18 inch rear wheel on an XS1100

[DEEBS11]

I would like to possibly use and 18 inch rear wheel from an XS750 or XS850 on my XS11. Will it easily bolt up or do you need to change the rear drive also?

[DEEBS11]

[DiverRay]

The final drive will interchange, so the wheel SHOULD as well. If you are going that way, look for a rear off the 850, as it should be a tubeless rim. The spacers for the brake and axle will be the only thing I can think of that may need a little work.

[Radioguylogs]

XS750 rims are tubeless.

[Socer4m]

Hi Deebs,,,,it will fit,,,I had one on a 81 xs midnight special. I got the bike with it,,only issue was the spokes were straight in the rear with the 18 incher,,,and the front was the swirly spokes.....anyway, if you can dig up a thread from the old xs site its all on there. I loved the lower revs on the highway,,,but it does need a bit more throttle at start. I think the disc was a direct fit also, but mine came with it already on. A guy in England said it was very common over there to swap the rims, and he was the one that finally descibed the rim. SO, switch the rim and rotor if needed and report back......Mike in San Diego and Pa.

[bikerphil]

If the rim width is the same as the 17" Standard, then those spacers are what you would probably need.

[DEEBS11]

Thanks for all the responses. I just want to be clear that I only want to use the 18" wheel on the existing XS11 rear drive. I need the gearing of the XS11 to push the sidecar weight.

Also, I think the XS750 is the only 18" wheel available (?). I looked at several version of XS850 wheels and they were either 16" or 17".

[LAB3]

That 2.15 width doesn't leave much meat actually touching the road! If you think a 17x2.50 eats up rear tires fast then you ain't seen nuthin' yet.

[DEEBS11]

Fair point LAB3. I was going to try to shoe horn a sidecar tire onto the rim with a tube. I have found the sidecar tire construction (on the front and sidecar) to be very slow wearing. I rarely drive over 65 mph with the sidecar. I went through two of those Excelsior tires and only got about 6,000 miles out of them. Very soft construction for the antique car crowd....not the power of an XS11.

[DiverRay]

Just make sure it's designed to be a drive tire. Some tires are constructed in a way that they will not handle the power to the ground. The forces can tear them apart if it's not designed properly.

[DEEBS11]

Good point Ray. I did check the web site and found this. I know Guzzi sidecar guys that use these on the drive tire with great success. However, it might be a little short. I will have to look into that as well. My present tire is 26" tall.

[DEEBS11]

Yikes. 22 inches is quite small. Would need an XS850 rear drive in order to compensate. Perhaps a long term project. Maybe just install the entire swing arm ect.

[DEEBS11]

....or just keep changing the tire every 6,000 miles. That's about every 3 or 4 months. Might just be easier and less expensive.

[LAB3]

You also may want to consider the 64 weight rating, it may or may not be lower than what was available when these bikes where built.

In your instance and to tell you the truth mine as well you might want to go with a 16X3.00 rim off of a Special, that way you could run a real live touring tire out back (MT90-16) In that case the ,850 drive gear swap makes quite a bit more sense.