Hi Guys, Changed all my oils trans and chaincase for the beginning of the season now I have to put new rear tires on the bikes my issue is on my 02 Road King I had a new tire put on about 2 or 3 years back and everything seemed fine, the next day when I pulled the bike out of the garage I noticed a sound I didnt recall hearing ever before when backing out, after checking things out what I noticed was when the bike travels backward the drivebelt at the rear hits the sprocket at a slight angle and makes a small belt noise, I also noticed the clearance between where the tire and the belt meet is very small probaly between 1/16 to 1/8 of an inch, I looked at my wifes 06 Ultra and clearly saw a wider gap at the same point, I then put the bike on the lift and rotated the wheel forward by hand and then put it in first gear and let the wheel run, and going forward by my eye the belt seemed to travel absolutely true, a little confused I called the dealer and told them about the situation,they told me to bring the bike in and they would look at it, after they looked at it I was told the alignment on the bike was good and explained, if i could see the travel of the belt as it passes through the primary I would understand how the travel going backwards lets it run slightly off and everything was fine, also had to tell me you dont drive in reverse, like I dont know that, as for the tire clearance told me that was the size tire the book called for and it was fine, the size tire they put on was a dunlop part#433332-04 tire size mu85b1677h the same size as my wifes 06 ultra, this saturday I went to the dealer and bought 2 rear tires one for my 02 and one for my wifes 06 for the 02 Road King tire they gave me part#43114-91b, tire size mt90b16 and for the ultra they gave me a mu85b16 77h the size that it came from the factory with, when I look at these tires you can clearly see one is narrower than the other which obviously means I was lied to they must have put the wrong size on and didnt want to eat it, the dealer is about 50 miles from my house so this tire had 100 miles on it at this point, Im a calm and reasonable type person if a mistake was made but the size wouldnt have damaged or hurt anything I would not have insisted on another tire, but like most people I dont like being lied to, having lost the trust I had with this dealer Im not sure if the explanation of the belt not running true in reverse is legit, and if the wider tire size is ok to stay with is there any advantage to a wider tire on the road or should I put the factory size on. I have to bring the bikes in for the tire changes I thought I would hold off the appointment until I heard what the people on this forum thought as it would help to tell the dealer what I need done, as always thanks for any help it is always appreciated hope I explained this ok.
Tire and driveline issues.
- Thread starter Wayne R
- Start date
Yes. The MU85 is a 140, and the MT90 is a 130. That 10 mm is about .4". I wouldn't worry about it. I run 140s on my UC which calls for the MT90. Just make sure that you make up a pointer to measure the center of the axle on both sides of the bike to make sure you have the rear aligned (assuming you do not have the eccentric/lobed axle).
Wheel Alignment - Harley Davidson Community
TQ
Wheel Alignment - Harley Davidson Community
TQ
Chopper
Senior Member
They went to the bigger tire in 2004, they went to a narrow belt & pulley, debris deflecter and fender brackets to allow for the wider tire, personally I would run the stock tire because harley does not recommend retrofitting the tire. The belt moving inwards is normal when moving in reverse.
