Hello everyone! My first post but I have been lurking for several months.

I have read about every post imaginable about wheel combos but I thought I would toss this out to the forum.

Background-

Rode a 97 wide glide till early 2000, then switched over to the dark side with Triumph and BMW. Several months ago I sold my BMW GS 1200 Adventure after 20,000 miles of long distance go anywhere touring.

As soon as I sold the BMW I purchased a Black 2012 FLHX 103, abs, cruise (love it) and all that other blah blah etc.....

Added Fuel Moto a/c, power vision and 4.5 Fuel Moto pro touring pipes.

Loving the bike... have already gone through several windshields (trying to find Nirvana) Handling is great, comfort is good and I can run down the back roads with cruise on and ride for miles with no hands

Ok.. enough ramblings... to the question.

I dropped my bike off today to get the inner fairing painted, 3 inch Top Shop stretched bags and mirrors painted along with HD front fork black-out kit (lower, dust covers etc), black levers and Wild 1 apes installed.

Was originally planning on going 18/21 wheel combo after all the above was installed and I saved a few more pennies. Was not going to lower the front end.

After test fitting the Top Shop 3 inch stretched bags I was staring at the rear wheel and thought to myself.. why in the world would I spend big bucks on a rear wheel that I can barely see??? crazy

So now my bike is going to be torn apart next week and I thought probably now is the time to lower the front end if I want to??? Even though it may be several months before I get the 21 front.

So here are the questions (finally)

Can I just put a 21 on the front and keep stock 16 in the rear and not lower it in the front? Like I said I love the way the bike handles now with stock 18, enjoy being able to pull my hands from the bars when cruise is on... Or is it almost mandatory that I lower the front 1 inch to get the good handling back?

Does the 18/21 ride any better or handle any better than 16/21 combo?

If I have the HD dealership install the 1 inch hd lowering kit, I'm I going to notice a harsher ride in the front?

Any issues with riding the bike lowered 1 inch in the front with stock 18 for the next several months until I get the 21? I just don't want to go back and have to lower it and take everything apart again.

It would be nice to be able put 21 on the front and not lower it any but according to most of the posts on the forum it looks like the handling will not be that good until I lower it.

I don't ride really short rides... typical day for me is several hundred miles and I take 3 to 4 long 3,000 mile trips each year.

I have read so much on the forum that I'm now confused.... so I thought I would toss the question out there for some direction so I can let the dealer know Monday if I want the front lowered or not.

Oh and while the front is apart any special springs or anything that will make the front substantially better? It's going to be apart so now is the time. FYI came from Ohlins on the BMW.

Hammer away on me and I appreciate the help.

 

i have a 16 inch on the rear and 21 on the front, it's fine.

 

You could always upgrade to progressive mono tubes while you have it apart.

 

I've got 28k miles on my 21/18 combo. Front is not lowered. Have ridden the Dragon and all the other twisty roads around and have no issues with the handling. IMHO the 16 rear has too much rubber showing (looks out of proportion with the thin front) and mismatched wheels drive me nuts even with streched bags.

 

Appreciate the comments.... keep them rolling in.

I have come to the realization after a nights sleep that I will be replacing both the front and rear rims.... I'm picky and after searching the forum last night and looking at pictures, you really can see the rear.

So question stands

16/21 without lowering the front vs 18/21 without lowering the front.

I do like the dropped rear look of the 16/21.... but handling is important.

Is the 18/21 handling that much better than the 16/21 without lowering the front?

Appreciate it!

 

You might think about a klock werks windshield. They are pricey but man, do they kick the wind up over your head. Both my buddies have them and love them.

I'm running a 21" front with stock 16" rear. No way would I fork out the $ for the matching rear. You don't see unless it's on the side stand and you're trying. That topic gets beat to death on on here.

 

I went 17/21 with a 200 rear tire, front end isn't lowered and my bike rides GREAT!! I got a matching rear wheel because it would drive me up a wall having non matching wheels!

 

21/17 seems be the perfect combo for 09 and up

 

There's a thread circulating on this right now actually that will probably answer most of your questions: https://www.hdforums.com/forum/touri...is-enough.html

As far as windshields go, you just have to find the right one.
It's not that hard, really. You just have to know how to measure yourself for one.
There's threads on that too, but using the search feature on this site will actually give you a lot of reading on these subjects that might be unique to you, but if you participate in the forum long enough you will see that they are asked about almost on a weekly basis.

 

Lion appreciate the comments. Coming from the ADV forum I am huge believer in the search function which I have used on a daily basis.

Windshields- I have tried all the klockwerks from smallest to largest and non of them worked that well for me. I'm 6'1 with 32 inch inseam so I guess I'm long in the middle. Note didn't see much of a difference between the 6 and 8 klockwerks.. don't know if those were the exact sizes but bottom line to me not much difference.

Did install fork baffle and that helped... then the adjustable fairing wings and that helped a little more..

Back to rim size question-

Here is what I'm thinking... see if this logic works.

When I get the bike back from all the other stuff being done which I mentioned above I'm going to find the rims I want.

Will put a 21 on the front with matching dual rotors and leave the rear rim and tire stock and ride the hell out of it for a few weeks and see what I think of the handeling, ride etc. (again not planning on lowering the front).

If I'm happy with the set-up I will pull the trigger on a custom 16 rim. During the testing phase if I can't get over the rear size/too much rubber showing I will look into a 17 or 18 inch rear. Don't have any plans of going up to a 200 tire.

After reading a ton of post on the site it looks like the 09 up have difference of opinion on rim sizes vs the 09 and earlier guys. I talked last week with HogPro and they stated the only reason to go with 17 rear is if I wanted to go 200 on the rear. (Can't remember detail but he stated if a 200 was desired the 17 didn't squirm as bad at the 16/18 with a 200).

Is there any benefit of a 200 rear besides looks? HogPro stated that if I wanted to stay with stock width 16 or 18 would be fine but there could be a slight difference in handling.

Appreciate everyone's free flowing thoughts and comments.