wheel mass?

[purdyboy]

Whats the weight diff between a spoked motard rim and a converted roadbike rim of similar width? Front and back, if possible.

Anyone have access to one of each and a scale?

Just interested

Cheers

[Wobbly]

No idea from a strictly scientific point, but the motard wheel would be a fair bit lighter, especially if you use an OEM hub rather than a larger (stronger/heavier) billet hub. You could get a cast wheel as light, but it would be very fragile and not at all suitable for any serious punishment.

I could stick them on my bathroom scales next time I get a chance and subtract the weight of one disc from the sportsbike wheel. Not sure when that might be though ;)

[purdyboy]

Thanks for the reply mate.
I assumed that, size-for-size, roadbike wheels would be lighter, otherwise people would be running their track bikes on spoked rims instead of paying BIG dollars for aftermarket lightweight roadrims.

It would be interesting to get some figures on it one day though.

[Wobbly]

On full on race bikes yeah, they'll be lighter ... but for road bike rims you'll probably find spoked wheels are lighter, since the cast ones are cast fairly thick in order to be able to absorb bumps etc. Way back in the old days they bathurst special Katana ran wire wheels because they were lighter.

Mags are probably stiffer and deflect less under severe load as well (ie. 200+ kph cornering)...

[Muzzard]

Hey, I owned 2 of them there Katanas you speak so highly of...
And they were both awesomely fast for the day, even after getting off a CB1100RC. Unfortunately the inherent frame shimmy at rediculous speeds like between 190-225 on acceleration and 210-175 on deceleration that made them mad as hell to ride fast... Thats why I had 2, only they were 5 months apart after binnin' the first one showing off for some chicks at Jindabyne, Was a cool as a stoned goat stand up wheelstand at around 160 KPH clutch up in 4th and just got too vigorous with the throttle in top. :bugeye:

[Wobbly]

I too have a soft spot for the old Kat's ... I'm sure one will find its way into my garage at some stage as a restoration project ;)

[Muzzard]

And an area will have to laid out in your shed for my swag, waiting for the finished product too then... :lol:

The main reason I bought the Kat after the CB1100R was for the wire wheels...
Man I hated those pox-ridden rivet together butt-ugly Honda wheels...
The later model Katana 1100 had the cast mags and I owned one of them too.
The wire wheel model was silver with blue and the cast model silver with burgundy...

[Wobbly]

Not sure if you saw it or not, but there was a thread just recently at mcnews on a kat that might interest you...

MCNEWS.COM.AU Forums

[Muzzard]

Mmm, I see that, Nice job on the front end conversion.

[Wobbly]

Yeah, me likey...