Wheel compatibility confusion??

[1500Rider]

Looks like I have to buy new wheels for my '97 Tourer. Was looking into new wheels earlier when I discovered that the rear wheel was badly marred from the previous owner doing a DIY tire change. Even so, I decided to hold off a bit. Unfortunately, my hand has been forced. Just this week discovered I had a bad wheel bearing up front. When I pulled the bearings I discovered the bottom cup where they sit was badly damaged and cracked on one side and three-quarters missing on the other! Thinking the previous owner went to town on this wheel doing a bearing change at one point.

In any case, the bike is unridable until at least the front wheel is replaced. I've been searching through the forums about this issue and have found lots of material, unfortunately, some of it is contradictory. From what I'm reading, I can use any year wheels on the '97, taking into account the different bearing size up front. Some post suggest that as long as I use the '97 rotors and brake callipers on the newer style wheels, they should fit. Others suggest that the wheels will only fit if I buy the matching rotor and calliper for that year wheel.

Not sure which is correct. Thinking of ordering some chrome wheels from Chrome Pros but they don't currently have any listed for the Valkyrie on their web site. If they have a set, will probably get a '98 or '99 set so I know they will fit. If I have to order from HDL, will probably go to a newer year in order to take advantage of the larger bearing up front. Thought of ordering the latest available, 2003, that are polished and coated but don't want to do so if I have to buy new rotors and calipers to make them fit.

Any clarification on the issue would be most welcome.

[Chrisj CMA]

OK, heres the simple rule.  Any Valkyrie wheel will fit any Valkyrie front 100% compatibility.  Rear all will fit any bike as long as it has ITS OWN YEAR rotor attached.  You cannot use a newer wheel on an older bike without having the newer rotor as well.....(unless you want to shim things to fit) I would stick to using the correct rotor.

[indybobm]

As for the rear wheel - there are basically two models. The early wheels have a 1J cast on the left side in the area behind the brake rotor. The later wheels have 2J cast in that area. For the '2J' wheels, in the later years Honda polished and clear coated some. They are still '2J' wheels.

1J wheels take the early brake rotor, 2J wheels (whether polished or not) take the later brake rotor.

In both cases, the rear brake caliper and caliper mount is the same as far as fitment is concerned. There are differences in the rear brake caliper between the IS and Std/Tourer, but they will still bolt up and work without any problem as long as you have the correct rear rotor for the rear wheel that you are using (1J or 2J).

[1500Rider]

Thanks for clearing that up guys. Greatly appreciated. I had some tell me to make sure the rotor year match the bike year, regardless of the wheel. Looks like it's the other way around, rotor year and wheel year must match which makes more sense to me as the bike itself was essentially unchanged.

Looking at buying a set of chrome wheels. Just waiting to hear back from the company as to what years they have in stock. Trying for a set of '99 wheels to that everything matches and I can use the larger bearings on the front wheel.

Thanks again.

[dago mooserider]

+1 ! I just bought a used 03 wheel for my 98 and was wondering the same thing.... search was not my friend... 

[1500Rider]

Ordered a brand new set of '99 wheels from Chrome Pros today. Just a matter of swapping over the rotors and tires and I'm good to go. Bearings, spacers and dust seals come installed. Figured while I was at it I might as well put in some new, better quality valve stems too. Ordered a set of Patch Boy stems after reading that others were having good success with them.