Big Bottom

When I first started looking at wider wheels and better tyre choices I wasn't a fan of it's looks. But after I looked at more and more and more I started to love what it did to the profile of the bike, the wide choice of tyre options it opens and the view from behind...

Lovely stuff. The guys on the SR500 forum have been answering some of my stupid questions and they seem to say that changing to 17"s was the best handling change they made to their bikes. I think they were coming from the bike 19" loops, but hey, most new sportsbikes run 17" rims, so there's gotta be something to it anyway.

http://www.sr500forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=1674&start=20

And some more examples...

It's not all that often the Japanese will relace a wheel. Most of the time they seem to do straight swaps with XJR400's or something similar, changing swingarms as well as mags. That way they seem to be pushing 4.25-4.5 inch rims and that opens up Pilot Powers and all sorts of stuff.

When they do change rims the standard sizes appear to be 3" fronts and 4" rears. Any wider than around a 140 rear and you start to get clearance problems with the chain.

I found the one below on a blog somewhere. This one is actually running a 110 front. It looks like they've just laced the rear 18" wheel to the front. Makes sense actually, but you'd be losing out a little by not changing it to a 17" as well.

And here's a bit of a more traditional style cafe SR with the wider rims...

Hmm.

Anyway, half out of curiosity and half with the intention of changing my bike over to wider wheels i'm doing a bit of research about building some wheels. Thankfully I've got a mate who has built a fair few over the years while racing motocross who would be able to help me out.

Either I can spend a couple of hundred bucks up front and get a set of DID rims and stainless spokes from Japan and use my hubs...

Or alternately, and maybe more likely, I'll start searching around for some SR400 front and rear hubs that I'll tidy up, get powdercoated/painted and start looking for some cheapo stainless spokes and 36-hole rim. I'll have to do some more research on what spokes etc, but if I've just got a spare set of hubs sitting around I can do it in my own time.

More musings on tyres and wheels coming shortly.

Mag Wheels by Y's gear.

Q: What's the diffence between herpes and SR Mag Wheels?
A: You can give herpes to someone.

Well, that was the school of thought about the dear old SR mags. They're quite heavily stepped in late 70's design and many owners go about replacing them with the more traditional wire spoked wheels. Over time the SR mags have really grown on me and I've become a bit of a fan. On the right bike they give the whole thing a solid look... and they'd be easier to clean than standard.

For the last few years, Yamaha's aftermarket part supplier,Y's gear, have been producing producing the mags again for around $2200 AUD. And before everyone gets excited and drags out your old mags from the shed or the bottom of the sea these new ones are a little different.

The front is 1.5 kilos lighter and the rear is 2 kilos lighter than stock and can also run tubeless tyres. The front is also an 18" which looks pretty neat to me.

17" Wheels - before and after. Wheeley good?

While wheel diamater changes seem quite common in Japan, I haven't seen all that many over here.

I've been thinking about a change to 17"s on the books for quite a while now, but struggled to actually find some before and after pics.

Some google searching found this 2005 model -

Interesting stuff.

With a smaller rim and wider tyre you're running to closer to modern sportsbike dimensions, have a much better selection of modern tyres. A lot of people who've done wheel swaps on the SR forum say that difference in handling - cornering and particularily braking (As the contact patch is greater) - is the best handling modification they've done.

In Japan kits available for the 36 spoke SR400 wheels - usually around the $350.00 mark. Ideally, I'd love to have lighter hubs as well. Some modern dirtbikes have much ligher hubs than the SR, and are easily available as motard kits off ebay, with calipers and the assembled wheel going for around $1200.00 AUD, if they sell at all.

But I'm not too sure about the aesthetics of the smaller wheels. Proportionally, the 17"s look too small and elongate the look of the bike a bit, making it seem awkward. Whether or not it'd look that way on my stripped back bike is another thing. More food for thought.

- Marlon