Tire to belt clearance

[retiredguy]

I put a 150/70-18 Metzeler ME880 tire on the rear of my 2000 Road Glide. I knew the tire was going to be close to the belt and it is. In fact it appears too close. A straight edge tells me I'm into the belt a good 1/8". The pulley I bought came with a 1/2" thick spacer for the pulley. My question is will the belt move 1/2" out on the trans pulley without a problem. A spacer only half as thick would of been perfect. Anyone run into this problem themselves?

 

[Hoople]

I don't know if your 2000 setup is the same as mine, but my trans pulley is very wide. But I would be concerned about one issue. After 10 years of use on the trans pulley, there may be a step worn into it from belt use. If you now run the belt on top of that step, it will be hard on the belt and the pulley will have a natural tendency to drive the belt off the step. There would have to be noticeable wear in the pulley for it to be a real problem.

I would inspect the front trans pulley real close.

 

[retiredguy]

Good point Hoople. I'll be sure to check that pulley. I did fine a spacer made by Pingel that is only .200" thick instead of the 1/2" one that came with the pulley. With that the tire will be very close but should clear by a fraction. This Pingel spacer says it's so you can run the 142 Dunlap tire without hitting. With the Metzeler being a 150 you can tell it will be tight.