I need a new rear tire on my 2000 Road King Classic and am considering a Metzler ME880. Most of my riding is two-up and occassionaly loaded up with luggage so I am thinking of going to a 140 tire, if it will fit, for the higher load rating. Does anyone know for sure if a 140 tire will fit in the rear fender of a 2000 Road King Classic with no clearance issues? I have a stock suspension front and rear.

 

I ran 140s of various brands on a '96 Road King as well as a 2000 Ultra. No problem as long as you keep the rear wheel in alignment. On occasion when I backed up in the garage the belt walks towards the inside of the pulley and I got a minor rub. The rest of the time moving forward the belt rides the outside of the pulley. How often do you back up?

TL

 

TL - Thanks for the info. Other than backing away from a curb, etc., when parking I back in to the garage to store the bike. I'll check the belt clearance and whwere it rides on the pulley tomorrow.

 

I put perilli 130s on my 99 heritage, front and back. I know on my bike, thats about as wide as im going to go. not bad tires though. My first time to use them.

 

I currently have a Dunlop MU85B16 on the rear and it should be a 140, tight on the left side but clears, had the backwards flap for a little while.
Stock shock height will help out as mine is 1" lowered and 2 up (I'm 275) and a loaded tourpak installed @ highway speeds, bridge bumps, has lightly touched the top of the fender a couple of times, it is a 97 RK.

 

I saw a friend put a 140 ME880 on his '99 Heritage. It fit with *just* enough clearance after he got it on but he had to deflate it to get it in there. A bit too close for my taste.

TL

 

Lemme add, the only time I noticed the rubbing when backing up I was running K491s. They all are RWL and stick out a bit wider than the sidewall. The white letters is where I noticed the rubbing. I didn't consider it a problem.... nore like a feature ;-)

TL

 

I have a 140 on my 02 SE RK, the rubber flap gets pulled up a bit if I back up, other than that it works fine.

 

I've got a brand new 140 on my 02 RK. Dealer here said if its a METzler, he only puts 140s on for the load rating.... My Inde puts them on all the time..

 

This seems to get asked about once a week somewhere on HDH - I just can't recall where I last answered it!

I prefer Avons and currently have a 140/90 on the rear of my 1990 FLHS. I wrote to Avon and asked a few questions about their tyres and they recommended using a 140 over a 130 for riding two up, because they have a better load rating. They reckon an MT or 130 is marginal when fully loaded.

On my bike there is very little spare room and I removed the rubber curtain from my belt guard. There is about 3/16 inch clearance between the belt and the edge of the tyre. From other threads on HDF I believe later models have a little more room, but that the space available differs between bikes!

If you get a 140 or MU fitted, before you install the wheel I suggest you make a simple check. Look down the edge of the wheel and measure the 'gap' between the edge of the tyre and the belt-side edge of the pulley. On my bike that is about 3/16 inch and I could only just see daylight between the tyre and the backside of the pulley. That 'gap' is the clearance you need to keep, when the wheel is fitted and the belt adjusted. You can see why there was really not enough space left on my bike for that rubber curtain to fit!