Douginflorida

I was riding the back roads of NW Fla. with my good friend Mike who just bought a gleaming 2 tone red 2012 HD Ultra Classic, we stopped at a small country store for lunch. We were standing there admiring his bike and another HD when a nice white haired guy and his pretty wife pulled up in a Mercedes SL convertible and chatted us up. I commented on how I envied Mikes new Harley and the guy says to us as he looked at my 1998 Royal Star Tour Deluxe then the Harley's , as far as I'm concerned son, YOU have the best bike in the parking lot, I've owned them all he says and yours will out run and outlast all of them...I smiled and I thanked the man and agreed...The look on my friends (and his wife's) face was priceless...We had a great day riding and yes we still are friends and ride together often...

I think the 18" wheel and tire combo is about 3/4 of an inch shorter than the 16" due to the low profile 130/70/18 tire. No big change there. The floating rotor has attaching hardware that allow the rotor to "float" on the wheel hub to eliminate rotor chatter and vibration under braking. The Royal Stars rotors bolt solid to the wheel,thus no floating. Hope this helps. If you look at RSTDdog pics on his install,he shows the wheels and tires side by side.

Hey, RSTDdog,I need to say thanks to you and remmertb. Without your posts and pictures,I would not have known to do the wheel swap. Since doing mine I've put a few miles on and I really like the lighter handling the 18" wheel and tire gives. Plus it really does look better. I wish I could have found a polished Strat S wheel but I am happy with how mine came out! I like your floating rotors better,I'll be on the lookout for some. Thanks again guys!!!

Fav items so far for me are Butler seat mod,Kury handgrips,32 MM carb upgrade,Bub slip ons,18" front wheel n tire...Oh and the subscription to this site!!

Riding in Feb along the beach...

Have you determined that the battery is fully charged? No offense but maybe try a jump start. My kill switch malfuntioned once,(I had strong lights,battery was good)it made a light click when trying to start it...I toggled the heck out of it,switching on off many times,then it caught...Dirty contacts I thought on mine...It's been good ever since?? Good Luck

I needed new bearings because the wheel I bought had no bearings or bearing spacer in it. I cross referenced the bearing and bearing dust cover from both my 98 RSTD and the 05 Roadliner that my wheel came off of.Same part number.The rotors and rotor covers bolted up,no mods.Thanks,I love my Royal Star...

Everything bolted right up. My wheel was a slightly curbed wheel from eBay.I paid $120. with shipping for the wheel.I sanded and smoothed the scratches.I bought new,stock bearings,used my inner bearing spacer and a new Metzeler 130/70/18 tire.I had my local bike shop do the bearings and tire install after I redid the wheel. The part numbers were the same on the bearings for the 05 Roadliner wheel and my 98 RSTD wheel.Brake rotors bolted right up. I like the feel of the smaller tire,it handles very well.

I just put an 18" Roadliner wheel on my bike. I stripped the silver paint,painted the spokes charcoal metallic,then polished the rim edge to give it a good look.I also stripped and polished the lower fork legs. It helped lighten the front end in slow speed riding and feels good on the road...I really like the look...

I have a set of brackets I bought that are made of aluminum that will work,I bought them and didn't realize they do not fit a 1998 RSTD.I had to fab my own brackets...I have brackets only,you can get any harley exhaust clamp to fit. $20. including shipping sound fair????PM me if interested.I can take a pic and text or email it to you.. I used the same step clamp that Scott2007 sent an eBay link to..Worked perfect.

tazmocycle is right. I have a 1998 RSTD that needed headpipes due to rust.I bought a full set of 4 into 2 pipes from an 05 Venture that came with aftermarket Bub Mufflers. Everything fit just fine,I just had to fab a rear bracket to bolt to my saddlebag brackets. I had drilled out Road King muffs on before the Bubs and I must say the Bubs gave me the rumble I was after...I get lots of compliments on the sound.I measured the head pipes and the 05's have a slightly larger diameter which with my 32mm carb swap,it feels like a new bike!! Good luck

I just voted in my age...Yes I am part of the old guys rule demographic...Now at 53,every time I get on my "old" 98 RSTD I feel like the 19 year old kid I once was riding my 1976 HD Bicentennial 1200 Superglide!!Yes my 1st bike.Age is just a state of mind...

I took a chance and bought a complete used exhaust system from an 05 Venture.I had small leaking rust holes in the front headpipes on my 1998 RSTD.I used the front four headpipes and although the actual pipe size is about 1/8' larger,the head mounting flange appeared to be the same.They bolted right up and I used my RK muffs that were already there.There is a bracket on the Venture pipes down in the lower rear area under the passenger foot peg that I didn't have or use.It looks like I could fab a small metal bracket to make the mounting more sturdy but haven't yet.This is just an FYI in case someone else needs to upgrade thier older Royal Star and don't want to spend a fortune replacing pipes.

I just added 32mm carbs from an 05 to my 98 RSTD.I have RK Muffs cut out in the center of the baffle and I had some popping on decel even after synching the carbs.I changed the primary jets from stock 15 to 17.5,still popped.I read somewhere to remove the brass caps under the carb on the float bowl to expose the primary adjustment screws,which I did..It's a known fact that these and most bikes are jetted on the lean side to protect the engine.You'll need a long phillips,(8" to get to them).I,with the help of a friend with a good ear and some carb knowledge,adjusted the screws out about 1/4 turn.I rode it the popping lessened quite a bit.It seemed to be now only popping on the right side so when I got home,I adjusted right side carbs out a touch more.Now the popping is nearly gone.I'm no engineer or tech.I'm just a tinkerer that likes my junk to run to it's potential and then some.Anyone that knows better,please correct me if I am wrong but I don't believe the main jet size affects this condition.I thought main jets are basically for accelerating and wide open...Popping is on deceleration.With the trial and error tuning I've been doing,my bike has never run better. I'm close but not quite tuned perfectly...Yet...I'm going to resynch carbs Sunday just to be sure I'm still on the mark.I hope this helps cause good pipes just sound better!! Doug