hey guys & girls i have something here that i have no clue about.
so here goes i have been looking at some wheel on ebay,and i have found a few that i would really be intrested in, some are 21/215 and some are 19/215
the thing is they are not for a 2003 sportster. but can i change out the bearings/hubs to make them fit my bike.

iam not really sure if thats what i even need to do,so please give me some insight on the wheel thing. can it be done? will it work ? how much as far as cost and time. can my h-d dealer install my bearing,hubs?

please reply asap as the auction will be ending soon........thanks

Hi.

A 215 tire on the front?
Sure it will fit, all you need to do is get a wide glide triple tree set up and change them out.
That will give you the clearance between the forks.And if that don't work, i have a hammer.........(Sarcasm)
Of course you realize your rear tire is only a 150, and quite frankly, I think it would look very wrong, big wide tire up front, narrower tire on the rear, I mean, it's gunna look like a big wheel.

Changing tire sizes on a bike is not like a car, you really need to do some engineering to make it fit right, clear the orbits when running(So when the tire flexes under stress, it won't hit anything) that it is a real challenge to get these things to work.


Let me give you a nickel's wroth of free advice here, if you please.
Motorcycle tire size should not be messed with lightly, like people do on cars, there is so many thing to keep in mind when fitting them in there.
If you have a tire that rubs from time to time on a car, and it causes a blow out, that usually means you need a tow truck to the tire store.

It ain't like that on a bike, at speed a cut down tire blow out usually ends with a fast ride in an ambulance , or a slow one in the coroners wagon.
If you really want the Big tire look, take you bike to a Indy shop that does this type of custom work, this is not something that an armature should attempted, because you life depends on it being right the first time, you may not get a second chance to make it right.

Best advice, run the tire size Harley recommends, if you want a 19, then run a 100/90/19.

Jeffytune, I think he means a 21" x 2.15" wheel rather than a 215 profile tyre. A 21" x 2.15" rim is the correct rim size for a sporty but as to hub specifics, I can't answer that question, maybe others can.

A 2.15" rim will fit most tires from 80 to 100 profile.

Cheers,

Brett

Judging by your signature, the 21 is your stock size - the 19 will look noticeably smaller, but a little sportier and less custom.

21" wheels look so cool but like to wash out, so you go slow. 19" wheels hang in there and stick, so ya give her the wick. Ride hard, Ride safe !!!

Assuming the wheels you're looking at are 40-spoke, 4-cross (standard HD,) If they're spoked (laced) wheels, you can swap out the hubs if needed.

You can swap front wheels with any 2000-2004 Sportster. Earlier wheels will fit, but the bearings (and the rim around the race recesses in the hubs) were smaller and the holes at the center of your rotors are larger. Because the rotors are held on the hubs with ordinary cap screws (and not countersunk like some other bikes) it's not a good idea to mount 2000-and-later rotors on 1999-and earlier hubs.

Same thing is true at the rear, by the way. The earlier wheels had Timken bearings and everything was smaller. Your rotor and pulley won't center on the rim/shoulder around the bearing recesses in the hubs. Swapping-in your hubs is the solution to this.

If you can snag a pair of wheels with rotors and pulley installed, they'll swap right over as long as the rotors are 11.5", regardless of year, except for the 2005-and up wheels, as the axles are larger on the '05s.

If you're looking at cast wheels, you can't change the hubs obviously, but the bearings will work with your axles as long as the wheels aren't newer than '04. And again, only the 2000-2004 wheels will match your rotors and pulley. If the wheels have the smaller Timken bearings (prior to 2000) then you'll need to change your rotors and pulley.

Yes that decimal point is important when discussing tires and rimes.