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23inch front wheel

23inch front wheel

Leary360
5 years ago

Hi all,
Looking to change the front wheel on my 2003 night train back to a chrome spoke wheel (currently black), considering going a 23inch instead of 21!

Been doing some reading on rake and trail, but still not sure I fully inderstand this, I was hoping lowering the front would bring things back into line, however it seems I’ve misunderstood what’s actually happening!

Can someone point me in the right direction as to what I’ll need to bring things back to where they need to be, looking to have as close to factory handling as possible, will a set of raked Tripple trees get me back in spec and what degree, or will I need to extend forks or both???

I’m changing fork lowers while I’m doing this, so I’d like to get as much info and make the right decision and part selection prior to starting!

Thanks Again

Ratbob
5 years ago

Hi Leary, there’s plenty of rake/trail calculators on the net, but my non technical thinking is, Going to a 23 inch wheel only adds 1 inch to your ride height so no need to re-engineer the rake/trail. Some guys on the Forum have added Wideglide fork tubes to their Dynas and Twin Cam Softails which is 2 inches over on some and reported better handling.
You didn’t mention what aspect/width tyre you’d be running and this factor to me is a biggy. While the stock width is 90 like the Wideglide, they can be skittish when pushed hard through corners, but that’s the stock handling on the Night Train too. Going 130 (like the Breakout) will add to the 23 inch wheels gyroscopic affect and make it less friendly through s bends etc as it’ll wanna sit up more. This will be worse if you’re thinking of using fat spokes.
On the other hand, if you’re more into cruising than floggin through the hills, I reckon the gyroscopic affect won’t be a big issue.
Will a 23 inch fit inside the front guard?

Birtyyy
5 years ago

I can't imagine adding rake and extended forks will get you any closer to standard handling. Like Ratbob said, it's only adding 1 inch to the front end (give or take depending on tyre profile) So even if you lowered the front end by 1" you'd be back to the same ride height.
Also, if you do the swap and want to sell your black 21" wheel let me know... I'm basically wanting to do the same swap as you but go from a 19" to a 21"

tussuck
5 years ago

23" is way too small. Go 26" or even 30"!

Ratbob
5 years ago

Quoting tussuck on 16 Jan 2019 11:25 PM
23" is way too small. Go 26" or even 30"!

Good idea mate, it’ll make the bike look like one of those kiddie pedal chopper things or maybe go the whole hog. :)

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