SJC69
Club Member
The M8 Softail Heritage & Deluxe share a lot of parts, the main difference regards rear tyre fitment is the Heritage has a longer shock and comes fitted with a150/80 rear tyre as opposed to the Deluxe MU85 (140) rear.
When you look at this it makes sense as they are both fitted with H-D branded Dunlop's D402, however there is no D402 made as a White Wall in the 150 size, so to have the correct Load Rated White Wall you have to use the largest size available, the MU/85.
Do not be caught out thinking that the Dunlop White Wall in the 150/80 16 size, the D401 is fine, this does not have the Load Rating for the Softail and is for Sportsters & Japanese Customs!
So the D402 WWW is a fairly chunky tyre with a true tread width of 140mm, but however with the actual white wall part protruding further 3mm each side, so a maximum width of 146mm, no clearance issues here.
So now to the question of clearance on the tyre on the Deluxe and could also be the Heritage too.
I fitted a new rear tyre over last winter, so 2022/23, an Avon Cobra Chrome as that was basically at the time the only pair of White Walls I could find, so MU is around a 140, so fitted an Avon 140/90 16 fine, however, it is a bit skinnier in width than the stock Dunlop MU85, and looks so!
Now done around 6,000 miles, still a good bit of wear left in them.
The Avon Cobra Chrome 140/90 is actually considerably narrower than the Dunlop MU85, tread area actually not so much, Avon also say you can also use a 150/80 16!
(Sorry but I could only find the German Version, but you get the idea as the Germans actually specify the only size tyres you can legally fit to each model!)
So my wife's tires needed replacing on her identical M8 Deluxe, we order an Avon Cobra Chrome 150/80 16, for the rear, a recommended fitment and find it is actually much wider than the 140 or the MU85 and gave minimal clearance on the left side to the fender, remember it will expand to some extent when hot!
So, recap maximum actual tyre width from a side clearance point of view:-
Dunlop 402 MU85 146mm
Avon Cobra Chrome 140/90 140mm
Avon Cobra Chrome 150/80 168mm
Cont-Tour 150/80 156mm
I also have a Softail Slim with the current Cont-Tour on in a 150/80 16, with a max width of 156mm which is more like you would expect the Avon 150 to be rather than and extra 28mm over the Avon 140!
Now all the Softails we have ever had have always had more tyre to rear mudguard/fender clearance on the right than the left, that's just how it is.
To use the Avon 150 I have had to basically shim out the left fender rail, I used engineering shim washers to get a good working clearance on the left side of the mudguard basically to get another 1/8" / 3mm.
I am looking to make up a proper shim plate to fit under the strut.
This clearance issue is something to consider if you have a Deluxe and quite possible the M8 Heritage too and want to fit the Avon Cobra Chrome 150!
That said we have always had clearance issues on the left with the H-D saddle bags from new and the wheel sits nowhere near the center of the rear mudguard, far more noticeable when you have a center line down the middle of a tyre, so this does help that too!
Not a great picture from yesterday but you can see the difference quite clearly with the 150 on the left and the 140 on the right!
I think the bike actually feels better to ride with the wider rear tyre, than the 140 but not such a good comparison when comparing new to not so new tyres!
I would be interested if anyone has the Metzeler 888 or Cruiser Tec in a 150/80 16 as to what their actual width is when fitted on a 3.00 H-D rim
When you look at this it makes sense as they are both fitted with H-D branded Dunlop's D402, however there is no D402 made as a White Wall in the 150 size, so to have the correct Load Rated White Wall you have to use the largest size available, the MU/85.
Do not be caught out thinking that the Dunlop White Wall in the 150/80 16 size, the D401 is fine, this does not have the Load Rating for the Softail and is for Sportsters & Japanese Customs!
So the D402 WWW is a fairly chunky tyre with a true tread width of 140mm, but however with the actual white wall part protruding further 3mm each side, so a maximum width of 146mm, no clearance issues here.
So now to the question of clearance on the tyre on the Deluxe and could also be the Heritage too.
I fitted a new rear tyre over last winter, so 2022/23, an Avon Cobra Chrome as that was basically at the time the only pair of White Walls I could find, so MU is around a 140, so fitted an Avon 140/90 16 fine, however, it is a bit skinnier in width than the stock Dunlop MU85, and looks so!
Now done around 6,000 miles, still a good bit of wear left in them.
The Avon Cobra Chrome 140/90 is actually considerably narrower than the Dunlop MU85, tread area actually not so much, Avon also say you can also use a 150/80 16!
(Sorry but I could only find the German Version, but you get the idea as the Germans actually specify the only size tyres you can legally fit to each model!)
So my wife's tires needed replacing on her identical M8 Deluxe, we order an Avon Cobra Chrome 150/80 16, for the rear, a recommended fitment and find it is actually much wider than the 140 or the MU85 and gave minimal clearance on the left side to the fender, remember it will expand to some extent when hot!
So, recap maximum actual tyre width from a side clearance point of view:-
Dunlop 402 MU85 146mm
Avon Cobra Chrome 140/90 140mm
Avon Cobra Chrome 150/80 168mm
Cont-Tour 150/80 156mm
I also have a Softail Slim with the current Cont-Tour on in a 150/80 16, with a max width of 156mm which is more like you would expect the Avon 150 to be rather than and extra 28mm over the Avon 140!
Now all the Softails we have ever had have always had more tyre to rear mudguard/fender clearance on the right than the left, that's just how it is.
To use the Avon 150 I have had to basically shim out the left fender rail, I used engineering shim washers to get a good working clearance on the left side of the mudguard basically to get another 1/8" / 3mm.
I am looking to make up a proper shim plate to fit under the strut.
This clearance issue is something to consider if you have a Deluxe and quite possible the M8 Heritage too and want to fit the Avon Cobra Chrome 150!
That said we have always had clearance issues on the left with the H-D saddle bags from new and the wheel sits nowhere near the center of the rear mudguard, far more noticeable when you have a center line down the middle of a tyre, so this does help that too!
Not a great picture from yesterday but you can see the difference quite clearly with the 150 on the left and the 140 on the right!
I think the bike actually feels better to ride with the wider rear tyre, than the 140 but not such a good comparison when comparing new to not so new tyres!
I would be interested if anyone has the Metzeler 888 or Cruiser Tec in a 150/80 16 as to what their actual width is when fitted on a 3.00 H-D rim
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