Slim sportster chopper rear wheel choice

[atlanticave]

Hello everyone,

I'm building a 1989 sportster chopper. 21" on the front and 18" on the rear. I want to wear a 4.00-18 tire and I was thinking about choosing a 2.15"x18 rim. Is this going to work well together? What is the historically accurate width for a 18" rear wheel in a chopper?

Thank you so much

Ale

[JBinNC]

My opinion, the bike would be happier with a WM4, 2.5" rim.

Jim

[atlanticave]

Thank you so much!
It's pretty hard to find these weird size rims here in europe. I can only find italian rims with opposite spoke coupling. Is that a problem lacing the rim? My old harley rim has spokes holes coupled right-left-right-left but the italian ones are coupled like left-right-left-right

Thank you!

Alessandro

[TriNortchopz]

It's pretty hard to find these weird size rims here in europe...

maybe here, from Germany:

Rims

Drop center rims with an exact duplication of the OEM  spoke dimple pattern. Solid and careful workmanship.

https://www.wwag.com/cgi-bin/WebObjects/WebSite.woa/wa/DirectAction?page=%2156400

see more, including complete wheels here:

https://www.wwag.com/cgi-bin/WebObjects/WebSite.woa/wa/DirectAction?page=%2144618

[atlanticave]

maybe here, from Germany:

Rims

Drop center rims with an exact duplication of the OEM  spoke dimple pattern. Solid and careful workmanship.

https://www.wwag.com/cgi-bin/WebObjects/WebSite.woa/wa/DirectAction?page=%2156400

see more, including complete wheels here:

https://www.wwag.com/cgi-bin/WebObje...?page=%2144618

Unfortunately 2.15x18 is out of stock

[JBinNC]

Thank you so much!
It's pretty hard to find these weird size rims here in europe. I can only find italian rims with opposite spoke coupling. Is that a problem lacing the rim? My old harley rim has spokes holes coupled right-left-right-left but the italian ones are coupled like left-right-left-right

Thank you!

Alessandro

A universal rim with the spoke holes down the centerline is what you want; you can lace it to pretty much any hub. By the way, many of the rims H-D used (uses?) are Italian.

Jim