good aftermarket wheel article

[spence88MPH]

looks like the marchesini forged mag for me.

http://www.sportrider.com/features/146_0402_motorcycle_wheel_comparison/index.html

[rgvsean]

shame they didn't test galespeed, good article though! :plus:

[jetfever]

Great article, I learned alot. Interesting how a Suz 1000 felt like a 750 when fitted with light wheeles, and also less stable (needed suspension adjust) and magnified brake problems. Why do they say this about the OZs? I have not seen the OZs they tested..." These wheels may look familiar-the same model is used on the Aprilia Mille R Factory."

[keean]

The problem I have had looking for after-market wheels is that nobody (or very few) make 4.5" rears. Most of the wheels will involve a wider rim, which will adversely affect handling. Having felt the difference moving from a 160/50 to a 150/50 rear can make I am not prepared to compromise the handling by fitting a larger rear tyre... It seems to me the only wheels that still come in 4.5" are supermotard wheels.

So, anyone found any good wheels that come in 4.5"? preferably carbon-fibre, but forged-mag would be a good second choice...

[icycold]

Sean;

Have you got any details on the galespeed wheels for the Aprilia RS250, Suzuki VJ23 RGV250? Magnesium? Weights and $$$

[keean]

Marchesini and Carrozzeria both appear to do a forged aluminium supermoto wheel that comes in 4.5". Dymag do a cast-magnesium 4.5" wheel. Thats all I have found so far...
and seeing as forged aluminium and cast magnesium are similar weight, the forged aluminium Marchesini supermoto wheels look quite good.

[SpeedJunkie]

you could always fit the rear wheel from a KTM Duke II (its cast aluminium) and the front from the rsvr. both are Y spoke design.

i weighed it including rear sprocket, disc, 160 tyre & crush drive fitted. it came to 22lbs total. compared to the same stock kit, it was 9lbs lighter

[CraigM]

Dymag will do wheels at whatever size you want. They even do carbon.

[spence88MPH]

Shame they're so damn ugly!!

[keean]

dymag do not do any wheel appart from the cast magnesium in 4.5". This is straight from Dymag sales themselves, so if you know someone at Dymag that says differently then give me their phone number so I can order a set! (The 5 spoke carbon dymags don't look too bad).

As for KTM rear wheels, the stock brembo wheel on the RS is cast aluminium, so there would be no weight advantage (apart from maybe a slight one due to Y spokes)... the point is not the look of the wheel, but the weight reduction. I just don't see what the point would be. Both forged aluminium and cast magnesium would offer a significant weight reduction over cast aluminium, with carbon-fibre and forged magnesium offering an even greater weight reduction (but nobody appears to make these latter two in a 4.5" rim).

[SpeedJunkie]

As for KTM rear wheels, the stock brembo wheel on the RS is cast aluminium, so there would be no weight advantage (apart from maybe a slight one due to Y spokes.


errr are you 100% stake you life on the rs wheels being aluminium :confused:

more like an aluminium alloy mix methinks :rolleyes:

for the price i was fairly happy with saving 9lbs (and that was comparing it to the the smaller stock rim so you can probably bump that up to 10lbs) *and another 5lbs on the front

the sad fact is that unless your a serious trackday fan or aspiring racer, you can never justify spending more on your wheels than the cost of the bike (in the case of forged mag or carbon) so really you could argue the merits of style and healthy but not drastic weightloss.

besides, i prefer to think more / thinner and evenly distributed spokes within the rim gives a smoother transition of mass considering the forces acting upon a spinning wheel @ speed :burnout:

[keean]

No, I am not 100% sure. If the wheel is lighter, it is lighter, and it doesn't really matter what it is made of (as long as it is strong enough...). I am confused though as you say it is 9lbs lighter than the stock "smaller" rim... does that mean the KTM wheel is not a 4.5" rim? If it is wider it may be useful for people that want to run slicks, but for me, having ridden with different tyre sizes I am sure that I don't want to fit a rim that is any wider than it has to be...

[SpeedJunkie]

its a 4.5

when i said stock rim i was refering to my original rs125 wheel which is smaller than the rs250 one.

[spence88MPH]

can you tell us what the ktm wheels weigh speedjunkie? cheers!