can i use a harley rim for the rear?

xschop

xschop

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Hi I'm just curious but I'm thinking about putting a Harley Davidson rear 16" rim with a 3/4 inch axle on my 72xs....is this even possible...set aside what I would have to do with the brake components which I am not concerned about...I'm just curious would I be able to use my stock axle from my xs on the Harley rear rim? I'm well aware I would have to fab up some spacers for it but I guess my main concern if it's just a simple swap and I'm in type of ordeal....any help or suggestions would 've appreciated :)
 
xschop said:
Hi I'm just curious but I'm thinking about putting a Harley Davidson rear 16" rim with a 3/4 inch axle on my 72xs....is this even possible...set aside what I would have to do with the brake components which I am not concerned about...I'm just curious would I be able to use my stock axle from my xs on the Harley rear rim? I'm well aware I would have to fab up some spacers for it but I guess my main concern if it's just a simple swap and I'm in type of ordeal....any help or suggestions would 've appreciated :)
Click to expand...

Hi xschop,
depends on what you consider to be simple, eh?
The H-D rear wheel must have 3/4" (19.05mm) bore bearings to fit it's 3/4" axle.
The XS650 rear axle diameter is 20mm so it ain't gonna fit through them.
You can stay with either the 3/4" H-D axle or a longer 3/4" axle if that's what it needs to fit the frame; or you can find bearings that'll fit a 20mm axle and also fit in the H-D wheel or that can be adapted to fit with spacer sleeves.
 
So you're saying I can just use the stock Harley rear axle that fits the rim...so now what about my axle plates with the slightly bigger axle hole?? Will there be any play when I use the Harley 3/4 axle? And thanks I will search the forum now :)
 
xschop said:
So you're saying I can just use the stock Harley rear axle that fits the rim...so now what about my axle plates with the slightly bigger axle hole?? Will there be any play when I use the Harley 3/4 axle? And thanks I will search the forum now :)
Click to expand...

Hi xschop,
yeah, do the arithmetic.
A 3/4" (19.05mm) shaft in a 20mm slot equals 0.95mm play.
Fix it easy with two 3/4"bore x 20mm OD cylindrical sleeves around the axle or fix it fancy with an 0.475mm thick oval sleeve pressed and tack-welded into each axle slot.
 
Actually that sounds a lot easier solution by tack welding an oval sleeve to the axle plate slot to fit the Harley axle...any tips on making the spacers? Thanks fredintoon you've been of much help :)
 
xschop said:
Actually that sounds a lot easier solution by tack welding an oval sleeve to the axle plate slot to fit the Harley axle...any tips on making the spacers? Thanks fredintoon you've been of much help :)
Click to expand...

Hi XSchop,
nah, although those oval spacers'd look real elegant they'd be a bitch to do.
Firstly, the required 0.475mm thickness ain't a standard sheetmetal gauge.
26ga is too thin and 25ga is too thick.
Secondly, after you'd reduced the 25ga sheet's thickness to 0.475mm (and that'd take a magnetic surface grinder), making and installing the oval liners so they'd look nice is not a task for the fainthearted.
Better you find a "Bro with lathe"
Saw the straight end off a 7/8" handlebar.
Mount the end in the lathe's 3 jaw chuck.
Open it out with a 3/4" drill bit mebbe 2" deep.
Turn the outside down to 20mm mebbe 2" long.
Part off the two 3/8" long sleeves you need to adapt the 3/4" Harley axle to your 20mm frame slots.
 
So sleeves is the way to go huh? I've read that sleeves can sometimes bind up if not made right...is that true? That's why I wasn't sure of going the sleeve route
 
I suppose an alternative would be to custom-fit a strip of 20ga sheet (0.038"-0.040") into the axle slot. The strip would be sandwich/confined by the axle adjuster plates, so maybe epoxy or soldering may not be necessary...
 

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xschop said:
So sleeves is the way to go huh? I've read that sleeves can sometimes bind up if not made right...is that true? That's why I wasn't sure of going the sleeve route
Click to expand...

Hi xschop,
well, anything will bind up if it ain't made right but if the sleeve slips on easy and it's greased on assembly it'll work fine.
However, all those years designing stuff sometimes blinds me to the obvious easy fix.
Go with 2many's 20ga strip.
No Bro with lathe necessary, just a pair of sheetmetal cutting shears and the body off an abandoned appliance.
K.I.S.S. eh?
 
Hahaha well thanks guys that completely helped me out with my question now to way on a sprocket from Mr.lucky's and get to it and that strip is so easy I can't believe how simple that solution was thanks again guys :)
 
Wow thanks for this posts guys, im in the same boat with the harley rear rim. Im going to try and 20g sheet metal method tomorrow with the 3/4 axle and see if it works good. Ill let you know how it goes.
 
well I went to home depot and all they had closest to 20 gauge was 21 gauge sheet metal -.0836mm . So I got it anyway and cut small insets to place inside the axle plates as the previous post mentioned.

There is still some play up and down with everything connected. Obviously its not a lot, technically .159mm of play.

3/4 axle (19.05mm)
20mm slots
21 gauge sheet metal insert .836mm

Should I just order sheet metal online then? Idk where else I could get 20 gauge. Or is that play not that excessive?

005.jpg

007.jpg
 
Well after playing with the original axle in the 20mm axle plates and then moving around the 3/4 with the inserts they both have about the same play. So im going to end welding these in and using it for my build; thanks for great tip!

What have you guys done for the axle itself, I see almost all of the harley axles are 13in long, and the stock axle is 11 1/4? (cant remember the exact offhand but its close to that).
 
I've worked with much sloppier fits, but the perfectionist in me wants it tighter, and the shadetree in me sez it's ok. Mostly want to ensure that the wheel is vertical when the axle nut is tightened. In use, the riding loads will try to push the axle to the upper surface, and if one side slips upward while the other remains in place, that 0.008" slip would translate to about 0.010"-0.012" at the tire/ground contact patch, which works out to about 3-4 minutes of angle change to the camber. Quite insignificant for bar hopping...
 
I'm a bit late, but I put a 19" HD front wheel on the back of my xs. I think it was a 6304 bearing I used. That fits the harley wheel (52mm O.D.) and the XS 20mm (I.D.) rear axle. Hope this helps!
 
Here is something I used in the past and you would just have to go to a machine shop and have them made up. These were 1" to 3/4 Harley wheels.
 

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