Ride Wright 21-Inch And 18-Inch Wheels - The Lonely King, Part: Six

Here's a look at the new 21- and 18-inch wheels from Ride Wright wrapped in Avon's best rubber.

Here's a look at the new 21- and 18-inch wheels from Ride Wright wrapped in Avon's best ru

Last month, we fitted our project 1997 Road King, dubbed the Lonely King, with some blackout parts from Harley-Davidson, FBI and Performance Machine, and now we turn our attention to the rolling stock.

Let's just face it: The stock wheels were ugly, and we wanted something a little more up-to-date to roll around on. After deciding that we wanted to go with the fat-spoke look, we gave Ride Wright Wheels a call to discuss just what we wanted and which sizes were best for our application. We decided on a 21x3-inch wheel up front and an 18x4 in the back. We then opted for diamond-cut spokes in bronze powdercoat with chrome nipples and black rims. In the rubber department, we went with 120/70-21 front and 140/70-18 rear Avon tires.

After seeing just how nice the wheels looked, we knew that the stock calipers and rotors were never going back on the bike. After looking at what was out there, we opted for some black anodized four-piston calipers from Hawg Halters mated to some Lyndall Racing composite rotors. We can tell you that the stopping power of this combination is exponentially better than the stock configuration offered by Harley-Davidson back in 1997. With the rotors and calipers looking so good on one end of the brake lines, we couldn't put the stock hand controls back on the bike. Yet another phone call was made, and a set of Hawg Halters three-button switches and brake/clutch levers in black were fitted to the bar. The installation of the Hawg Halters hand controls was a breeze due to the included model-specific wiring harness and schematics. Plumbing the brakes was also a slam dunk due to the Goodridge brake line kit, which we ordered 4 inches longer than stock due to the apehangers we installed last month.

Doing a wheel and brake swap is not that complicated of acts; we just took our time, did the job right, and thank God we had our Pitbull lift to get both wheels off of the ground and speed up the process. The outcome drastically changed the look of the bike. If you are bored of the way your bike looks, you may just want to swap the wheels. It could probably take that itch to buy a new bike right away.

Make sure you all stay tuned next month for the continued saga of the Lonely King, because we are gong to be squirting paint on some brand-spankin'-new sheetmetal. B