Front disk brakes

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slowsled
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Front disk brakes

#1

Post by slowsled »

Hi,

The forks for a 49-59 panhead, will they, does anyone make a disk
brake option for them? Which front disk can I adapt from a later
Harley?

Is there a place that restores these front forks? I assume
whatever I buy on ebay will not work without some fabrication to
restore them to usable condition.

Thanks,

Slowsled
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Re: Front disk brakes

#2

Post by panhead »

Here are some old threads on this subject:

disk brake on stock lowers

Disc brake on a Pan
slowsled
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Re: Front disk brakes

#3

Post by slowsled »

Excellent!
Thank you.
Andygears
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Re: Front disk brakes

#4

Post by Andygears »

Why not just get late lower legs and swap em on your tubes? Then you have a HD factory disc setup or any of the jillion aftermarket set ups. Easy to get pads, engineered well. The legs are cheap cause they're always gettin swapped out for chrome. Just my 2cents.
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Re: Front disk brakes

#5

Post by RUBONE »

Why not just get late lower legs and swap em on your tubes?
had been since '49, to Japanese made

Because they won't fit correctly. The entire leg assembly will though. The forks changed dramatically in construction in '77. Appearance is very similar but they went from being US made as they had been since '49 to Japanese made with all new internals and construction.
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Re: Front disk brakes

#6

Post by 58flh »

Its your choice--Remember early cone shovel flhs had disc & the whole front will swap over /just install Timken & its possible you may have done that.Just get the wheel & juicer /with the line.--I would prefer using the starhub/its another future entity I want.I been up to many sidewalks ,front lawns -You know the drill Im sure everyone has had the expierence.---Cheapest way is to get that front wheel & the handlebar master if your concerned about cash!-(Many are-myself included).But the spacer ,with the original starhub & a GMA master will cost more /because NEW PARTS.Unless you can find used in the your bike boneyard.---Respectfully---Richie
slowsled
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Re: Front disk brakes

#7

Post by slowsled »

Can you all confirm this rumor about the recent touring model
forks. Someone told me the 2002-2007 heritage glide forks will
fit the 55 triple trees. How about the 02-07 road king dual disk
forks?
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Re: Front disk brakes

#8

Post by Bigincher »

Somewhere along in there, the axle diameter changed, too. So whatever you do, you'll want to pay attention to that.
A good friend of mine just bought a complete front end from an early-2000s Fatboy- probably the same as a Heritage. By 'complete', I mean it had both trees, the fork tins, cowbells- everything except the headlight and axle. It's in primo condition- like brand new. The seller was asking $500, but he got it for a lot less. (Swap meet deal.)
The later model trees are 1/4" narrower, but that would be hard to notice.
Before we left the swap meet, he also found the right wheel, complete with bearings and seals for... $20. Found a second one, too. Just in case. Also $20.

Just telling you this because you might be able to score a complete front end at a good price.
To answer your question, however, I think the tubes are both 39mm. But I'm not sure, so I'll let someone else answer that.

Forgot to mention, my friend is putting this front end on his recently-acquired '51 and he wants disk brakes. The bike came with an un-usable front end, about a mile over stock length. The neck on the frame is raked and stretched, really crazy even for a chopper. But we will restore it to stock and no-one will ever know.
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Re: Front disk brakes

#9

Post by Robert Luland »

Here's a picture of a Performance Machine set up I put on this bike thirty years ago. Dual 10" cast iron disks. You can make this bike stand on end if you wanted to. That set up probably saved my life a couple of times.
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