G'day all,
I have a problem and need some help/advice with a wheel change. I ride an '86FXR and I bought a rear wheel off a '91 fatboy to put on. I thought it would be a relatively simple swap as the 2 wheels are the same size, and all the catalogues say the wheels are all the same from '82 to '99 but it seems that it is anything but simple. The FXR has a big spacer on both sides that covers the whole outside of the wheel bearing seal and goes through the seal with a lip on the inside to keep it in. The fatboy wheel which has near new bearings installed doesnt have enough space between the seals and bearing races for this spacer to go in( I hope I have described this so you can understand it) I tried to put the spacers in and they stick out about 10mm each side which will not allow the wheel to fit in the swingarm. WTF is going on here? Do the softails have a different spacer setup, and if so, how do I rectify this problem? Any help/advice will be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
Thanks for the replies guys, but, maybe I havent described the problem properly. Its not the spacer that goes between the wheel and the swingarm that I am talking about, it is the one that is shaped like a mushroom that sits flat over the bearing seal completely covering it and sits flush with the end of the hub,it also goes through the seal and has a little lip around the inside end to stop it falling out of the bearing seal. It actually sits against the end of the bearing. It cannot be adjusted in length like the little spacer that you are thinking about which sits in between this one that I am having trouble with and the swingarm (if that makes sense). Although, having said all that it is not so much the spacer is the problem, it seems that the bearings on the fatboy wheel (which, yes, I have checked for endplay and are very close to perfect) sit further out towards the end of the hub (i.e. the bearings are further apart from each other) and this wont allow the spacers to sit flush with the end of the hub, but sit about 1cm out from the end of the hub. And yes I have checked and found that all wheels from '84 till '99 have the exact same offsets as far as pulleys and discs and distance off centre etc, basically, all measurements are identical and they should all be interchangeable. Thats why this problem is so perplexing. I will try and get a couple of photos to show you what I mean, if that will help.
Maybe check part numbers on the bearings,they maybe a different thickness but I can't see them being 1cm difference...The fatboy wheel bearings are in as far as they will go????
