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Ironhead hardtail rear wheel/brake issues

3K views 3 replies 4 participants last post by  Paulie_bacon_fingers 
#1 · (Edited)
Hey all,
I'm currently building a 70 XLCH chopper, I imported the bike into Australia from the US in parts. I bought it already as a hardtail, it's an earlier short frame with an unknown weld on hardtail.

I'm trying to get the rear wheel set up and brake working correctly, chain aligned before i tear down for paint to make sure everything is hunky dory. Encountering a few issues. My rear axle setup goes like this, Axle slots through left side axle plate, then through axle adjustment collar, through the left side spacer, through the hub/drum, then through the backing plate on the right side, then through the right side axle adjuster collar through right axle plate, then through a top-hat washer with 2 flats to locate in the axle slot and finally the nut. As far as i can tell this is a standard setup on any of these hardtails, it's a tight fit getting it all in but fits ok when its snugged down.

The brake stay/pivot point has a top hat spacer, the flat side sits flush up against the backing plate and the smaller diameter slots into the slot for the brake stay on the frame. My understanding is that a bolt is supposed to slip through the top hat spacer and into the thread for the brake stay pivot holding it tight in place. This particular frame has a step in the brake stay on the frame that doesn't allow enough clearance to tighten the pivot bolt up. I'm not sure if this bolt is supposed to be tightened down against the frame or if its free to move back and forth in the slot for chain adjustment. If i install the pivot bolt through the spacer and tighten it down against the backing plate before putting the backing plate in the frame the flats in the bolt will sit nicely in the slot in the frame but i'm not sure if it should actually be anchored to the frame or not. I am aware that there was 2 styles of pivot on these sporties, one where you needed to loosen the pivot bolt to adjust chain and the other was free to move. Not sure what i'm missing from my setup but something is off. Also, the top hat spacer for the pivot seems to cock the backing plate causing an uneven gap at the opposing end of the plate. I decided to reduce the thickness of the spacer a little so that the backing plate could sit straight but seems like there must be some other issue at hand if that was required.

Long winded explanation but to sum it up, i'm wondering if anyone knows what setup i should have for this pivot bolt in this frame, and maybe what could be causing the backing plate to sit unevenly in the drum. Also if it sounds like I am missing anything from my axle setup.

A few pictures might help explain.

Cheers

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#2 ·
OK, I don't know anything about Sportsters but as a general rule most if not all Hardtail manufacturers made their tales resemble a stock bike at the axle location. So all stock parts should fit. If they don't maybe somebody modified something. You need to get a Sportster parts manual for your bike. It will show you all the parts involved. Now the backing plate stay looks to me as being designed that the hex gets tighened against the plate indexed so that it can slide back and forth inside the slot. It should not be tightened against the frame and backing plate. The reason why I think so is that that hex is a special part. Not a regular bolt. I'm pretty shure it is meant to slide inside the flame. A stock Big Twin rigid also only has a tab inside a slider section in the frame. Nothing bolted down on a rigid frame and backing plate.
 
#4 ·
It would appear to me that you need a spacer to run inside of that slot between the bolt head and the threaded hole on the brake drum. Im not exactly familiar with the factory setup on those ironhead rear drums, but if I were to fix this issue myself I would machine something to resemble a "top hat" with a diameter that slid into the slot on the axle plate and had a slightly raised flange that sits on the outside of the axel plate where the bolt head tightens on to.

Someone might correct me with a more factory style setup, but I don't see any reason that would not work. It appears to me that something is missing.
 
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