Topic: 21 Inch Wheels (Read 7477 times)

sleepybare · « **on:** February 09, 2012, 02:56:46 PM »

I have a question for the experts here and I value any advice that I can get on this subject.....I am in the process of changing the wheels on my 2007 CVO Ultra from the stock wheels to Colorado Custom Black Widow R-2's, the plan is to put on a 21" front and an 18" rear. My shop tells me there is a chance I will have to drill out the mounting holes for the fender and tip it forward as the wheel may expand and rub the inside of the fender and damage the paint. Has anyone experienced this problem.

Secondly, the manufacturer of the wheels does not manufacture a 2 piece or floating rotor. Will the change from the stock rotors to a one piece effect the bikes braking ability or should I stay with the existing rotors and have them anodized or painted black to match the wheels?? Any help will be appreciated as I plan to make this change in the next couple of weeks....

Mr John DEUFF · « **Reply #1 on:** February 09, 2012, 03:15:02 PM »

I have the same bike, with the original wheels, normally the maximum size you can install without modifying something is 21".
For the rear wheel what size of tyre will you install? Have you got a picture of the model you've selected?

sleepybare · « **Reply #2 on:** February 09, 2012, 03:45:56 PM »

Sorry I do not have any pictures of the wheels only a brochure from the vendor, but you can see the wheels (Colorado Custom Black Widow R-2) on the Hogpro site their web site is www.Hogpro.com. I have run Metzler tires for years and don't plan to change at this time in my life. The tire sizes would be front 120-70-21 and the rear 150-70-18

CVO2012 · « **Reply #3 on:** February 09, 2012, 07:20:34 PM »

For me I bought a CINCI wheels for my 2011 softail deluxe, 21" front 18 rear without any modifications
Here is my bike on the second photo with the apple green/vivid black color.
For me it was important to know because I'm in France and I had them to ship the wheels for me.
These guys are great and they assured me that no modification will be needed, just plug n play.
You might as well ask them to be sure

http://www.renegadewheels.com/Wheels/04_Cinci/Cinci.html

pit1600 · « **Reply #4 on:** February 10, 2012, 04:22:03 PM »

First, to mount 21" with front fender, you'll have to drill the rear holes to 3/8 to rotate the fender.

Second, if you want to go for single side disc, you'll have to go to 13" rotor, 6 pot brake and new master cylinder... it looks very nice but more expensive and a little bit less brake

hope it help

FAST380 · « **Reply #5 on:** February 10, 2012, 05:46:00 PM »

Definitely have to drill the front fender and tilt if forward!!!

sleepybare · « **Reply #6 on:** February 10, 2012, 06:03:49 PM »

Thanks for the input, I plan to keep the dual rotors in the front and the consideration is having the inner ring of mine powder coated black to match the new wheels or going to a matching one piece rotor build by the wheel manufacturer. Has anyone done this and if so did you notice a significant difference in braking with the stationary or one piece rotor verses the floating.

Also the load rating on the 120-70-21 is different than the stock Metzler 16" tire has anyone found this to be a problem when running 2 up with gear....

FAST380 · « **Reply #7 on:** February 10, 2012, 06:08:33 PM »

Personally I think the 19" is the perfect compromise, looks good, handles good. I may be the minority, but I didn't like the 21" up front, bike wanted to fall over, just never was confident pushing it hard into corners. As for the rotors, I would get the ones that match, you are spending money for looks, not performance, missmatched wheel/rotor combo's don't look good. In the picture above, heck both new and old bikes, they are both 2 piece rotors, but not floating rotors, there is a difference

HogPro · « **Reply #8 on:** February 14, 2012, 05:46:11 PM »

This is Drew at HogPro. The reason that we Recommend raising the front fender is that some people have had issues with the tire expanding and it is s situation where you never can who it is going to happen to. After having to fix some fenders for customers (we take care of business) we always advise people to do this. There is really not a set formula s to who it happens to but we would rather let people know of possible issues. Some people put a 21" on and never have an issue3. In fact myself and many of my friends did not raise the fender, but you don't want to be that guy who does have a problem.

Drew

Midnight Rider · « **Reply #9 on:** February 15, 2012, 02:44:06 PM »

Quote from: sleepybare on February 10, 2012, 06:03:49 PM

Thanks for the input, I plan to keep the dual rotors in the front and the consideration is having the inner ring of mine powder coated black to match the new wheels or going to a matching one piece rotor build by the wheel manufacturer. Has anyone done this and if so did you notice a significant difference in braking with the stationary or one piece rotor verses the floating.

Also the load rating on the 120-70-21 is different than the stock Metzler 16" tire has anyone found this to be a problem when running 2 up with gear....

IMO, you need to pay very close attention to the load rating on both the front and rear tires. You've got a heavy bike, and when you put two people on it and a bunch of gear, odds are that you're already over the GVWR of the bike (not uncommon), so the load rating of the tire becomes even more important. If all you do is tool around on the bike, or bar hop, it doesn't matter so much, but if you use a touring bike for touring, they don't put those ratings on the tires for nothing.

faceracer · « **Reply #10 on:** February 15, 2012, 04:24:33 PM »

Here is a web site to give you some food for thought on wheel and tire sizes.....Face

http://www.csgnetwork.com/tireinfo4calc.html

darth davidson · « **Reply #11 on:** February 16, 2012, 11:48:30 AM »

Quote from: FAST380 on February 10, 2012, 06:08:33 PM

Personally I think the 19" is the perfect compromise, looks good, handles good. I may be the minority, but I didn't like the 21" up front, bike wanted to fall over, just never was confident pushing it hard into corners. As for the rotors, I would get the ones that match, you are spending money for looks, not performance, missmatched wheel/rotor combo's don't look good. In the picture above, heck both new and old bikes, they are both 2 piece rotors, but not floating rotors, there is a difference

X2

Midnight Rider · « **Reply #12 on:** February 16, 2012, 01:20:27 PM »

I think the stock tires on an '07 are 72H up front (783lbs @40psi) and 77H on the rear (908lbs @40psi).

I could be mistaken, but I don't see a single Metzler 880 in either a 19" or 21" that meets that front spec. The 18" does. (looks like they now make an 18 front rated at 73H)

For the rear, it looks like the 15X18X70 comes in at 76H. That's a difference between 908lbs and 882lbs on the rear.

It looks like Metz has a V rated front 21" tire that would meet/exceed the spec, but it's a 140x21. Neither the "regular" 19 or 21" tire even comes close to the 72H rating. 62 is the highest (583lbs) That's a 200lb difference in load rating on the front tire. Quite a bit.

http://www.metzelermoto.com/en_IT/browser/attachments/pdf/LEAFLET_Metzeler_low.pdf

http://www.motorcycleanchor.com/motorcycle/how_to/mc_tires.html

sleepybare · « **Reply #13 on:** February 16, 2012, 01:29:44 PM »

Its my understanding that the new 19" Dunlap tire for the 12 SE are a 61H if this is indeed true and the 19" Metzlers are a 60H there is only a small difference in the load rating. It would seem to me that the mother ship has somehow either A) done a stupid thing (not that they have not done stupid things before) or B) feel the new load rate is ok for the touring bike class....

First is this a true statement as I don't know anyone off this site with a 12 SE and Second if true has anyone encountered a issue with

Midnight Rider · « **Reply #14 on:** February 16, 2012, 02:05:37 PM »

Quote from: sleepybare on February 16, 2012, 01:29:44 PM

Its my understanding that the new 19" Dunlap tire for the 12 SE are a 61H if this is indeed true and the 19" Metzlers are a 60H there is only a small difference in the load rating. It would seem to me that the mother ship has somehow either A) done a stupid thing (not that they have not done stupid things before) or B) feel the new load rate is ok for the touring bike class....

First is this a true statement as I don't know anyone off this site with a 12 SE and Second if true has anyone encountered a issue with

That's true...however, the rear on the SESG is now rated at 80H.

The new Ultras have a 63H on the front (17") and an 81H rated rear. Guess they've figured that the rear is where all the weight is, other than when braking.

The 2011 SERGU (my bike) has a 63H on the front (18") and an 81H (18") on the rear, so that must be true now. Plus, the new Dunlops are the "dual" tread compound.

Honestly, I wouldn't be as concerned with the front as I would be with the rear, to a point. Personally, I think the 19" front is big enough on a touring bike, with the 21" presenting too many potential issues. Availability on the road being one of them.

Midnight Rider · « **Reply #15 on:** February 16, 2012, 02:28:18 PM »

With the new frame, the choices of tires are "better" because of the extra width allowed at the swingarm. With the old frame, a 150 is about as wide as you can go without doing things to shoehorn a 160 in. From those I know that have done a 160, it didn't work out too well in the long run. I also know a couple of folks who had a 21" on their touring bikes and ended up back with a 19". The 19" is a good compromise between looks and performance, but that's just my opinion, and you know what they say about those...

I went through what you're going through when I put new wheels on my '06 SEUC. At that time, there was NOTHING in an 18" rear that even came close to the stock 16" rating, so I ended up with a 16" rear and an 18" front, with Metzlers on both ends. Looks like now they've got the 18" 150 at least rated up close enough to the stocker that I wouldn't be real concerned about it...77H and 76H are pretty damn close. It's tough to decide what to do when you're looking at spending some big bucks on wheels, rotors, pulley, etc. Then you need a flush mount front axle, better calipers...it never ends. I ended up with a chit load of money tied up in my '06...PM wheels, Pulley, PM calipers, Matching floating rotors on front, standard matching on the rear, Tires, axle, new rear brake line. It looked good when completed though, and it stopped a hell of a lot better (stock bikes didn't have Brembos back then). I got it all through HogPro and was very happy with their customer service and helpful advice.

That's another thought: Perhaps the new frame design distributes the weight differently front/rear.

Doesn't make sense though...can't see there being that much difference in weight distribution just in a frame design. Not trying to get you off track here, but the Dunlops on my '11 SERGU handle really well thus far, and seem to hold up well from what I'm reading. Also, I've heard good things about the Avon tires, but have not looked at their offerings for your bike. I really liked the Metzlers on my '06, other than the fact that the rear wore fairly quickly with my riding style. Great handling though.

sleepybare · « **Reply #16 on:** February 16, 2012, 04:47:58 PM »

A special thanks to all who have supplied information on this thread. You are all right and the cost of the upgrade makes it something I would not want to do two times on this bike. Taking into consideration all of the input provided, my final decision is to go with the P.M. Contrast Platinum Cut Huligan wheels with a 19" front and 18" rear and stay with the Metzler tires, matching P.M. 2 piece rotors and at this time my stock brakes which are chrome with LRB pads. If anyone has any reason or thought which may change my mind before I pull the trigger this week-end, I would welcome the input.....

Craig

Mr John DEUFF · « **Reply #17 on:** March 04, 2012, 03:54:31 PM »

We're waiting for the pictures!

scttgr8 · « **Reply #18 on:** March 04, 2012, 06:21:59 PM »

good choice on tire/wheel sizes, especially if touring and not just a bar :drink:hopper!

sleepybare · « **Reply #19 on:** March 04, 2012, 10:04:36 PM »

Wheels are still on order will post as soon as they arrive and get installed...Sorry

kiwihog · « **Reply #20 on:** March 04, 2012, 10:34:03 PM »

a friend of mine put 21 front and 18 rear on his SG and dosn't like it he had lowered the rear and it scraped 2 up so had to take off the lowering kit and he feels the input from the front is very harsh with the lower profile tire

sleepybare · « **Reply #21 on:** March 05, 2012, 05:12:23 PM »

Thanks for the input, the one thing I do not need is to decrease the handling potential of the bike after spending cash to upgrade the suspension

Tn.Heritage · « **Reply #22 on:** March 07, 2012, 06:40:03 PM »

I have the 21" on the front and a 17" 200 on the rear and couldn't be happier with this set up. Personally the stock 16 or 18" wheels were a bit quicky if you will. The 21's took that away and to me the look is awesome. I have put 15,000 miles on mine with this set up.

sleepybare · « **Reply #23 on:** April 09, 2012, 02:52:48 PM »

This is a picture of the new wheels on my scooter. The wheels are manufactured for HogPro by Colorado Custom. HopPro was great during the installation process and went above and beyond what a normal vendor would too make this happen. The rotors have been polished to match the wheels, I run Metzler front and back and the balance was with Dyna beads. I would recommend HogPro to anyone who wants great wheels at a fair price with outstanding service

FAST380 · « **Reply #24 on:** April 09, 2012, 02:55:53 PM »

Looks real nice

Mr John DEUFF · « **Reply #25 on:** April 09, 2012, 03:04:02 PM »

We want more pictures! Please!

The result is outstanding! What size did you finally choose for the front/rear wheels?

Mr John DEUFF · « **Reply #26 on:** April 09, 2012, 03:06:25 PM »

Also I would like to know if is the bike is different to ride with?

barefoot3zk5 · « **Reply #27 on:** April 09, 2012, 06:15:56 PM »

Just wondering if you have run dyna beads before ?? If so , is there any kind of wear on the inside of the tire after prolonged use ..
??
the 21" looks good .. shoulda lost that xtra rotor to show more of the wheel .. LOL mod on ..

sleepybare · « **Reply #28 on:** April 11, 2012, 12:06:59 PM »

Here is an additional picture of the new wheels on my scooter. The front is a 19 inch and the rear a 18. I am running a 120 series Metzler on the front as they do not make a 130 series for a 19 inch rim and a 150 series Metzler on the rear. i did not change the rotor and pulley on the rear tire as they do not show. That may come in the future should I have a bunch of cash I just don't have any other use for. I know Dunlop makes a 130 series for a 19 inch rim but the don't make a 150 series in the same tire for the rear. For some reason I don't like to mix tires on my scooter. I have never ran Dyna Beads before so I can not answer any questions about performance or wear but at this time I do not have any complaints on the balance or performance of the wheel/tire combination. Additionally, I do not notice much difference in the way the bike sits or the height of the tire/rim combination. There is a bit of difference in the way the bike handles but not enough to write home to mom about.

Author Topic: 21 Inch Wheels (Read 7477 times)