FLH Front Wheel Offset

[swolf]

So I'm rebuilding the front end of my 82 FLH after a 25mph collision with a car that pulled out in front of me. I had to replace the triple tree and fork tubes. Everything is looking good, except when I mounted the rim with the axle to the forks, the rim is off-set 3/8 inch to the right side of the bike (right side as you are sitting on the bike). I used the exact same original spacers. I put the brake rotor and banana brake caliper on and it lines up just fine. Is it possible that the wheel on this year FLH is supposed to be off-set?

(Yeah, I know, the crash bar is bent - I'm looking for a good condition used one along with a fender).

John

20140928_194652.jpg

[swolf]

I'm getting a little closer to the mystery. I stopped off at a Harley dealer on the way to the Jefferson PA show last weekend. They happened to have an 82 FLH in the service dept. I measured the gap between the rim and the fork leg on both sides. Turns out that the front wheel on that bike was 1/4 in off-set to the right also. Who would have thought that the front wheel on these things are off-set? It just seems strange after reading all the archived posts in the forum about how to check the tracking between the front and rear wheels, that the front wheel could be offset so much.

John

[duffeycycles]

most Softails are offset -isnt that an FLHT with 5speed and pressed steel neck?not FLH-4 speed

[swolf]

Softails are offset? This is an FLH 4 Speed.

[wideglide38]

I’m seeing a cast wheel on the front end so "off-set" is a little unclear to me. Alignment is driven by the caliper & rotor. There should also be a thin, round 5-hole plate (p/n 41814-76) installed between the hub & rotor.

The ’78-1/2 to ’84 H-D Service manual instructs cast wheel installation as follows:

1981 & later:
1) Place wheel between forks legs with brake disc centered between brake pads.
2) Apply Loctite Anti-Seize to axle shaft. Insert axle through right fork leg, speedometer drive, hubcap, wheel, spacer and left fork leg.
3) Install the flat washer, lockwasher and axle nut. Tighten the axle nut to 45-50 ft-lbs torque.
4) Tighten the slider cap nuts to 11 ft-lbs torque.
5) Install axle caps.


FYI - For laced wheels, the same manual states that the hub is centered sideways with the rim to 1/32” measured on both sides of the rim.

[kg993]

Is it possible that the speedo dr. is intended to be on the left side on the new legs you have and different spacers to match the lower legs? And of course a left side dr. unit also. May not be an exact 82 replacement fork set.

[kg993]

Thing is if you center it the disc won't line up with the caliper. Looks like you should have fender clearance issues, would like to know how it lines with the fender too.

[MJW]

Did you try flipping the wheel the other way? Perhaps the offset is different on each side...

[duffeycycles]

The bearing depth can be different if you flip these wheels around and can cause serious damage!!!!!!!!!!!
front wheels generally have the valve stem on the right for easy checking and filling when on the kickstand

[swolf]

These are a lot of great comments. I appreciate all the tips, especially the procedure for re-installing the rim.

Sorry for not being clear in my original post. By "offset", I meant to say that the rim is not equally spaced between the forks, it is closer to the right fork than the left fork. The clearance between the outside of the rim lip and the forks on the left side is 2 inches while the clearance between the rim lip and the forks on the right side is 1 5/8" (see pictures. The brake rotor lines up very well with the caliper and the speedo unit is correctly on the right side.

Conventional wisdom would tell me that the rim ought to be centered between the forks. Maybe I'm chasing a non-problem and the moco engineered the centerline of the rim to be 3/8 off from the centerline of the forks.

Here's a couple pictures. One shows the overall layout with the rim between the two fork legs.

The other two are the ones I measured from the rim lip to the fork tube on the left, then the right.

The rim is put on correctly, the valve stem on this model is on the left (brake) side.

I think I have to track down someone who has the same model/year and ask them to measure their clearance.

[Sidehacker]

Did this model com stock with mag wheels. I know on a couple of my bikes thru the years when you lace the front rim to the hub it's not centred with the hub but off to one side or the other as per instructions for that model and that year. If they had mags for those models it stands to reason that they would be offset also . So maybe you have the wrong mag for that model.
One more thing it sound like you don't have a factory manual. If that's the case you should never do work on your own . If I'm wrong I'm sorry but the seventy- five dollars you spend on a manual will be the smartest money you will ever spend if you plan on doing your own work. Not having reading instructions might be manly when it comes to putting together funature but not so good on a Harley . Lol Good Luck

[swolf]

Sidehacker: Yes, the bike came stock with the mags. I am the original owner and these are the original wheels. I've been using the HD Service Manual on all the work that I do (at least the work that is covered in the manual). I don't think it's a $75 manual that you reference, so if there are some kind of Factory or Dealer service manuals that are more extensive than this one, I would be very interested in obtaining one.

What would solve all this offset business is if someone out there had an 82 FLH and they measured the distance between the rim and the forks on both sides.

[swolf]

I might have the mystery solved! I dug through the service manual and for FL's it said there in a 3/16th offest on the front wheel to the right. That made me feel a little better that the moco deliberately designed the front wheel to be offset from the centerline. (Mine is actually offset by 3/8, but not much I can do about it). When I went to have the tire mounted on the rim I asked the service guys if they ever heard of the offset. One of the young guys said he went to the Harley maintenance course and said he heard about it during the course. He said the wheel is offset to the right to compensate for the pull of the single brake caliper which is on the left side of the forks (the "banana" caliper). What would that guy Ripley say? "Believe it or not".

[MJW]

Was the hub cap in place when you did the measurements? If not that would add a bit more space on the right side...

[36 knuck man]

Swolf, I purchased a new 1982 FLHC, kept it till 1991 and put over 90000 miles on it. It also had the offset to the right on the front wheel, thanks, Larry