Lester Mags

[Garnet]

I just bought a 5 speed and 37/11 rear drive from an R75/7 and have an opportunity to buy most of the rest of the bike for a very few hundred dollars. Included are a decent looking set of Lesters.

I put a set of Lesters on my R100/7 in 1978 and ran them for around 70,000 miles and then sold the bike. I allways liked the look of them, but could never prove that they improved handling in any way. I do know that they are heavier than wires, but also much stiffer. That ridgeity made them very easy to change tires, and only ever used the tool kit tire levers as a result.

Sooooo..... should I buy up the rest of this stuff (which is mostly junk) to get myself another set, or should I just get them for Ebay fodder?

[Major Softie]

For a few hundred, yeah, you want to buy it one way or the other.

Lesters are nice if they're the look you want. They are heavy, but what is it you want? I think they'd still be great on a hack rig, but, if you're looking for suspension compliance, unsprung weight is a big no-no.

I was a teenager when they were popular, so they still look good to me, but I suspect that's because I view them through the eyes of an ignorant teen. They were popular because they looked like magnesium wheels, and that's what all the cool race bikes had. I think the "look" is still really the only good reason to put them on (other than the hack comment above).

[DanielMc]

I had Lesters on an 100/7 twenty odd years ago, and fitted a set to an 100S I did some work on a couple of years ago. They were heavier than spoked but lighter than snowflake and I liked the look. They could also be used with the more modern post '80 Brembo front end without difficulty.

Snowbum doesn't like them much though: http://bmwmotorcycletech.info/lesterwhls.htm

[Garnet]

Thanks for the replies. Yes Kurt, I only want them because they where cool in the 70s.

Thanks Dan for the link to Snobum's thoghts. I had never seen problems with them in the past, but I only knew of two sets with a lot of miles on them, one set where mine and the others belonged to a freind during the same time period.

Perhaps we never had bearing problems because they where installed by a very knowledgeable dealer. One of the very few people that I would allow to work on and or ride my bike.

The problem now is, I don't have a bike that they will fit right now...............hmmmm..........

[Duane Ausherman]

I am with snowbum on this issue. Lester made a whole lot of versions of the cast wheels, many of which are not documented.

I would use BMW wheel bearing stacks in the hubs.

One can't just pull a stack out of a BMW wheel and insert it into the Lester, as suggested by Lester back in the day. It must be fully checked out, cleaned and the preload checked. Lester got a bad rap for bearings spinning in the hub, but it was the original stack from the factory that was the cause.

[Major Softie]

The problem now is, I don't have a bike that they will fit right now...............hmmmm..........

Uh oh.

[Chuey]

A few years back, I undertook a wheel weighing project. It wasn't the most scientific as I weighed some with tires, some without and also weighed some tires and tubes off the wheel. What I remember finding out was that the weight of each of these wheels is very high. The tires weigh a lot as well. I think each spoked wheel weighed somewhere around two pounds less than a snowflake and I thought the Lester weighed about the same as a snowflake.

I have built some off road wheels for customers. These were from approx. the 80s and the rims were way lighter than our Weinmann rims. I've never dented a rim on my motorcycle and it makes me want to check into the lighter off road rims.

Chuey

[Ken in Oklahoma]

A few years back, I undertook a wheel weighing project. It wasn't the most scientific as I weighed some with tires, some without and also weighed some tires and tubes off the wheel. What I remember finding out was that the weight of each of these wheels is very high. The tires weigh a lot as well. I think each spoked wheel weighed somewhere around two pounds less than a snowflake and I thought the Lester weighed about the same as a snowflake.

I did a similar weighing exercise a handful of years ago. Mine was done with bare rims, a stock spoked wheel, a snowflake, and a Lester. The results were as you report, that the snowflake and the lester rims weighed very close to the same, and the spoked wheel was a couple pounds lighter.

Unfortunately I can't find the actual weights. But I posted them and I think Vanzen captured them.



Ken

[Garnet]

I do remeber both of you posting those results in the past.

If I do get them I'll weigh them and post the results.

I'll also at some point wiegh the wheels from my conversion to see how much more steel rims weigh.

[SteveD]