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Many years ago on the 90/6 I hit a bull dust hole at about 60, 2 up and fully loaded the impact dented both the front and the rear rims, but the tyres held and we stayed on the bike, this was near Derby in the northwest, a bit of action with a rubber mallet removed the worst of the dents and the bikes continued through to Sydney, albeit with a bit of imbalance!

chasbmw wrote:Many years ago on the 90/6 I hit a bull dust hole at about 60, 2 up and fully loaded the impact dented both the front and the rear rims, but the tyres held and we stayed on the bike, this was near Derby in the northwest, a bit of action with a rubber mallet removed the worst of the dents and the bikes continued through to Sydney, albeit with a bit of imbalance!

That was a big hit Chas. A spoke will get you home before a flake, when the shit hits the fan.
Would have been a great adventure back then too.

It was quite a lot of dirt.......around 1500 miles if I remember correctly, the worst was the link road into Ayers rock from Alice, too much deep sand, I had to off load my passenger into a passing Ute. We took it all fairly carefully not too much motocross action with a 90/6!

Still talking about a possible rerun witha friend from Holland who has just retired, prices in Aussi are a bit of a problem at the moment so we shall see.

Charles

khittner1 wrote:...motorcycle wheel fitment wouldn't be where I'd go to demonstrate creative adaptation.

Creative adaptation will be the hallmark of technological advance and development, without it –
we'd still be walking about looking for berries rather than discussing antiquated motorcycles on the internet.
Having said that, fitting cast wheels onto a motorcycle, or engineering and fabricating disc-brake hardware,
represents nothing that is "creative", "new", or "innovative".
Well proven engineering knowledge and fabrication techniques to do so readily exist.

At a time before most motorcycle manufacturers were willing to invest in the change,
Lester and Morris, both reputable business concerns
and aware of recent developments in the study of motorcycle handling and chassis design,
manufactured cast motorcycle wheels for the roadracing scene
and then introduced their products to the consumer after-market.

In spite of a luddite reluctance that favored traditional spoked wheels
and the oft touted unsprung-mass differential –
The cast wheels exhibited tangible handling improvements
and performed exceptionally well on both road and track by comparison.

Physics supplies the irrefutable proof and evidence ...
But suffice to say, that many years hence,
no motorcycle manufacturer fits spoked wheels onto a performance road-going or road-racing motorcycle
unless it will be a styling / marketing adventure into the realm of consumer nostalgia.

1974
No spokes here ! Those are Morris magnesium cast wheels:

1974, Rob North framed F-750 BMW, campaigned by Butler & Smith, ridden by Reg Pridmore

vanzen@rockerboxer.com wrote: Physics supplies the irrefutable proof and evidence ...
But suffice to say, that many years hence,
no motorcycle manufacturer fits spoked wheels onto a performance road-going or road-racing motorcycle
unless it will be a styling / marketing adventure into the realm of consumer nostalgia.

I would only correct one little detail to make this statement truly accurate:

"But suffice to say, that many years hence,
no motorcycle manufacturer fits spoked wheels onto a performance road ONLY -going..."

Otherwise, there's an awful lot of very high performance Adventure and Supermoto bikes out there in conflict with the statement.

Even without acknowledging the fact
that the vast majority of those who purchase
an "adventure" or "super-moto" mc
will experience neither,
but will certainly be pleased with the image ...

You are absolutely correct, Major.

Oh, and, in further evidence of your theory:

When I got my "nostalgic" 2007 Ducati GT1000 Sport Classic, the very first thing I did was put modern cast Brembo wheels on it (although, in all fairness, the stock spoke wheels had [inexcusably] steel rims).

"I like the look" will be ample justification
for the use of spoked wheels in my book.
Many defensible rationalizations exist, too,
but I will find that eschewing either spoked or cast wheels
on the basis of misinformation
to be disturbing.

The difference in stiffness between a cast wheel and a wire spoke wheel on an airhead, unless the frame has been seriously modified and forks replaced with something more substantial, would not be noticed.

robert wrote:The difference in stiffness between a cast wheel and a wire spoke wheel on an airhead, unless the frame has been seriously modified and forks replaced with something more substantial, would not be noticed.

Your subjective and personal evaluation, then -
And so,
not to be confused
with any valid and verifiable experience of others, eh ?