012 and 2013 Road King Classic had an option for tubeless spoked wheel assembly - it is a more smooth, round, curved looking rim with 40 spokes, and on the inside there is a center rim strip and rubber seal kit - unlike most people claim - NO TUBES here - the rubber seal kit seals off the spoked rim. Like multihdrdr said - the part # for wheel assembly are 41989-11 (front) and 43566-11 (rear)."
On all other RKC's and also 12 and 13 year option is the normal (I would call it tube-type) wheel assembly that uses tube and tube tires - part # is 40960-09 (front) and 41052-09 (rear).
So this year I plan to change tires and my new mechanic will check out the damage of the rear rim, and we'll see from there on.....
If there will be change needed my biggest dilemma is what to do...
1. buy a new tubeless spoked wheel assembly despite bad experience (1000 euro)
2. buy an oem normal tube-type spoked wheel from Drag specialities (400 euro)
3. buy something aftermarket.... which can be from 1200 euro (DNA spec for which I haven't read a good review yet) to like 3000 euro for a German TTS wheels
4. ...if the damage is nothing special - just run tubes inside like until now....although manual and warnings say opposite....
06-13-2017 | 08:54 AM
