18" Wheel Choices

[Redbone]

I'm looking to convert to radial tires and looking for input on choices of 18" wheels we have for the Vmax. I have found very few that carry 18" wheels.
I know RMS Sportmax carries a 18" wheel set ($1800 for ft and r) but I was thinking along the lines of a sportbike style wheel which would give me radials and very light weight. Also I'm not a rich guy so the price has to be reasonable.
I'm just looking at any input or research done on 18" wheels. TIA

 

[1967vmax]

I bought Furburs wheels in 18" i like em but if i had to do it again i would go with wildbrothers they sell Carozzia however you spell it and many other brands, Furburs wheels look goo but they are HEAVY.

 

[jedi-]

1. Aftermarket Harley
2. Aftermarket Harley
3. Aftermarket Harley

 

[gamorg02]

1. Aftermarket Harley
2. Aftermarket Harley
3. Aftermarket Harley

are your adapters available yet?

 

[PATMAX]

Yo Jedi, last time I checked, Harley has yet to adopt the Yamaha shaft driven Cush drive. How is it you suggest Harley style aftermarket with no way to adapt them to our use unless one is running a chain drive bike? Remember, the original post mentioned reasonable options of which I know of none. Do you old Maxxers remember the 1986 Cycle world write up with the Sandy Kosman laced up rearwheel to a whittled down stock hub? Wish I could find me a 18x6 one of those. I think the Maxdaddy 18s are expensive. But it is all relative. Price out a Deget, or an Otec or a Taylormade. There are no "cheap" options that I know of.

 

[Kratos]

Redbone, any particular reason you are wanting to stay with 18's? I was able to get a brand new YZF600R Thundercat front wheel off ebay for about $150 and a Cycle One-off rear wheel to match off ebay for about $800. These are the 3-spoke sportbike wheels. Now that there are 190/55-17 sport touring tires available, that makes the overall rear wheel/tire diameter only .40" smaller than the stock, so only .20" shorter in height/gear ratio. The only cosmetic issue I have is the front fender looking like a dirt bike.

I went through the same thing when I was looking for wheels, I ended up going with 17's since there were limited tires to chose from when you look at 18's, as well as the fact that the YZF600R front and Cycle One-off rear were the lightest cheap option.

You may already know, but you will need; a new right fork spacer, to shave the left front fork and a different speedo gear to match the front tire you choose. I went with a 120/60-17 which is what the YZF600R has, so I bought a YZF600R speedo gear off ebay as well.

 

[jedi-]

How is it you suggest Harley style aftermarket with no way to adapt them to our use unless one is running a chain drive bike?

Kinda like this? http://www.vmaxforum.net/showthread.php?t=8177&highlight=harley+wheels

 

[one2dmax]

I am sure Steve will get us something going soon! I did get the first polished stax and some other product in the other day. Very nice stuff.

I do sell the same RC Comp wheels that Sportmax has too. They are heavy so I am sure the Harley converions will be the better option.

Has anyone asked Bill about the Carr wheels. They are discontinued according to them (I asked last week in fact). So if Bill has any left they are from late last year!

Sean

 

[Redbone]

Redbone, any particular reason you are wanting to stay with 18's? I was able to get a brand new YZF600R Thundercat front wheel off ebay for about $150 and a Cycle One-off rear wheel to match off ebay for about $800. These are the 3-spoke sportbike wheels. Now that there are 190/55-17 sport touring tires available, that makes the overall rear wheel/tire diameter only .40" smaller than the stock, so only .20" shorter in height/gear ratio. The only cosmetic issue I have is the front fender looking like a dirt bike.

I went through the same thing when I was looking for wheels, I ended up going with 17's since there were limited tires to chose from when you look at 18's, as well as the fact that the YZF600R front and Cycle One-off rear were the lightest cheap option.

You may already know, but you will need; a new right fork spacer, to shave the left front fork and a different speedo gear to match the front tire you choose. I went with a 120/60-17 which is what the YZF600R has, so I bought a YZF600R speedo gear off ebay as well.

Thanks for the input everyone! Still in the planning process and wanted to get more ideas to toss around/ investigate.
Kratos:I wanted to keep the 18" size for cosmetic reasons and gearing. You indicate there are tires that will bring the diameter close to the stock setup (I wasn't aware of how close they were) so that kinda dissolves that issue but I still not liking the front wheel look. I'm not really a drag racer and want to retain as much MPG's as I can and not offset the 5th gear OD set up I just had Sean install. I have looked at Tom's 17" conversions and it is what has sparked my thoughts on this subject.
If I went with a sport bike front fender (yzf600 or the like) would I be able to cover the 17" front tire gap?

 

[tugla]

Brian just a thought, whats the Gen 2 got on it for wheels? would they work?

 

[Kratos]

Thanks for the input everyone! Still in the planning process and wanted to get more ideas to toss around/ investigate.
Kratos:I wanted to keep the 18" size for cosmetic reasons and gearing. You indicate there are tires that will bring the diameter close to the stock setup (I wasn't aware of how close they were) so that kinda dissolves that issue but I still not liking the front wheel look. I'm not really a drag racer and want to retain as much MPG's as I can and not offset the 5th gear OD set up I just had Sean install. I have looked at Tom's 17" conversions and it is what has sparked my thoughts on this subject.
If I went with a sport bike front fender (yzf600 or the like) would I be able to cover the 17" front tire gap?

Not sure on the different model bike front fenders fitting, but Exactrep has lowered front fender specifically for a 17" front wheel. You may be able to find some stand-offs that will allow you to lower the stock front fender enough as well.

http://www.exactrep.com/acatalog/info_66.html

Another thought on the rear wheel/tire combo diameter. The calculator is probably using rim width of 6", since the actual wheel is 5.5", this may cause the actual diameter to be even closer to the stock size.

This is the site I use to calculate the diameter, but it doesn't say what the assumed rim width is.

http://www.rbracing-rsr.com/tirediamcalc.html

 

[Redbone]

Brian just a thought, whats the Gen 2 got on it for wheels? would they work?

I had that same thought too Rovic, I really like the look of the Gen 2 wheels but probably a bit of work to get it to work with a Gen 1.
Kratos: Ah, that Exactrep fender probably would work for me. Thanks for the calculator link, I'm sure it'll come in handy in the near future!

 

[Kratos]

I had that same thought too Rovic, I really like the look of the Gen 2 wheels but probably a bit of work to get it to work with a Gen 1.
Kratos: Ah, that Exactrep fender probably would work for me. Thanks for the calculator link, I'm sure it'll come in handy in the near future!

No problem, I had looked into the gen 2 wheels as well. Since they are 6" wide wheels, they would have to be offset quite a bit, so you would have that weird looking offset wheel not centered under the rear, may not even work at all with a stock swingarm. If you have an aftermarket swingarm, it may be an option. I didn't really dig any deeper, as replacing my swingarm wasn't in my plans at that time.

Also, if you do go with the Cycle One-off rear 17" or any other for that matter, want to use a 190 series tire and have it centered, you will most likely have to have a stock swingarm notched and braced to fit the wider tire. I am still running a 180/55-17 Michelin Pilot Road 2. I am currently trying to sell my Vmax. If I still have it when it is time for a new rear tire, I will go with a 190/55-17 Pilot Road 2 and get a notched and braced swingarm.

 

[PATMAX]

So what Jedi is saying or suggesting is that we fnd some cheapo Harley style wheels, buy about $5,000 in machining equipment, take a metal machining course at your local vocational school, try to bribe Jedi for his "intellectual property" his is unwillng to share with you and you can make all the $300 dollar wheels sets you want. Great suggestion Jedi. I'm sure we're all gonna jump right on that.:rofl_200:

 

[jedi-]

So what Jedi is saying or suggesting is that we fnd some cheapo Harley style wheels, buy about $5,000 in machining equipment, take a metal machining course at your local vocational school, try to bribe Jedi for his "intellectual property" his is unwillng to share with you and you can make all the $300 dollar wheels sets you want. Great suggestion Jedi. I'm sure we're all gonna jump right on that.:rofl_200:

You can do whatever you want..

 

[satariel666]

So what Jedi is saying or suggesting is that we fnd some cheapo Harley style wheels, buy about $5,000 in machining equipment, take a metal machining course at your local vocational school, try to bribe Jedi for his "intellectual property" his is unwillng to share with you and you can make all the $300 dollar wheels sets you want. Great suggestion Jedi. I'm sure we're all gonna jump right on that.:rofl_200:

And thats some funny shit :rofl_200::rofl_200::rofl_200:

 

[PATMAX]

Jedi, you got to realize you have talent and tools that few others have. You post your suggestion of "easy Harley wheels" which is probably easy for you my friend but you are totally out of touch with the majority of us other untalented or under-tooled VMaxers and does nothing to answer the gentlemens original post. Do us all a favor and set up shop to retrofit any Harley wheels "cheap and easy" for your Vmax brothers and you can quit your day job. Now that is a helpful and practical suggestion! Patmax

 

[naughtyG]

And he's hot a point too, considering the constant demand for decent lightweight radial-friendly wheels that bolt on Gen I Maxes..

BTW Steve, you ok? Not affected by that earthquake over there? It loox bad on TV..

 

[jedi-]

And he's hot a point too, considering the constant demand for decent lightweight radial-friendly wheels that bolt on Gen I Maxes..

BTW Steve, you ok? Not affected by that earthquake over there? It loox bad on TV..

The low down is this... I made the Harley wheels to suit my own custom swing arm and non stock braking setup, recorded some of that information for that particular purpose. The front wheel mated to my Harley front end ,not a stock Vmax fork.
In order to reproduce them for a stock bike, I need to purchase some more wheels and start some of the measurements again, in particular is the brake adapters. Also what comes into the equation is the speedo drive for the fronts.
I'm pretty sure I can get it to fit however the wheel size will screw the reading up.
It may not matter, the user might simply go digital maybe.
Maybe people are quite happy with rears only.
I'd need to outlay money for the wheels and spend a reasonable amount of time using a stock swingarm and standard forks, which luckily I do have on hand.
The drive adapter for the rear luckily was easy but having invested my time and effort, it's my prerogative to want to recoup my outlay.
What will happen is that they are likely to be reverse engineered which I have no control over but again I'm entitled to recoup some of my initial outlay.
Sean has asked about them recently and I'm looking at importing a couple of wheels soooon from ebay and will take it from there.

Childish patronizing rants accusing me of being selfish (from others) don't spur me on one little bit...


The earthquake was in the South Island and didn't affect me, but have friends who are in Christchurch which got smacked up pretty bad.

 

[ghostntheshell]

I wish the Carrz were still available. Should have bought black ones when I had the chance.