Hi all just wondering if anyone has fitted wire wheels and if so from what model.
The only wire wheels I'd fit are to a grinder.....
Having said that:
http://www.streetfighters.com.au/forum_test/showthread.php?876-wire-wheels-for-a-gsx1400-in-melboure
Two local guys have done it, one stock and one 8" I think ?
Seen a few done on German custom builds too.
Its certainly do-able but I'd be very surprised if there was a "bolt in" option.
All I've seen needed some machining or serious mods.
I have old Suzuki hubs relaced with wider 18" rims on my GSX1100,
this gives me early GSXR size tyres so although not great suits the old girl.
On a 14 I'd certainly want 17" with a 6" rear.
I'd be looking into getting rims built onto older or custom hubs,
or possibly something like the recent wire wheel Classic Ducati wheels.
Easy option? Doubtful.
Do-able with work or money? Certainly.
... another...
They look great but having had a thunderbird with wire wheels they are a bugger to keep clean :smile2:
They look horrible on a modern bike, will really struggle to handle the torque if you don't ride like a pansy & will need the spokes adjusting due to that if you want them to work properly.
I'm failing to see an upside?
Oh yeah & I think the old Org had someone in Oz do it & their bike was nicked (never recovered) shortly afterwards.
5 minutes today to clean/polish my wheels. if i had spokes, can remember how long it took. dont do it if only for the cleaning aspect. i dont even think they suit 14, my opinion only.
I think some modern bikes look fantastic with spoked wheels but I accept they are a bugger to clean.
Really don't think they suit the 14 at all. But each to their own.
Quote from: Sweaty on Saturday, 12 August 2017, 09:41 PM
Really don't think they suit the 14 at all. But each to their own.
Stock 14 ... agree, but café racer style & a Robinson 4 leader on the front & a twin leader drum on the back is a different story. Keeping in mind that we're after style here & not what works best.
Joe's ET...
Joe's 1800 Kat...
My ET...
Nice looking bikes there Tony.
Back in the day when we had the Castrol 6 hour race at Manfield. Suzuki created a limited edition wire wheel, black pipe GSX1100 "special". They were the only visible mods and caused quite a stir amongst the other competitors. Many believing they been created locally.
Did you guys in Aus ever have the same over there ?
I think we got a few "Bathurst" wire wheel Kats.
I was told the NZ specials had hotted motors but not the AU ones ?
Quote from: Snapey on Sunday, 13 August 2017, 01:22 AM
Quote from: Sweaty on Saturday, 12 August 2017, 09:41 PM
Really don't think they suit the 14 at all. But each to their own.
Stock 14 ... agree, but café racer style & a Robinson 4 leader on the front & a twin leader drum on the back is a different story. Keeping in mind that we're after style here & not what works best.
You lost me after agree :)
Remember Pete, as Jimmy Barnes sings.
I'm a simple man, with a heart of gold, in a complicated land, whoa, whoa, whoa I'm a "working class man" :)
(European folk might need to google that ;)
This is a Robinson 4 leading shoe front brake laced to a wheel Steve & what they look like with shoes out. A replica one costs about 950 pommy quid but I'd be concerned about putting one on a 14 as the axle is only 17mm diameter.
Looks similar to a grimeca unit, 17mm just means no wheelies :whistling:
I'd be concerned about stopping.
Quote from: Hooli on Wednesday, 16 August 2017, 06:19 AM
I'd be concerned about stopping.
It's not about performance Hooli it's all about how they look. Any Harley owner will confirm that.
Quote from: mjgt on Monday, 14 August 2017, 06:01 PM
17mm just means no wheelies :whistling:
Plenty of "big" bikes had skinny front spindles in the 70's and 80's.
Probably didn't help the handling but never put anyone off wheelies.... :whistling:
Quote from: Snapey on Wednesday, 16 August 2017, 06:52 AM
Quote from: Hooli on Wednesday, 16 August 2017, 06:19 AM
I'd be concerned about stopping.
It's not about performance Hooli it's all about how they look. Any Harley owner will confirm that.
Yep, if it dont go......... chrome it :whistling:
Been off the forum a bit, sorry.
But I've ordered the front hub from America, rear is a PITA, so am going down the Sport Classic route.
Should be an interesting conversion. :boogie2:
Indeed, it will :)
Quote from: Tony Nitrous on Sunday, 13 August 2017, 04:43 AM
My ET...
WOW! This is the bike that made me buy my 14. I wanted a modern version of that exact bike. I was a teenager when they came out and my mate across the street had a Kwaka 9 so I really had no choice but to buy a 14. Better(?) engine and brakes but that style is exactly what makes me say mmmm.
Sport Classic hub arrived on Friday. Having used this hub before on another bike, I know one of the pitfalls is the rear calliper. SC used a single sided calliper to clear the spokes, I have a SC hanger and calliper on its way. The hanger will require a few mods.... to convert it from swingarm mounted to undrslung, with upside down nipple (just to make bleeding a PITA)
I have a spare swingarm, so will set that up on a bench to make the conversion waist height rather than on the bike..... the old body is failing, but the head is wiser :grin:
Trying to find a suitable 530 sprocket has been difficult, so I'm settling for the 525 until I find one.
Front end is keeping me awake at night. I'm considering using a GS750 chrome front guard, for that retro look, but how it will fit over the 17" wheel, let alone the tyre width. From memory, the GS750 guard was a snug fit on the skinny front wheel. If the diameter looks okay, maybe I could cut it down the guts add 25mm or whatever it needs, from a donor guard to get the right width and weld it back together :whatever:
Watch this space.
Oh, it's like Christmas today.
Hub from rusty wheel will meet better rim, and smikko front hub arrived from USA.
Then hub is free of spokes, and spent an hour or so in the lathe. Hub now accepts 522812 bearings over the SC 472512. I haven't got sprocket/cush drive yet, but that will get the same treatment.
Need to find some suitable mild steel to make up the bearing spacer. I note the front hub came with an aluminium spacer, I'm not a big fan.
I like Spokes.
Spokes are cool.
👍
Funny how things come back into fashion, by the mid seventies no one wanted them.
I like spokes but I don't like cleaning. :)
Just a word of caution - I vaguely recall (from the old org) someone trying this some years back - and after a few spirited launches, found that a number of spokes had broken as they couldn't take the torque. Maybe he needed to use stronger spokes, but just be aware
Interesting. I have the same hub and spoke set up on another of my bikes. Spoke dia has a lot to do with the strength.
At hub, the stainless spokes are 4.8mm dia exiting the hub, where most spokes break, and 3.8mm dia for the rest of the spoke.
My Wheelrite seems to think it'll be fine, he laces up the occasional wheel, so I'll take his advise: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpd8s9Fif-E
But thanks for the heads up.
Well suck me dry and call Dusty ......
You Tubed how to remove powder coat, here's the result.
Curious how much oxidisation there is lurking under the powder coat.
Sprayed on liberally, waited twice as long as they said on You Tube, 15 mins, that's for pansies, I waited half hour, gave it another spray and ten minutes later, hit it with the garden hose.
Bit of a worry, corrosion under powder coat. Thought it supposed to seal all, maybe they coated over it?
A friend of mine in the USA has fitted wire wheels to his Bandit. Think they look really good. As others have said though I wouldn't want the task of keeping them clean. Been there and done that with some of my earlier bikes back in the 80's.
Quote from: grog on Tuesday, 15 September 2020, 05:36 PM
Bit of a worry, corrosion under powder coat. Thought it supposed to seal all, maybe they coated over it?
Aluminium is a porous metal and powdercoat does not take well on it.
Thanks Froudy. My question then is, have seen lots of posts where blokes have had 14 wheels powdercoated. Leaving themselves open for corrosion? Better to paint?
Quote from: grog on Tuesday, 15 September 2020, 05:36 PM
Bit of a worry, corrosion under powder coat. Thought it supposed to seal all, maybe they coated over it?
I had a steel frame powder coated. 3 years later I removed the motor and noticed a bit of flaking powder coat. Using a small screwdriver to investigate, I put the blade straight into the down tube. Those were early days of powder coating. Roberto, from Roberto's Powder coating uses a zinc type sealant, before powder coating mild steel.
Ultimately, powder coat is plastic, which itself has a high moisture transmission rate. Meaning moisture can pass through it, locking into the under layer.
PS. I deal in plastic all day long, please don't come back at me and tell me I'm full of shit. There is a test used to determine the MTR on plastics. Mono layer plastic is the worst, multi layer is better, think vacuum packed meat. Powder coat is a mono layer.
The hub in question was factory powder coated.
Thanks Convert, didnt know any of that, always been told powdercoat the ultimate. Never too old to learn.
I`d never use it again, had my car wheels redone because of lots of peppering and hadn`t thought about powder coating V painting and went with a recommended place and after just a few drives they now have fingernail sized flakes wheras the original paint finish had zero chips or flakes.
We probably all have had a clothes drying rack, powder coated white that cracks and bleeds rust through the cracks. Is the most common example I know,
I'm not a big fan, frankly. Oh, and some machines I sell are powder coated, on the edges they rust prematurely, a customer in the know told me the laser cut edges need to be radiused, because the coating is always thin on sharp edges.
Anyway, I'm off my soapbox.
Hubs are now ready for bearings ......... still awaiting sprocket carrier/cush drive to arrive.
I think, the first time you give the GSX free rein :devil: :devil: and snap open the throttle, there will be snapped spokes equally as quickly. IMHO :stir:
The level of torque even a standard GSX pumps out is MASSIVE :whatever:
Harley's have mega torque especially the bigger motors and some if them have spoked wheels without them snapping .
They wouldn't be for me as to much cleaning .
I look forward to seeing this project when it's finished .
:cheers:
Quote from: GSXKING on Thursday, 17 September 2020, 05:22 PM
and snap open the throttle, there will be snapped spokes equally as quickly.
Ah yes, but:
If we were riding together and I snapped three spokes, I'd still make it home.
(https://endurobros.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/3brokenspokes-highlite2.jpg)
If you snapped the same amount of spokes in your back wheel, you'd make it to hospital, before home :coffeescreen:
(https://www.cycledrag.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/BrokenWheel4.jpg)
owwwww, nasty. Have to be a lot of ponies to do that.
https://www.bikeexif.com/custom-honda-cbx-1000 not sure how much Torque these old 6 cylinder bikes pumped out. I'll guess these spoke wheels are expensive, just like the frame and front end. :onya: :onya:
Nice motor. The rest WTF. Bloke up the road has CBX built into a coffee table. Sits in his lounge room. Bike all original, 87ks only. Not 87 th. just 87. Sure froths up coffee if he starts it.
Things on the wire wheel conversion took, what I thought was, a turn for the worse. Looking at my spare swing arm fitted with the hub in situ. The hub looks off centre, but I have measured it so many times I'm sick of it. I even resigned myself to the fact that the swinger was offset to the pivot, but have now discounted that. I think it's purely an optical illusion, having the chucky cush drive side makes it look lopsided.
Still doubting, even after the last post :doh: I thought I'd try another way, with a straight edge.
I'm convinced it's OK, and I'll sleep well after a few red wines tonight!
Not sure if this adds anything to the topic but just spotted this post on the global GSX1400 group on facebook and thought of this thread.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/51845574246/permalink/10157847332294247/
https://talon-eng.co.uk/