'03 Road King converting Deuce rear Wheel/Tire

[Traakon]

Well I dug into the Deuce 17" 160 on the rear of the '03 Road King project yesterday and it looks like it will work out. Admittedly, if I was not doing the custom 'glass rear fender, it would be much more difficult.

I need to:
-Go to a 1 1/8 pulley and belt (thinking I may do a 1" just for extra clearance).
-Remake the down supports for the bag rails and the cross connect between them.
-Do some trimming on the sides of the fender to remove the inward flair.

To make it perfect I would need to split the rear finder and make it about 3/4" wider and change the 4 side mounting points which would sacrifice that space. It's this fender splitting that would make it more difficult for someone running a stock set up. Since the fender will be a stone shield for the 'glass cover fender I am not sure yet if I will put the time into it to split it if the tire clears enough with just the trim work.

So far, it looks like refitting the wheel with the new 1" bearings is the truly stubborn part, but I have been surprised before.

[diovol]

if you machine the center of the wheel out tight enough you can do it without cracking the casting in between the hubs, wow it is weird to find someone doing the same mod. I just did it to my 03 rk.......

[Traakon]

diovol-
Kindred spirits it appears. You will have to clue me in as this goes on as to how you overcame some of the hurdles.

As it happens I spent some more time today working out the fender issue. I had planned on just doing the minimum (since it would never be seen) but after looking at it I really needed to do it the best way I could not the quickest/easiest.

So, based on the measurements taken off the bike, I needed to widen the fender at least 3/4". After measuring the nuts on the fender mounting bolts, which came to a smidge under 7/8"" I decided to take the fender out to eliminate those thick bolts.

Step one - Bifurcate the rear fender



With the rear fender split down the center line I cut a 1" strip from some 10ga. stock I had from building medieval armor and began the process of making the halves whole once more.





Once I had the bits tacked back into one I needed to take it back to the bike (which is at Phoenix Customs where they are machining the front wheel) and do a test fit before I went any further. The fitting went really well so its on to finishing the welding; which includes filling any hole from the stock accessories/tail light etc. Since this is going to be the "under fender" for the 'glass finish fender, it doesn't have to be pretty, just solid. I need to remove the added 1/2" from the belt clearance on the left but other than that, no other issues noted.

For those who would consider this on a stock bike, the fender widening would be a much more detailed issue to get right. Details like drilling out the spot welds in the tail light backer and removing it before welding the halves then replacing it back in the center and filling the 1/2" to each side for a stock look and mounting.