Cast or billet wheels for a Softail??

Big Si

Big Si

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Unusually ( I haven't had a puncture on a bike for years...or a car either come to that!) I have had 2 punctures this 'season' on the mighty Heritage Classic 114. Officianado's will no doubt know that the spoked wheels on this bike are tubed :mad:. The first time, back in June, with nothing to lose, I tried a plug, as I had a kit in the saddlebag. As expected, it didn't work and after being quoted a 4 or 5 hour wait by Harley recovery :mad:, I rang a mate with a trailer to come and collect me. Wheel off, into the local tyre place and new tube.
Bugger me if I didn't have another one in August! Luckily (?) this time it was the front tyre, and it was a week day and I was riding with a mate and not too far from home so I nipped back to pick up some tools, removed the front wheel, had the tube changed and back on the move within 2 hours.
Anyhow, the spoked/tubed situation has pissed me off so I have started to investigate the possibility of replacing them with cast or billet (£'s!) wheels.
There's an English chap on the US site HD Forums .com that has put 16" black cast ally 9 spoke wheels from a Sportster 48 on that look great and obviously are tubeless so tyre plugs can be used successfully in most cases :okay.
This chap had Sykes HD at Lewes do his but he doesn't know the details of what was involved in terms of spacers etc and Sykes are basically shut at the mo due to covid and don't open again until the new year :rolleyes:
Has anyone else out there done something similar and have any ideas or experience they could share?? (Longshot I know)
 
Machined billet is probably 3x the price of a cast wheel.
Billet aluminium is extruded and rolled to a shape then, machined on a CNC machine to a desired style and pattern.

Cast aluminium is harder but, more brittle due to the grain structure.



Patria o Muerte
 
Big Si said:
Unusually ( I haven't had a puncture on a bike for years...or a car either come to that!) I have had 2 punctures this 'season' on the mighty Heritage Classic 114. Officianado's will no doubt know that the spoked wheels on this bike are tubed :mad:. The first time, back in June, with nothing to lose, I tried a plug, as I had a kit in the saddlebag. As expected, it didn't work and after being quoted a 4 or 5 hour wait by Harley recovery :mad:, I rang a mate with a trailer to come and collect me. Wheel off, into the local tyre place and new tube.
Bugger me if I didn't have another one in August! Luckily (?) this time it was the front tyre, and it was a week day and I was riding with a mate and not too far from home so I nipped back to pick up some tools, removed the front wheel, had the tube changed and back on the move within 2 hours.
Anyhow, the spoked/tubed situation has pissed me off so I have started to investigate the possibility of replacing them with cast or billet (£'s!) wheels.
There's an English chap on the US site HD Forums .com that has put 16" black cast ally 9 spoke wheels from a Sportster 48 on that look great and obviously are tubeless so tyre plugs can be used successfully in most cases :okay.
This chap had Sykes HD at Lewes do his but he doesn't know the details of what was involved in terms of spacers etc and Sykes are basically shut at the mo due to covid and don't open again until the new year :rolleyes:
Has anyone else out there done something similar and have any ideas or experience they could share?? (Longshot I know)
Click to expand...

You could run slime for tubed tyres in your wheels... I wouldve thought maybe ally wheels off an older heritage would fit or even fatboy wheels ??
 
Didn’t think slime worked in tubes?

When I tour Europe I carry two tubes as spares... odd sizes and angled valves.... if I get a puncture I can use any local garage to help me fix it...

Without a tube I’d be knackered
 
twizzle said:
Didn’t think slime worked in tubes?

When I tour Europe I carry two tubes as spares... odd sizes and angled valves.... if I get a puncture I can use any local garage to help me fix it...

Without a tube I’d be knackered
Click to expand...

Yes, I carry a tube now, however , if you are in mid Wales on a Sunday, unless you can take tyres off and on rims at the side of the road, you're stuffed. With tubeless tyres at least you stand a better than half a chance of repairing it with a plug kit and then making it home.
 
Alternatively, convert the wheels to tubeless. There are companies that will do it for you. I had my Rally Raid wheels converted by BART in Italy - though they did make the wheels in the first place.

I have a mate who converted his own wheels on an Africa Twin with 100% success, using a sealant around the spoke ends and a special tape made by 3M, found by googling. I think he posted a YouTube video on how to do it. Took him a day or so and the tape costs about £60.

The only consideration I guess is whether the design/shape of your rim would hold a tubeless tyre.
 
The trouble with converted tubed rims is they have no bead security, so if you have a flat the bead will break which will be very hard to reseat at the side of the road.
 
richardbd said:
Alternatively, convert the wheels to tubeless. There are companies that will do it for you. I had my Rally Raid wheels converted by BART in Italy - though they did make the wheels in the first place.

I have a mate who converted his own wheels on an Africa Twin with 100% success, using a sealant around the spoke ends and a special tape made by 3M, found by googling. I think he posted a YouTube video on how to do it. Took him a day or so and the tape costs about £60.

The only consideration I guess is whether the design/shape of your rim would hold a tubeless tyre.
Click to expand...

Apparently prohibitively expensive and not very reliable with H-D spoked wheels.:nenau
 
They say patience is a virtue.....and I'm not normally known for it.
However, I put a similar question to the boys and girls on HDRCGB and got very little feedback tbh. so I posed the same question on the US site "HDForums.com" and got loads of response. Notably one from a fellow UK H-D Heritage 114 owner who had replaced his spoked/laced wheels with ones from a Sportster 48 and I think they look great.
So....then trawling t'internet and came up with these on a well known internet auction site. They are a pair of unused wheels and tyres that came in at the same cost as 1 cast Sportster wheel! Result! The owner had specified he wanted spoked wheels on his/her new bike so these were taken off.
There's going to be a little finagling with spacers and bushes but a nice project nonetheless. I'm well chuffed!:thumb2
 

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Anyone know if there is any visible difference between Harley abs and non abs wheel/axle bearings??:nenau
 
..that and it’s a hugely vague question..:D For instance my mates ‘45 doesn’t have ABS..... and I’m sure as shit there’s a visual difference between them and the bearings on my Sportster...which also doesn’t have ABS..... :D Perhaps if the question was narrowed down a touch? :D
 
Doris said:
..that and it’s a hugely vague question..:D For instance my mates ‘45 doesn’t have ABS..... and I’m sure as shit there’s a visual difference between them and the bearings on my Sportster...which also doesn’t have ABS..... :D Perhaps if the question was narrowed down a touch? :D
Click to expand...

The question is somewhat moot now as I got back in touch with the folks I bought them from (which I should have done to start with! :blast) and it transpires they came off a Sporty that was fitted with abs anyway, so that makes the job easier and a bit cheaper.

I have learned from the U.S. site HDForums.com that the abs bearings are slightly wider than standard by about 3mm and generally have a greeny grey race seal compared to black.
 
Nippy Normans supply Touratech, Wunderlich, Desert Fox and many other makes of accessories.
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