18" rear wheel on 1980 Special?

Looked through several forums and can't seem to find this anywhere. I prefer the look on equal sized front and rear rims. Right now I've got the stock 18" front and a 16" rear, but would like to swap to a 18" rear if possible. Anyone done this?

Jay

- sure, the 18in wheel has more or less the same height as the 16in wheel once you take into account tyre heights

what type of wheel did you have in mind? if you have a drum brake you can just swap with the earlier spoked wheels, if you have a disk rear wheel the easiest thing is to swap the complete swing arm and wheel over, as the wheel axle is a differant length but the pivot is the same width.

I've got the stock 16" drum, and will probably stay with the drum setup for now. Resources are tight, and as much as I'd like to do my frame mods, and rear disk and the like, I'm just going to do what is economically feasible at this point. Doing a bobber on the cheap, since the bike was already chopped up a bit, and have done a ton of work on oil leaks, wiring, and carb rebuilds. Going to be working on the front forks and rear shocks and figured if I can pick up an 18" drum wheel from the bone yard, I might as well swap it out while I have it apart. Thanks for the input fellas. Riding season is upon me, and my ride is still sitting in the garage. Got a cam chain adjustment problem to tackle, but that's for a different thread. Thanks again.

Jay

- when you did your last oil change did you find black plastic looking bits in the sump? if so these are from the cam chain guide and indicate that it will need replacing, chain probably too
- have a look here for a cold set-includes cam chain adjustment

Suiteo, send a PM to Roy Fisk on this site. I am sure he will have a wheel for you. If you are in a bind for some parts, he is the guy to go to, he's got a ton of parts for these machine's. And he's quite resonable on price.
I had the set up your looking for, but, unfortunately for you, I sold it to Twins are hot, & he put it on straight away & posted pic's that same day. It is a simple, bolt -on swap. I had it on my '80 G model, but the wheel was different, & a 31 tooth gear did what I was looking to do with the wheel.

If you are thinking of this swap, you may want to consider the additional braking area the TX750 wheel gives you. Same look, a bolt in/on exchange and better braking ability.

inxs - Yep, found the dreaded black chunks in the oil. Tried to do a cam chain adjustment, but no movement from the plunger at all no matter how tight or loose I got it. Runs loud when it's hot, so valves need a checking as well, but can't go any further until I get the cam chain under control. Just trying to figure out what else I "should do" while I have the heads off. I don't notice any blow-by but the tops of the pistons are pretty ashy when looking through the spark plug holes. Haven't done a compression test yet, but then again, I've never torn into an engine before. First time for everything! Thank you for the link.

Gordon - Thank you for the parts source. Trolling ebay gets old after a while so it's great to have a network like this. Dang ex is sucking me dry (not in a good way either) and always complained about me buying a bike. Bought one right after the DV was final. Good to know this is a bolt up job.

weekendrider - Thanks for the additional wheel info. Saw one on ebay just now, so good to know that is an option as well.

your front wheel should be a 19" if its stock.