16" Wheel on the front?

[aviatorkev]

Anyone tried to mount a 16" rear wheel on the front? I would like to match the front and rear wheel sizes and 16" seems like the easiest compromise.

[XS1100 Newbie]

I would think that this change would change the geometry of the bike. I could see more weight to the front end causing some handling issues. I may be all wet on this, but some one on here will probably know.

[crazy steve]

It can be done, but it will involve custom parts; there is no bolt-on solution that I'm aware of. The OEM rear wheel is out, as there's too many differences (width, axle size, lack of two places to mount brake rotors, etc). You may be able to find a sport bike front wheel that may fit, but many of the same issues will be there. Probably the easiest choice would be a laced (spoked) front wheel off a '82-up XS650 as these wheels have hubs that fit without mods and will accept the stock brakes/rotors. Have a 16" rim laced to the hub and find a tire that will fit. The tire will be the big problem, as most 16" tires are too wide to fit between the forks. If you can match tire diameters (old vs new), handling will pretty much be the same.

[aviatorkev]

I would love to have spokes, but then you run into the problem of what to do out back. Has anyone done a shaft drive spoked wheel, or is the only way to accomplish that, swapping the shaft for a chain drive?

I have considered using the shaft/final drive/hub/wheel parts from a 2000 V-Star, but haven't found a good enough deal yet to play with the parts.

[crazy steve]

The big monkey wrench with 'matching' wheel swaps on these is the rear wheel; your choices consist of the XS/XJ, and that's it. Yamaha did make a very limited-production 750 or 850 model that had laced wheels that would fit a XS11, but there was only about 200 built, and were only sold in Japan, so the chances of finding one of those???

So that leaves you with a chain-drive conversion ($$$) and/or a swingarm swap ($$).

The only other possibilities would be to use the 7-spoke cast XS wheels, and cut/weld the front wheel hub/spokes into a rear wheel rim; you'd need first-class welding and machining to do this safely. Or have a custom rear hub built that could be laced to a 'standard' 16" rim. Either would no doubt be big $$$...

[XS1100_OEM4ME]

?

Anyone tried to mount a 16" rear wheel on the front? I would like to match the front and rear wheel sizes and 16" seems like the easiest compromise.

You have a bike that is worth $1,900.00 on a good day, you want to do a mod that cost $1,900.00 on a good day to make your bike do what?

[fredintoon]

Hi Kev,
low-budget way is to swap in the front wheel and forks off a Honda VF750F. That gets you to a 16" front wheel without paying out a fortune although you might have to get creative about the triple tree fit-up.
But why the insistence on same-size wheels? The front tire will be narrower and have a different tread pattern anyway?

[aviatorkev]

My '79 is a cafe project but it started life as a Special. The wheel swap was to get everything back into the right proportions. I am also looking for a standard tank to get a more appropriate shape. I'll post some pics when I get a little closer. Going through the carbs now.

[crazy steve]

My '79 is a cafe project but it started life as a Special. The wheel swap was to get everything back into the right proportions. I am also looking for a standard tank to get a more appropriate shape. I'll post some pics when I get a little closer. Going through the carbs now.

If you're looking to have the same 'size' F/R, then the easiest thing to do would be to swap to a 17" rear wheel off a 'standard'. The 130/90-17 tire will be very close to the same overall diameter as the 19" front. And it's a bolt-on deal; you'll need the wheel, the two 'standard' spacers (the special only has one), and the 'standard' steel brake caliper bracket. The rotor, caliper, and caliper bracket are the same.

Waaay easier than trying to fit a smaller wheel to the front....

[fredintoon]

If you're looking to have the same 'size' F/R, then the easiest thing to do would be to swap to a 17" rear wheel off a 'standard'. - - -

Hi Steve,
Kev's desired cafe look could use more parts from a Standard than the rear wheel and the Standard tank he's looking for. Swapping in a complete Standard front fork and an early Standard seat with the plastic bumstop for instance.
About the tire ODs, 100/90-19 = 26.1" 130/90-16 = 25.2" 100/90-16 = 23.1" & 130/90-17 = 26.2"

[aviatorkev]

Hmmm... What would I gain by swapping to the standard front forks? How are they different?

[crazy steve]

Hmmm... What would I gain by swapping to the standard front forks? How are they different?

In terms of overall fork geometry, nothing. But the 'standard' forks don't have that 'leading axle' setup your special forks have (the axle attaches to the end of the forks), as well as having the ability to swap to better brakes if you have fab skills. The special forks would be extremely difficult to do that on...

And those weird 'special' brakes can be somewhat problematic; the standard brakes are generally less troublesome. If you swap, you do need to swap the trees to match the forks, as the geometry is different, and bad handling can result.

[aviatorkev]

Cool. Thanks for the info guys!