Looking to put a wider rear tire, 180 or 200, on my 07 Road King Police bike. I've been reading several threads over the last couple of weeks by Timberland and Recycled and have a couple of questions.

Does all of the 09 and newer 16x5 (or 5.5) rear wheels come with the cush standard?
If not, which bikes don't?
If they all do, can it be eliminated from the wheel?
Would I want to keep it if not?
What needs to be done to the 09 rear swing arm to enable it to fit the 07 frame?
I have full access to lathes, mills, and welders when needed.
Also not worried about trimming the 09 fender down to fit the 07 frame. Been doing sheet metal for 30 years.

Thanks for everyone's input.

 

I put a 150 rear on my stock wheel on my 04 RKP. Would like to see results if you change out your swingarm.

 

I have a 160 in my old Evo, using a Deuce rear wheel. It is an extremely close fit and I wouldn't guarantee that it will fit any bike. The later wider wheels are actually wider than your rear fender, so any retrofit will require a major custom job, including wider swingarm. At least one member has done that to an older bike and there is a thread in here somewhere, involving mods to the swingarm and rear sub-frame, so not for the feint hearted.

 

Well, I'm definitely not feint of heart. None of it scares me, I'm good with it. Just doing my due diligence on learning all I can before diving in and getting it done.

So, is the deuce wheel a 16 x 5.5 wheel? With or without the cush drive?

 

It's a 4.5" wide rim, 17" diameter from a Softail model and has no cush drive, takes a 160/70 x 17 tyre. I think it was the first Harley with a wide rear tyre, introduced in 2000, but happy to be proved wrong! Although my bike is an Evo I also have a later 2007 swingarm and even later Brembo rear brake (plus Brembos at the front), so my bike is fairly close in spec to yours. I use the 1 1/8" wide belt and rear pulley, to 'just' get enough clearance between tyre and belt.

Comparison of stock tyre and Avon Storm:



This shows the track of the belt and clearance to the edge of the tyre - close!



One of my ambitions was to move away from the stock sized rear tyres, which are marginal on weight limit, when the bike is fully loaded. Avon makes a Storm tyre with a higher load rating than the stock Deuce tyre, which gives me a warmer feeling regarding riding with Mrs B and all our 'stuff' when touring.

 

So, if I am reading this right, you went from a 1990 swing arm to a 2007 swing arm to mount a wider tire on your 1990? Interesting.

Can you by chance tell me what the difference is between the 07 and the 09+ swing arms?

 

It was a bit more drawn out than that! Old Evos have a fairly flimsy swingarm, which can twist easily, affecting handling, even fracture. The later twincams have a more robust s/a, which was beefed up for the 2007 models. Hence my choice of that year. Mrs B and I with our luggage are close to the max weight limit of our bike, so using the later s/a was my way of improving handling. I have also added Ohlins suspension and a True-Track stabiliser kit, so this is all part of a programme of improvements. I found that by using a later '07 rear wheel and narrower pulley, hence narrower belt, that I could use a slightly wider 150 tyre, up from the stock 130, which has a better load rating but in turn led to realising that I might just be able to squeeze in an even wider one in. A process of little by little, over a period of several years!

The 2007 s/a takes the same width wheels as the older bikes, but is a much better design. The '09+ bikes use a wider wheel, so the s/a is wider, but I believe it is also even more robust than the '07. The later '14+ bikes have a yet stronger design, which enables them to use different springs and damping on each side. If only the MoCo would use really good quality suspension they could make better use of that feature! I have a dream that one day we will all be blown away by the riding and handling qualities of the latest Touring Harleys, when they finally come as standard with top quality Ohlins suspension, or equivalent.....

 

Just ordered a 2009-2013 swing arm with axle. Will be doing some dissecting this swing arm issue next weekend. I would like to stay with the 16" rear wheel if at all possible. We'll see what comes up in my reading. Thanks for your input. It is appreciated.

 

I look forward to seeing more of your project! There are quite a few of us out here tinkering on interesting stuff.

 

Yes, all 09-later TOURING have an Integral (to the hub) Cush Drive


If you want an OE Cast "Mag" in a wide 16" (without cush drive), about the only one is the 08-17 Dyna Fat Bob 16x5 (athough some of the new 2018-later Softails are using that size)

If you want to move up to 17" ... you may be able to work with 2006-later 17x6 wide hub Softail wheels (some models)

Of course there is the 17x4.5 from different Dyna, Softail, and Sportster Models

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