Changing from a 25mm front axle to 3/4 front axle

[Ralph Gordon]

I am building a 91 sportster project bike , I have installed a front end from a 2009 FXD super glide. the problem is the superglide front axle is 25MM and the wheels I had planned to use are 3/4" bearings. I tried to swap the bearings but the 25mm bearings will not fit into my wheel. I know that there are lots of bushing kits available to use a 25mm or 1" wheel on a 3/4" axle but have not found any way to make a 3/4" axle work with a 25mm front end. I tried to order a 3/4" axle and thought about using bushings between the axle and the lowers but have been unable to find the proper length axle, I also thought about having the 25mm axle turned down to 3/4" at the local machine shop but they would not touch it . I know I could just change to a wheel with a 25mm bearing not only would I have the expense of another new wheel but I would loose the ability of having the speedometer on the front wheel.

Has anyone ever experienced this or does anyone have any suggestions ,

Thanks in advance

 

[fin_676]

Just a thought to use a 3/4" axle you would need bushings at both end where it goes through the fork leg and spacers of the correct size to position the wheel correctly you may also need spacers for brake caliper to get it to fit on the rotor I would have thought that the front axle from an evolution softail custom or dyna wide glide may be long enough as both have wide glide front ends and used a 3/4" front axle
However a new front wheel and a long speedo cable and run the speed cable from the rear wheel as there are kits in the aftermarket to do that

Brian

 

[dolt]

Have installed several later wheels on early TCs but not on Sportster. What dimension on the 25mm wheel bearings is preventing installation in the wheels? OD or width? What wheels are you planning to install? It would seem to me that if the front end/forks are from a 2009 model, the right approach will be to find a way to install the 25mm wheel bearings since the forks are designed to work with a 25mm front axle. Machining or replacing the wheel hub might be required and I am pretty sure, you will need to machine the outer spacers to center the brake rotor in the caliper. There is more than one way to make the conversion and the challenge is which is the most cost effective and safest...............

 

[Ralph Gordon]

the od of the 25mm bearings will not fit in the sportster wheels that had 3/4" bearings, I know that the right way to do this would be to order a new wheel with a 25 mm bearing but that just cant happen right now. I have a brand new set of 80 spoke sportster wheels that i will be installing I was thinking about taking the 25MM axle to get turned down to 3/4 " but the local guy said the steel was too hard and he could not do it so I think I will call a few other machine shops. at this point I am thinking about using a 3/4" grade 8 bolt with bushings on the forks as I am just plain out if ideas. I know that I will have to use a rotor spacer to get the proper clearance.

 

[dbmg]

the od of the 25mm bearings will not fit in the sportster wheels that had 3/4" bearings, I know that the right way to do this would be to order a new wheel with a 25 mm bearing but that just cant happen right now. I have a brand new set of 80 spoke sportster wheels that i will be installing I was thinking about taking the 25MM axle to get turned down to 3/4 " but the local guy said the steel was too hard and he could not do it so I think I will call a few other machine shops. at this point I am thinking about using a 3/4" grade 8 bolt with bushings on the forks as I am just plain out if ideas. I know that I will have to use a rotor spacer to get the proper clearance.

Just a thought from a safety concern. What if the bushings fail and the axle becomes loose in the forks while riding???????

 

[Hades02]

On one of my bikes I had the rear axle milled down to 3/4 from 1 inch for a special brake system that I wanted to use that was only available with a brake bracket in 3/4 inch at the time. I had to add bushings at the ends that were in contact with the swing arm. That was back in 2005. Have ridden many miles over the last 12 years and have never had a bushing fail. Have never even replaced them. Still using the original bushings milled out of aluminum. Hope this helps.