Friday, July 13, 2012

Not Finished Yet, But Much Closer!





Well I had the tire mounted today, and I have to say, I’m very pleased with the looks of it. Though both tires are the same size, the thinner wheel makes a difference. The tire/wheel combo on the XS1100 wheel stands about an inch taller than the tire/wheel combo on the VStar. I didn’t get a chance to pick up any extra spacers or washers today, but will most likely do so first thing tomorrow. I did however “test fit” the wheel using the current spacers. The brake caliper will need to be shimmed over a tad to prevent having the wheel drastically off set. Otherwise, everything seems to be coming together as expected. I know you are probably wondering why I didn’t paint the wheel before I had the tire installed. The wife has already asked me this earlier, so I guess I should explain my somewhat backward logic once again. My premise is this, if I spend time getting the paint perfect, and then have it scratched while the tire is being installed, I would be none to happy. However, if I simply wait, as I have done, and likewise get the wheel and spacers all in check, then run a quick ring of 2” masking tape around the tire, I can go to work with the paint, no worries. Thus, I do not have my nice new paint all scratched up before I even get finished with the install. Anyway, that’s my story and I’m sticking to it. There is one more point I figure I should mention. As I was looking at the spacing earlier, I was reminded that I have swapped for wider triple trees. I imagine if my VStar still had the stock width triple trees in place, this may have been a little closer to a simple bolt on and go project. I will add however that some extra spacers will be needed either way. So, if you embark on this project yourself, keep in mind the spacing will be different for a stock VStar than for what I’m discussing here. Alrighty, that’s all the news I have to share for now. With the weekend upon us, hopefully I will get this completed soon. Until my next update, ride safe….

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