Wire rear wheel for XS11... I have an idea.

[Orange4]

So after casting the wheels they yelled out, "It's milling time!"

[3Phase]

Oh, yeah! +3

[alaskey2]

Any update here?

[Orange4]

Project on hold due to finishing renovation on our house. I'm still determined to finish it though. I have all the bits including new spokes. Just need the dust to settle.

[alaskey2]

Well, I'll eagerly await the finished product.

[Rasputin]

Just wondering why anyone would want to clean all those spokes? One of the biggest reason for me to buy a bike back in 1979 was.... No Maintenance. No chain no problem... and the "rest of the story" is well just my story.

[alaskey2]

I personally just prefer the look of spoked wheels.

[James England]

I personally just prefer the look of spoked wheels.

Here's some on a Yamaha XJR1300. They certainly look nice and a lot better than the OEM cast wheels which are heavy and IMO ugly. I looked into buying some of these for my XJR but they are expensive....$3995!



Spoked wheels are a major pain to clean though and rapidly look less attractive unless the spokes are stainless steel and alloy rims to avoid corrosion which happens on chrome plated rims. I've had numerous British bikes in the era when spoked wheels were the norm and cast wheels were an expensive 'upgrade' (how's tastes change!).

In the end, I went for the less expensive, albeit still expensive, option of forged alloy wheels on my XJR....they are much lighter and less clunky than OEM alloys but still easy to clean and with a more spokey look about them......

I'm not sure re the safety of spokes on powerful bikes though? I snapped a few on my Triumphs and Nortons and they were nothing like as powerful as the XS 1100 or XJR1300.





I've seen carbon-fibre wheels for my XJR, available at a totally offputting price. Then I watched a video of a bike with them on at a race meeting. The rim detached itself from the hub on a corner...deadly!