I have a 2008 Street Bob with a heavy sidecar and discovered 5 broken spokes on front wheel this weekend. This unit might be too heavy for spokes. Could I bolt on a mag front wheel from a Sportster with a different sized axel spacer? Any other ideas?
thanks

 

I have friends who have ridden sidecars for decades, with spoked wheels. So spoked wheels can cope, but I suspect sidecars are like tandem bicycles, they prefer to use different spoke patterns. That gets complicated, as the rim has to be drilled to match and specialist wheel builders are like hens' teeth!

I suggest you look for a Dyna wheel for your year or later. A Sporty wheel may fit, but may not bolt straight in. Ebay often has secondhand wheels, when owners buy chrome or custom wheels, and is well worth a look. Alternatively the Classifieds here on HDF may have something suitable.

Be patient! I recently bought an excellent used Deuce rear wheel for less than 100 bucks. This one might fit - worth asking a dealer?

 

Spokes are wayyy tougher than most people think. My guess is that you need to take a torque wrench to those spokes and true up the wheels.

 

You may also want to check the specs for toe-in/toe-out on your sidecar and verify it settings. Even on or two degrees off could be causing excess strain on your front wheel (spokes). FWIW Fastrider 124