I see here on this board often questions about the rear fender nut / nut cage and when will it hit/rub on what size width car tire.

The correct answer would be-----It depends.

Our Valkyries were made on an assembly line. The Valk frames are made from several different production parts and welded up on weld jigs. Both the frame parts and the weld jigs have nominal (perfect) dimensions and both have acceptable variations in those perfect dimensions, commonly known in manufacturing speak as "tolerances".

Since our frames are made from parts that have both plus and minus variations from those perfect dimensions our frames will vary from bike to bike. There were also (I'm guessing) several different weld jigs used to weld up the Valk frames so this also means more variations from "perfect" due to multiple weld jigs.

I'm sure that all the Valks where made to clear the stock tire just fine but when a wider car tire is installed those tolerances make stack up on your bike to cause the frame to be slightly more to left than the right at the rear most point of the frame.

If your frame ended up being 12 mm (1/2 inch) more left of perfect center then your 205-55 tire may rub the right nutcage. If your frame ended up being spot on center (nominal location) then your 205-55 tire may not rub the nutcage.

This is why one person may get away with NOT cutting the right nutcage off and another like myself has to cut the nutcage off and even then the the tire STILL rubbed on the nut.

On my I/S with the widest tallest car tire that will fit without swing arm modification, a 205-65-16 (from my experience and judgment), the tire still rubbed too hard on the nut/bolt head. Obviously my frame tolerances stacked up predominantly to the left side.

To cure my rubbing tire I had to go one step further than just the nutcage mod. I had to remove the right hand chrome fender rail that is attached to the shock and runs to the rear of the fender. When I reinstalled the chrome rear rail I placed a washer for a spacer between the rear most frame mount and the chrome rail. This moved out the rear of the rail so my entire fender assembly was shifted to the right. This finally cured all my rubbing and I was once again a happy camper.

You may not need to do anything if your Valk is nominal or right shifted but most will need at the very least to cut the nutcage off.

The best way to tell if your tire will ever rub is once you have the Dark side tire mounted on the wheel, install it on the bike with the shocks off. Now take a 2X4 and carefully slide it under the tire from the rear. Now pry the tire up until it will go no higher up into the fender. use a flashlight and see that you have clearance on the sidewall halfway down the tire. if it clears at least 1/8 of an inch then I doubt it will ever rub. If it doesn't have clearance now is the time to modify the nutcage / fender position as needed. Be very careful raising the tire so you don't upset the Valk from the jack.

Also if you install a 205-65-16 tire you have a installed a tire that is TALLER then the stock tire. This means you may rub the metal brackets that retain the turn signal taillight light wire connectors. Be sure to look up in there directly over the tire and see that it doesn't rub it either. Mine did rub ever so slightly so I took a bar and pushed the metal clips up against the wire connector as far as I could. This worked for me.

Hope this helps someone who is installing or thinking of installing a car tire.

Disclaimer/ your results may vary. Proceed at your own risk.