Street Glide front wheel installed on a Vulcan 1600 (pics)

Vulcan Bill · 07-15-2013, 09:56 PM

Being one of those who likes the look of a larger wheel on the front I started looking around to see if there was a dual disc wheel off another bike that might be adapted to fit the Vulcan 1600. While visiting the local Harley dealer I noticed the 2010 (and up, current 2013) HD Street Glide has a nice looking 18 " dual disc 5 spoke mag. A little research turned up the fact that both the Vulcan and Street Glide wheel use the same size axle (25mm) and the same size brake rotor (300mm). As it turns out the wheel bearings are interchangable, same-o, same-o.
Hmmmm...very interesting. At this point it seemed everything was a go on this mod so I purchased a 2010 SG wheel on Ebay and started figuring out how to go about it. One month and not to many $ later the new wheel was installed. I have almost 3000 miles on it now and have had absolutely no problems.
The actual modifications required were minimal. .125 inch (1/8th) had to be machined off the lower leg (slider) brake caliper mounts (4 places) to move the calipers out to line up with the SG wheel rotors. Also, the OEM Vulcan wheel spacers had to be cut down to two different finished lengths of 1.205 inches (left) and 1.295 inches (right). The difference in length is due to the right SG wheel bearing being inset deeper in the wheel than the left bearing (for whatever reason).
That's it! It bolts right on. This mod does not significantly raise or lower the front. If you compare the 130/70-18 tire to the OEM 130/90-16 in a tire calculator you'll find the diameter of the new tire to be only .04 inches less.
So there you have it. You CAN have a custom wheel on the front of your Vulcan 1600. Now that these mods have been made, I can bolt on any aftermarket wheel made for the 2010 to 2013 Harley Street Glide. I already have my eye on a purty chrome one!
Vulcan Bill

ADDED 1/22/14
Thanks to member dshelly and his machinest skills for spotting the inset bearing and determining the correct spacer lengths.
ADDED 3/26/14
10,000 miles on this mod now and no issues of any kind. Still glad I did it.
UPDATE 3/29/16
Over 20K miles now, no issues. Harley Davidson has continued using the same size rotors, axle and wheel bearings up thru current 2016 so these wheels will fit too. In 2015 they went to a nice looking 19" wheel.

07-15-2013, 09:56 PM	#1
Vulcan Bill Sr. Member Join Date: Jul 2013 Location: Mesa Az Posts: 1,400	Street Glide front wheel installed on a Vulcan 1600 (pics) Being one of those who likes the look of a larger wheel on the front I started looking around to see if there was a dual disc wheel off another bike that might be adapted to fit the Vulcan 1600. While visiting the local Harley dealer I noticed the 2010 (and up, current 2013) HD Street Glide has a nice looking 18 " dual disc 5 spoke mag. A little research turned up the fact that both the Vulcan and Street Glide wheel use the same size axle (25mm) and the same size brake rotor (300mm). As it turns out the wheel bearings are interchangable, same-o, same-o. Hmmmm...very interesting. At this point it seemed everything was a go on this mod so I purchased a 2010 SG wheel on Ebay and started figuring out how to go about it. One month and not to many $ later the new wheel was installed. I have almost 3000 miles on it now and have had absolutely no problems. The actual modifications required were minimal. .125 inch (1/8th) had to be machined off the lower leg (slider) brake caliper mounts (4 places) to move the calipers out to line up with the SG wheel rotors. Also, the OEM Vulcan wheel spacers had to be cut down to two different finished lengths of 1.205 inches (left) and 1.295 inches (right). The difference in length is due to the right SG wheel bearing being inset deeper in the wheel than the left bearing (for whatever reason). That's it! It bolts right on. This mod does not significantly raise or lower the front. If you compare the 130/70-18 tire to the OEM 130/90-16 in a tire calculator you'll find the diameter of the new tire to be only .04 inches less. So there you have it. You CAN have a custom wheel on the front of your Vulcan 1600. Now that these mods have been made, I can bolt on any aftermarket wheel made for the 2010 to 2013 Harley Street Glide. I already have my eye on a purty chrome one! Vulcan Bill ADDED 1/22/14 Thanks to member dshelly and his machinest skills for spotting the inset bearing and determining the correct spacer lengths. ADDED 3/26/14 10,000 miles on this mod now and no issues of any kind. Still glad I did it. UPDATE 3/29/16 Over 20K miles now, no issues. Harley Davidson has continued using the same size rotors, axle and wheel bearings up thru current 2016 so these wheels will fit too. In 2015 they went to a nice looking 19" wheel. Login or Register to Remove Ads Last edited by Vulcan Bill; 03-27-2016 at 11:13 AM.
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