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[efrbc1]

Not a CVO but I thought this would be a good place to get some thoughts about this.  A buddy of mine has an '07 Fatboy.  On the Fatboy in '07 HD offset the front wheel to the right for whatever reason ().  If you are sitting on the bike, the front wheel is about 1/4" offset (closer) to the right fork slider than on the left.  The resulting problem is tire wear.

Normal riding (he lives in Charleston SC) is no issue.  Lots of flat and straight roads.  Problems are when we travel to the mountains.  He will (has) wear the right side of the tire to cord within 1000 miles.  This has happened twice with two different brands of tires (Metzeler and Michelin).  First time was in the spring of 2014 when he wore the Metzeler down.  About 10K on that tire and it was fine (minimal even wear) prior to the trip.  Replaced the tires (both with Michelin) in NC as it was unsafe to continue.  Last fall (10-14) he had about 5K on the tires.  Four days after we got there the front tire was down to cord again (right side of the tire again).  Had to replace it after about 1200 miles in the mountains again.

Obviously he is hesitant to plan another trip as it gets expensive when you figure in $200 - $250 for a front tire each trip.

We are thinking the offset has something to do with this.  Pressures are maintained, front end is tight, bike handles well with no issues on "non-mountain (twisty)" roads.

Any thoughts on where to start??

Chris 

[Nemosengineer]

Hi efrbc1,

I will hop in and say that the offset in the front wheel is not helping the situation but there may be other causes and that can only be determined after a serious alignment session checking everything including the swing arm pivot, fork crown, the fork itself for play in the bushings, check chassis vertical alignment for twist, the rear wheel may be offset also, so keep track of all the numbers and soon you will have a clear picture of how that particular chassis is set up. The factory manual is your friend.
I would think that there would be symptoms when riding hard like pushing (understeer) on turns to the right and feeling somewhat different on left hand turns where the bike likes to fall in and track better.
I don't know how the bike is loaded on trips or his riding style, all have an effect on tire life as you already know.
Let me close by saying that taking the offset out of a Harley chassis can be expensive, time consuming and of little real world benefit unless you ride like a madman or have OCD, also with the offset removed the motorcycle will list slightly toward whatever side is heavier when going straight.

Ride Safe And Best Wishes: Mike