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+--- Thread: What Wheels and Why? (/showthread.php?tid=68721)
What Wheels and Why? - Stupid Luke - 14-05-14
So phase 1 of my improvements to my 2004 FZS1000 should be complete on Sunday when it gets Ivanised.
Maybe in a year or so I will consider the R1 forks upgrade but I have just had my forks rebuilt and brakes serviced so I want to get some use from them first.
Time to start thinking of the cosmetic improvements starting with wheels. I dont hate the standard wheels and dont imagine there would be much, if any weight saved with aftermarket aluminium wheels or standard wheels from later bikes? I have carbon Dymags on my Superduke but doubt I will go to the expense on the Fazer.
I am not really bothered about a 6inch rear rim so not R1 wheels.
Does anyone know if the later FZ1 wheels fit? Or are they 6 inch rears too?
Would the FZ8 or FZ6 wheels fit if I just wanted 5 spokes?
If either does fit, would this entail swapping to FZ1 / FZ8 / FZ6 discs also or would the FZS discs suffice.
Any other suggestions?
The other thing I havent noticed anyone talking about is gearing. Every Jap bike I have ever owned I have gone down 1 tooth on the front or up 2-3 on the rear. Not sure If I will bother with the Fazer as I suspect it will be have plenty of acceleration once Mike has done his magic on it.
What sprockets do you all run?
Re: What Wheels and Why? - Millietant - 14-05-14
I'm in the opposite camp - every Honda/Kwakiutl/Suzuki AND Yamaha road bike that I've had, has needed a larger front sprocket (usually 1 extra tooth) and on most I've also ended up with a smaller rear sprocket - mainly because they could all comfortably pull it.
My KH 250 back in 1978 was the best example - it would scream to the redline in top gear everywhere, even uphill, and it always ran out of revs before drag stooped it from going faster - I went up 1 tooth on the front and down 3 teeth on the back with that bike and got a decent jump in top speed - enough to shock a Honda 400/4 that couldn't catch me
My Aprilia is the opposite, for road use in the UK I use a 1 tooth smaller front sprocket (gives a slightly more useable speed range for 6th gear and I can trickle along a bit better in first using the clutch a bit less at really low speed) - but for track use, the standard front sprocket is better suited IMHO.
Re: What Wheels and Why? - nickodemon - 15-05-14
I agree about a smaller front sprocket on apes. Regarding changing to fz1 wheels.... Why bother? If you are going to do it get the lightest wheels you can
Re: What Wheels and Why? - Stupid Luke - 15-05-14
(15-05-14, 12:31 AM)nickodemon link Wrote: I agree about a smaller front sprocket on apes. Regarding changing to fz1 wheels.... Why bother? If you are going to do it get the lightest wheels you can
I doubt there is much weight to be saved with any of the aluminium wheels. I had forged alu Marchesini's on my fireblade and they werent noticeably lighter than the Honda wheels they replaced. A new set of aftermarket blingy wheels is about 1400 quid and I doubt I would spend half the value of the bike just to have nicer looking wheels.
The carbon wheels on my Superduke are much lighter than the originals but I feel the benefits would be more noticeable on a sportsbike tbh. Once you have the extra leverage of a set of handlebars you dont really need lighter steering. I know they also claim improved acceleration and reduced tyre wear and everything else but there is also a benefit in leaving the 3 grand in the bank.
Hard to tell exactly but when I was trackdaying I could run the same (ish) laptimes with either wheels fitted. I certainly wasnt getting the claimed 3 sec per lap improvement with carbon around Brands Indy (wish I was).
So if the original 3 spoke and the FZ1/8/6 5 spoke are of similar weight. The only benefit would be cosmetic improvement. I just thought that if they fit, a used set of these would be cheaper and more readily available than waiting for a used set of PVM's or Galespeeds.