Today we’re hanging out at Lucky Devil Metalworks in Houston, Texas where the Devil, Kent Weeks, is chopping a stock Harley-Davidson Dyna. To add the necessary heft to the rear of this custom, the D is using Big Boar Products’ new Dyna 240mm Fat Tire Kit. This is a great kit for the professional installer because Big Boar provides all the mechanical pieces including the swing arm and an offset kit for the transmission.
We’ll follow Kent as he installs the major components and does a mock up fitting with the rear wheel assembly. Since he’s working over the entire bike it’ll be a few days before he finalizes the project. So, we’ll return in the future to capture the last installation details and the completed wide tire look.
About Big Boar Products
In business since 1992, Big Boar Products manufactures custom, premium quality aftermarket parts for Harley-Davidson® motorcycles. Every product that they make is fully tested to insure quality and endurance. Big Boar provides high power batteries, performance engines, stout wide tire swing arms and kits, and solid or spoke wheels. They also offer custom fabrication services stating that they can put a fat tire on any Harley!
The Big Boar kit allows you to convert your stock Dyna to a Super Fat 240MM tire! Included is a swingarm, offset kit, and strutless rear fender (not pictured). A fair degree of mechanical skill is required to install this kit, particularly the disassembly and re-assembly of the transmission to install the offset kit. If you’re not comfortable doing that or have any doubts, then it’s best to leave it to a professional like the Devil. Of course, with the Devil, he knocks stuff apart so fast; it’s hard to stop him for photographs. And he doesn’t even read the instructions. Guess, RTFM doesn’t apply to some. While the rest of us mere mortals should , of course, follow the instructions.
Skip forward through all the boring removal stuff. Don’t you wish you could do that for real? Well too bad you can’t. To get to this point, Kent put the bike up on a lift; disconnected the battery; removed the seat, exhaust, shocks, starter, and fender; and disconnected the taillight and turn signals. Basically – stripped the rear off the bike.
Now the fun stuff, the Devil gets to play with his favorite tool. No it’s not what you think – it’s his sawsall.
Hacking metal off your favorite ride is not for the faint of heart, but the D seems to relish it. Here he cuts off the fender strut just behind the shock absorber mounting. As we’ll see later, the new Big Boar fender doesn’t use these struts.
With the ass end wiped clean Kent now has complete access to the transmission to begin installation of the offset kit.
Having already removed the inner and outer primary case, Kent now uses JIMS Pulley Tool #94660-37A to remove the transmission sprocket. He’s slipping on the inner collar which is important to protect the shaft and to hold the nut wrench straight.
With the JIMS nut wrench and an air powered torque wrench, Kent backs off the transmission sprocket nut. At this point, every tech article is required to caution the reader that the sprocket nut has a left hand thread.
Next Kent will dissemble the transmission.
The Big Boar Offset Kit (top) includes an extended mainshaft, main driver gear, and sprocket spacer. The quality and machining of these parts is outstanding.
Here is the extended mainshaft with the mainshaft gears reinstalled.
Kent now uses JIMS Tool #35316-80 to install the main drive bearing. This plate holds the long bolt in place and provides support to press the bearing into the case. This tool is essential for installing the main drive bearing and gear without removing the transmission from the bike.
To press the main drive gear into the bearing, Kent first installs the JIMS tool gear plate inside the case.
Then he uses the installer cup and thrust bearing to press the gear into the bearing.
Kent slips the reassembled transmission gears and shafts into the case.
He torques the mainshaft and countershaft retaining nuts to spec, about 30 ft-lbs. Next Kent reassembled the rest of the transmission including the side cover, shifter forks, shifter cam, and top cover. He noted that no gaskets were provided for the top cover and oil fill sprout. You might want to have some on hand if they old ones are damaged.
Finally, here’s the hefty Big Boar swing arm in place. There’s no doubt this part is stout, especially when compared to the stock swing arm. Big Boar also includes a mounting block on the arm for the stock right side brake. However, for this custom, Kent plans on using a left side brake so he’ll likely remove that block and make other adjustments to accommodate the rear pulley and brake disk combination.
What Big Boar doesn’t include in their kit are new bearings and bushings for the swing arm pivot axle. Since it’s hard to remove the old ones from the stock part without damage, Kent recommends getting a new set before installing the wide tire arm.
Here’s a loose fitting of the pulley, wheel, and tire combination that Kent wants to use on this build. Starting to look awesome.
Kent prepares to test fit the Big Boar strutless (no fender rails) fender. It mounts with expansion bolts into the two vertical frame posts. The insides of the posts were galled from Harley’s manufacture process. Guess the motor company never expected anyone to put something down those. Kent reams them out with a deburring tool and an air grinder.
Here’s the complete assembly from the right side.
The complete assembly from the left side. Big Boar’s Wide Tire Kit easily transforms a stock Dyna into a meaty beast.
Kent now has to work out the rest of the particulars to finish this project. As they say, the devils in the details. We’ll cover those in another article.
— Ronnie
