A 23" Front Wheel?

[member3480]

If I was doing a XS650 with a 23 or 26 wheel around $350.00 Sportster front end $300 Brakes another $200 tire $150 so you are just about $1000 to do it right and look good. Also with the sportster front end you can do a 3 degree trees and really make it look good. See it was in my head to do HAHA

Gary I can't count on fingers and toes of how many 15 20 25 over front ends I put on bikes in the 60's and 70's That was the look. I had a buddy with a Pan Head that had a 30 over front end and when he came up to a stop sigh he could not see the traffic coming it was a weird time and I rode them like I stole it back then NO FEAR LOL now I am safety nerd my old bones break fast. I rode a 1970 BSA 650 10 over hard tail for 15 years back then and rode that sucker from Phila. to Canada and back.

 

[Metal Wizard Machine]

You have to put steering stabilizer on wheels larger than 26". Just like a larger rake you change the front end trail had to do many drag bikes this way with stabilizer . I like the look but the ride is scary on those 30" wheels.

A stabilizer for riding at speed wouldn't be needed because of trail changes. When you run a taller front wheel you raise the axle centerline to ground distance. That increases the fork angle and, in turn, increases trail. If anything, a larger wheel should make the bike *more* stable at speed.

I don't doubt one bit though that they ride weird though. Seems like a lot of the ones I've seen have that front tire stretched for a low profile look which would input some weird loads on the "sidewall" (which would now be partly tread and contact patch! Hahaha).

Stabilizers on drag bikes are there for a different reason though too. You’re getting pretty dramatic changes in loading on the fork when you launch a drag bike and then start down the track. At those speeds any side to side input on the front end from the rider at the right moment would induce a hell of a wobble (like trying to put a wheelie down with a slight turn to the bars.) You get heavier coeffcient of friction to one side and the tire wants to lean that way (picture a skater doing a hockey stop on ice. Skater turns to his left, and his momentum wants to tip him to his right), and that increases friction to the other side momentarily. When these happen back and forth fast enough you get an oscillation and the result is a "wobble" that becomes impossible to control. That's where the stabilizer comes into play.

 

[member3480]

I will agree with you on the drag bikes but it seem to help on the big 30" wheels no wobble at high speeds . It also may have to do with rim width and tire size too. I have 4 bikes around here that all are 30" and all had problems with wobble and local shop put the stabilizer on and one guy told me he had bike going down highway doing 105 mph and went straight and these guys can ride. It also may have something to do with the weight on the front too. When I drove Top Fuel bikes back in the 80's and 90's all of the front wheels were bigger than 4" wide and had the stabilizer even though the front wheel didn't touch down until 900' when it did hit you felt it and the heaver wheel helped.

 

[CDNTX650]

If there ever was a trend even effing uglier than the fat tire chopper/billet/tribal paint trend...it's the ugly ass 30" front wheel bagger trend.

 

[jbenedict]

I remember that on those long, long front ends (15"+) front suspension wasn't much needed because the forks would flex naturally.

 

[Metal Wizard Machine]

I remember that on those long, long front ends (15"+) front suspension wasn't much needed because the forks would flex naturally.

Same thing happens with telescopic forks over a certain rake.

Also why you can run solid fork at some lengths and rakes. They sure pogo though.

 

[jbenedict]

Also why you can run solid fork at some lengths and rakes. They sure pogo though.

Lack of effective damping has a habit of doing that...