Brake help with 41mm narrow glide

[Timcast98]

Hello all. Im new to the fourm and was looking for a little help with running brakes on a 41mm narrow glide set up. My bike is a 98 FLST. I have a set of 39mm trees machined to 41mm with 6 over legs and a moto iron 21" front rim and sportster axle. Most if this build has been pretty straight froward with the exception of the brakes. It seems theres not enough clearence between the caliper mounts on the slider and the the rim to mount the caliper. Im sure im not the first to run into this problem but yet i havent found much on the web dealing with brakes. Plenty on the topic of 41mm narrow glides though. Does anyone have any experience with this? Any help or thoughts on the matter is greatly appreciated!

[Tattooo]

Nice looking bike.....

Your going to post better pics than the ones above.... Need better close ups.....

[Timcast98]

Thanks! Yeah, unfortunately those are the best pics i have right now. I'll be over there tomorrow working on it so ill get some better pics posted then.

[TriNortchopz]

It seems theres not enough clearence between the caliper mounts on the slider and the the rim to mount the caliper.

A few possible solutions in this 2016 Thread: 41mm wide glide to narrow HELP!

Sky:
"...A note on brake caliper to spoke fitment. Shaving the back of the caliper sometimes works. Also going to a larger disk (requiring a caliper relocation bracket) can give you more room. Shims under the disk, under the caliper and judicious clearancing have all been employed to make thing fit.
I've set up a few narrowed front ends. Even been able to use wheels from Japanese bikes."

SyndicateChoppers:
"stock 39mm trees bored to 41mm to fit the 41mm tubes have plenty of room to fit most style single disc or dual disc setups with an oem narrowglide hub for a spoked wheel or a mag wheel.
Ive done about 4 front ends like this in the last few years, never had an issue fitting up a front brake,
the thing is you have to cut the stock brake mounts off the lower legs, and make new ones and weld em back on so they space the caliper far enough out to not have clearance issues with the wheel."

http://www.chopcult.com/forum/showthread.php?t=48463

[Timcast98]

Thanks for this! I did actually run across this thread when i was searching around. I was hoping there would be a simpler solution like a bracket or something. Its looking like the best bet is gonna be cutting the old mounts off and having new ones welded on. Might as well do it right the first time seeing as i have all winter. Heres some better pics of the clearance incase anyone has any other suggestions. I'll be sure to update this thread with more pics as i go.

[Tattooo]

^^^^^ Damn that is close..^^^^^^ It looks your going to start all over.... Cut the mounts off and make new ones....

[shovel625]

Hello all. Im new to the fourm and was looking for a little help with running brakes on a 41mm narrow glide set up. My bike is a 98 FLST. I have a set of 39mm trees machined to 41mm with 6 over legs and a moto iron 21" front rim and sportster axle. Most if this build has been pretty straight froward with the exception of the brakes. It seems theres not enough clearence between the caliper mounts on the slider and the the rim to mount the caliper. Im sure im not the first to run into this problem but yet i havent found much on the web dealing with brakes. Plenty on the topic of 41mm narrow glides though. Does anyone have any experience with this? Any help or thoughts on the matter is greatly appreciated!

mini drum front hub laced to the wheel you have now, itll be mechanical but they work well if setup right

[TriNortchopz]

Thinkin' you could setup a brake like on a springer...using a flat steel plate (thinner than aluminum)...caliper doesn't need to be connected directly to the fork leg, just needs to not move, that axle spacer could just be swapped out:

[Timcast98]

I actually stumbled on these brackets by Billet Proof. Pretty similar to a springer set up. They seem to be an option. It's only a 1/2" thick so it should fit no problem but I'd have to buy a new calipar. I guess it boils down to how much i really want to spend. Having a new bracket welded on will probably be cheaper in the long run, just more labor intensive.

[TriNortchopz]

You never mentioned what caliper ya got...any pics of that too? What diameter is your rotor? Maybe it's getting a bracket built for that (or finding one that's close and adapting it) if ya wanna keep it.

This guy may be able to make you a plate if you don't have stuff to do it:

http://www.fabkevin.com/shop/parts/brakes/

[Timcast98]

I dont have any pics of the caliper but its just the stock single piston one. Rotors also the stock size, I belive 11.5. Id like to retain the stock caliper just for cost reasons. Aftermarket jobs get a little pricey

[farmall]

You can use very basic hand tools to make caliper brackets and metal is cheap.

If you weld a bracket to a springer you compromise the plating. It's easier by far to play with some plate. Bikers have been using wood routers to mill aluminum since forever. Manual layout is plenty accurate and a hand drill gets the holes done. Larger decorative "lightening" holes can be done with a hole saw.

See your local metal supplier(s) or order metal online. You'll be surprised. Even relatively thick billet (thicker than you'd need) is quite reasonable.

(Ever wonder why you see tons of CNC machined aluminum parts nowadays? It's because once you own the machine CNC makes it dirt cheap to make smallish parts in bulk! G-code is free and billet is cheap.)

Aftermarket calipers today are mostly for looks. They are not, at all, sophisticated parts. Sportbike and other stock calipers from motorcycles with non-shit braking systems are often dirt cheap used and easy to chobbify cosmetically. The single piston HD caliper is a poor performer but fine if you don't care about stopping. (Traditional chobber builders tend to settle for crap but I won't do that on systems that keep me from dying.)

[Timcast98]

True. Ive definitely made my fair share of homemade brackets before. I was actually just looking yesterday at aluminum prices from an online metal supply company. Im thinking the cheapest and cleanest looking is gonna be to cut the old mounts off, make new mounts and have someone else weld them to the sliders. I cant imagine someone charging much to weld a small bracket. I also have to get some bungs welded into a gas tank so i could kill to birds with one stone.

[farmall]

Consult with your weldor in person and show him the parts you have before making anything so you are on the same page and your custom bracket is best suited to welding.

Sliders will need to be thoroughly cleaned and free of any coatings. Acetone is relatively safe (our bodies produce small amounts) and the standard precleaning chemical for TIG. No carbon steel wire brushes (stainless wire wheels work nicely) because contamination is not your friend.

Eyeballing final position isn't precise, so have a way to hold the bracket precisely in relation to your slider and control position during welding. Hot metal can exert considerable stress.

Not everything is as simple as it looks.

Not all aluminum alloys are weldable. Your weldor may have some suitable stock or scrap so I'd check before buying metal.

https://www.thefabricator.com/article/aluminumwelding/weldable-and-unweldable-aluminum-alloys

[Timcast98]

Great advice, thanks! I definitely clueless when it comes to aluminum, especially welding it. Its still an option but I'll really need to do some more research and find a reputable welder if I decide to be that route.

Another thought I had was getting sliders and a caliper off an 00-06 softail. They should fit my tubes cause theyre both 41mm. Cant imagine they changed much through the years. Pluse they're still 3/4" axle so my rim will still fit. The caliper mounts on my slider are all the way to the inside. On 00-06 sliders theyre more towards the middle leaving more room between the mount and the rotor. Weather its enough room to mount the caliper is a different story.

00-06 caliper and sliders