Can you put a wider tire on the stock rim for a 2000 Electra Glide? What size?

 

I've run the MICHELIN COMMANDER II and the Dunlop E3 in the MT90 B16 72H on my 1999 which is a 140 with no problems or adjustments.

 

Sorry to seem picky, but the MT90 is a 130/90 wide tyre, the later spec MU is 140/85.

5 Ton, there are several answers to your question. Yes you can run a wider tyre, there being two options that will fit your rear wheel, 140/85 (an alternative being 140/90), also 150/80. If you have a 1 1/2" wide belt, the 150/80 may not fit, as it fouls your drive belt and guard. Depending on brand of tyre (they are not all identical in fitted width), a 140 wide tyre may well fit - I had to trim the inner part of my belt guard on my bike. I later changed to the 1 1/8" wide belt, which provides increased clearance, to fit a 150 tyre.

Hope that helps!

 

One thing people forget about is the tire to fender clearance. In earlier TC baggers, the rear fender had a lip that was not folded over like the later year bikes. If you run your hand inside your rear fender you will see that there is a lip that is 90 degrees to the fender and actually faces the sidewall of the tire. In later years they rolled that lip up. Clearing the belt guard does not necessarily mean the tire to fender margin is good.

There were also a lot of fender alignment issues in earlier bikes.

Just food for thought as you try to fit larger tires.

 

You can usually run a 140 with that 1-1/2" Belt, but it will be really close Belt-to-Tire. May even rub when rolling backwards. If that bothers you, you can install a pulley spacer for additional clearance.

If you stay with the MT90 (130mm), you obviously won't have anything to worry about

 

Thank you for the replies! I will look into the fender lip.

 

When I bought my 2000 UC with 10K it had a 150 on the rear that was cocked so it wouldn't rub the belt. Of course the previous owner in all his wisdom had a 140 REAR on the front, so I moved the 140 to the rear and put a 130 on the front. The 140 still rubbed when I pushed the bike back so I switched to 130 on the rear. I ran Metzler 880s for the first few years and Michelin CIIs since.

 

BTW, I don't believe I ever had fender rubbing issues; although I am not sure bout the 150 as it was only on for bout 10 miles.

 

I have a 1990 Glide and successfully ran 130 and 140 rear tyres, although to get the 140 to work, as mentioned earlier, I trimmed the inner part of the belt guard. There is very little scope to use a spacer behind the pulley, just take a look at the running clearance between it and the swingarm, where the two of them get close. I bumped into that when struggling to make a 150 fit! I now use a later spec swingarm and wheel, to get the later narrow belt, along with the clearance for a 150 tyre. Having successfully achieved that I now run a Deuce rear wheel with 160 tyre - but that's another story!

 

It will not look like a chopper if you do.

Keep in mind belt guards are important, cause you have a belt. The 2000s is not that great to begin with.