17 inch front wheel?

64279 Views 160 Replies 39 Participants Last post by Shackman, 1 mo ago

Speed Demon Cycles

Discussion Starter · Jan 29, 2009

Hey guys, I have an idea on fitting a 17 inch front wheel on my XR. I checked at the local dealer and the 09 FLH's come standard with a stock 17. The bearings are the same as the XR. Does anyone forsee any fitment issues? Adrelin have you guys tried this on your bikes?

If your wondering why I want a 17 on the front it's because it opens the door to way more choices for tires (race tires). Also the Braking wheels are crazy money!

if anyone has input please chime in!

1 - 20 of 161 Posts

magoo

· #2 · Jan 29, 2009

hmmmmm.....

I saw an XR with a 17 in. front wheel somewhere....a magazine article, I'll go search my bathroom and see if I can find it....

The premise was that the 17 incher gave them a better selection of racing rubber and gave them a better rear/front weight bias....quicker turn in, more control, yada, yada, yada....

Fat Billy

· #3 · Jan 30, 2009

17'' wheel

The 17 inch wheel will give you better choices for race rubber. If you are going to the track it may be better. Keep one thing in mind, the front end will be lower and put more pressure on the front tire contact patch so your tires better be sticky. Lowering the front end may help the turn in some but watch the ground clearance. If you remember the first of the GSXR Suzuki's had 18 inch on both ends because of the bigger contact patch and the crummie old bias tires. You could load the front end on those bikes a lot due to the larger contact patches. The XR is a full figured ride so the larger contact patch and radial rubber may be needed on the street. I'm gonna drop my forks about 5mm in the tripple clamps to help the turn in and watch wear on the tires and the feel at the bars. Dropping the forks in the clamps is cheaper than a new wheel but the tire choices are more limited. Later,

Besides my track days are over.

adrenalin-moto

· #4 · Jan 30, 2009

The race Xr1200's in Europe and in the new Henderson cup here in the UK use Braking B-One forged wheels, which are 3.50 x 17" front and 5.50 x 17" rear. You can buy them individually and we can get them, but they are not cheap at around GBP700 for the front (US$980 approx) and GBP560 for the rear.

The only downside (other than cost) is that the front brake rotors are permanently fixed to the wheel, so if you ruin a disc you have to buy the complete wheel!

The 'package' price for the Henderson cup bikes only includes one set of wheels, so competitors ae going to have to either stump up for an expensive second set for wet weather use or run around like madmen geting tyres changed on their one and only setif it rains. As the series has strict rules on what components can be used, it won't be an option to source a wheel from elsewhere either

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magoo

· #5 · Jan 30, 2009

Thats the ticket!

Yeah, one of these bad boys would be nice....but for my everyday commute to work the stocker is probably WAY more practical.....I hate being practical

Dallara

· #6 · Jan 30, 2009

Info...

adrenalin-moto said:
The race Xr1200's in Europe and in the new Henderson cup here in the UK use Braking B-One forged wheels, which are 3.50 x 17" front and 5.50 x 17" rear. You can buy them individually and we can get them, but they are not cheap at around GBP700 for the front (US$980 approx) and GBP560 for the rear.

The only downside (other than cost) is that the front brake rotors are permanently fixed to the wheel, so if you ruin a disc you have to buy the complete wheel!

The 'package' price for the Henderson cup bikes only includes one set of wheels, so competitors ae going to have to either stump up for an expensive second set for wet weather use or run around like madmen geting tyres changed on their one and only setif it rains. As the series has strict rules on what components can be used, it won't be an option to source a wheel from elsewhere either

Matt,

Do you know if those are forged aluminum or magnesium?

And what are the disc materials?

Last but not least, do you what the each of the wheel/brake disc assemblies weighs?

I might be a player for a set... Folks, if you have never swapped from a set of heavy, cast wheels to some really lightweight wheels you simply don't know what you're missing. I swapped the cast OZ's on my Aprilia Tuono over to forged magnesium Marchesini's and the difference in handling, steering precision, steering feel and quickness, etc. was so dramatic I literally couldn't believe it. Best thing I ever did to the bike...

Difference was so dramatic that I am currently waiting on a set of BST carbon-fiber wheels to replace the forged aluminum Marchesini's on my Ducati Hypermotard. The Hyper already handles via thought-control, but I can't wait to get ultra lightweight wheels, plus maybe even a set of CMC composite rotors on the front, on it...

Thanks!

Dallara

~

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adrenalin-moto

· #7 · Feb 2, 2009

The Braking wheels are definitely aluminium and not magnesium. Discs are stainless steel but weigh a lot less than standard type discs because they have no centres. They mount directly to the spokes of the wheel, which has disc carriers as part of the design. This is why you cannot replace just the discs

I don't have the exact weight of these but will find out. One thing is for sure......they will be a lot lighter than the stock wheels

Speed Demon Cycles

Discussion Starter · #8 · Feb 3, 2009

I did some more research and the FL wheel is a 3 inch rim, most sport bikes run a 3.5 I've called my Michelin vendor and he's checking if race rubber will work on the 3 inch rim, sport touring tires should be fine.

Speed Demon Cycles

Discussion Starter · #9 · Feb 6, 2009

We are right in the middle of this 17 inch dilemma. I know an 06 and up dyna hub will not work,nor a flh hub, we haven't tried a xl hub yet. FYI the xr brake rotors are different than earlier models they are smaller, HD offers floating brake rotors in their accessory catalog. 09 model year specific.

we have managed to bolt up a 05 gsxr 1000 wheel, and 06 zx636 wheel fairly easily(just had to machine some spacers) But the big problems is the giant 310mm rotors. so the last hurdle for us right now is to find a 290-295mm rotor that has the bolt pattern of a gsxr 1k wheel. Which me thinks is non existent. So we are going to talk to our machine shop into making 292mm rotors with a gsxr bolt pattern. Unless anyone knows of a good Suzuki guy who can research this for us.

I will keep you guys posted!

adrenalin-moto

· #10 · Feb 6, 2009

FYI the xr brake rotors are different than earlier models they are smaller, HD offers floating brake rotors in their accessory catalog. 09 model year specific.

The XR front rotors are the same as:

ALL MODELS EXPT "XL" 99> 4 PISTONS
ALL MODELS "XL" 04> NISSIN CALIPER

(Taken from Galfer information) and the Galfer part number for the rotor is 680. Although Galfer don't yet list the XR on theri catalogue, these are ones I have fitted to my XR and they are the same diameter as the stock rotors.

The rear rotor is unique to the XR and not shared with any other H-D models. We have a company making us some wave pattern fixed rear rotors to fit.

beardo

· #11 · Feb 6, 2009

What about a front wheel off an M2? The spacing between the mounting holes measures about right. The only thing is the centering hole. May need to machine a bit out of the XR rotors.

Speed Demon Cycles

Discussion Starter · #12 · Feb 18, 2009

Update: so I went to my father in-law's machine shop to start making the rotors to fit this wheel. I wanted to make four of them. 2 for the race wheel and 2 for spares. Priced it all out and it's a tad expensive.

So it got me to thinking again and looking at pics of the BBQ bikes. It looks like when they install the Braking wheels they also install Braking calipers and relocate them lower.

So my next step is too put the wheel and rotors on and make brackets to relocate the calipers back to fit the big 320mm rotors.(kinda like the Brembo kits for Harleys)

I'll keep you guys posted with my progress.

rhinoWErX

· #13 · Feb 19, 2009

Speed Demon Cycles said:
Update: so I went to my father in-law's machine shop to start making the rotors to fit this wheel. I wanted to make four of them. 2 for the race wheel and 2 for spares. Priced it all out and it's a tad expensive.

So it got me to thinking again and looking at pics of the BBQ bikes. It looks like when they install the Braking wheels they also install Braking calipers and relocate them lower.

So my next step is too put the wheel and rotors on and make brackets to relocate the calipers back to fit the big 320mm rotors.(kinda like the Brembo kits for Harleys)

I'll keep you guys posted with my progress.

That's what I was thinking would need to happen (relocate the calipers) - hope it works out as I really want to do this mod.

Thanks for all your hard work and for keeping us posted...

RickyBobby

· #14 · Feb 26, 2009

any progress?

Hey Rob,
Anything new on this project?

Speed Demon Cycles

Discussion Starter · #15 · Feb 26, 2009

We are still working on this. It is very complicated. I should have some more solid info tomorrow.

G

· #16 · Jul 5, 2009

Speed Demon Cycles said:
we have managed to bolt up a 05 gsxr 1000 wheel, and 06 zx636 wheel fairly easily(just had to machine some spacers)

could you tell me if you know if tha wheel of 06-up are have the same compatibility?
you say to use a o5 model bacause it's different from later models?thanks

beardo

· #17 · Jul 6, 2009

Can anyone tell me why an old buell tuber front wheel wouldnt work? They are drilled for rotors on both sides and would just need different bearings, correct? Or no so?

adrenalin-moto

· #18 · Jul 6, 2009

beardo said:
Can anyone tell me why an old buell tuber front wheel wouldnt work? They are drilled for rotors on both sides and would just need different bearings, correct? Or no so?

You probably could use a Buell wheel if you really wanted to, but it wouldn't be a straight fit so you'd still have to make spacers etc. The biggest disadvantage would be that teh Buell discs are far bigger in diameter than the XR ones, so you would need to source smaller diameter discs with the Buell bolt pattern, which may be harder than just fitting jap wheels. The Braking front wheel is more expensive, but will be lighter than pretty much any stock wheel and comes with discs, captive spacers etc so is a straight easy fit

beardo

· #19 · Jul 6, 2009

Matt, when this topic first came up, I ended up taking some rough measurements with a tape. I knew the bearings and spacers would be changed, but looked like the spacing, as far as, the disc bolts are spot on. I figured the XR discs would swap right over. My only concern was the spacing for the calipers. If Im making any sense.

adrenalin-moto

· #20 · Jul 6, 2009

beardo said:
Matt, when this topic first came up, I ended up taking some rough measurements with a tape. I knew the bearings and spacers would be changed, but looked like the spacing, as far as, the disc bolts are spot on. I figured the XR discs would swap right over. My only concern was the spacing for the calipers. If Im making any sense.

It's been a while since I've even seen a tube frame Buell front wheel, but you would also have to check that the brake disc is flat (like the XR) rather than dished. If it is the latter then you would be looking at making spacers for the calipers too

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