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Hey all,
I’m about to come into the possession of a monolever R65 that’s been previously cafe’d. While I don’t entirely hate the ol snowflake rims, I’m considering switching them out for spoke wheels.

My question, what bmw hubs fit on the monolever airheads? I know they need to be 4 stud, and that what fits the R80 models will basically fit the R65 but I’m struggling to develop a decent list of bike hubs I can utilise

Hi,

On a point... the cast wheels fitted to monolever airheads are normaly referred to as 'Y' spoke for obvious reasons. Snowflakes are the cast wheels fitted to twin shock bikes... not getting at you but it may save some confusion down the line...

I believe that, if you're looking for a 'plug and play' solution, you will be limited to the spoked wheels fitted to some 'official' versions of the monolever but I don't think you'll find them easy to source. The front from a R100R/Mystic series bike is said to fit with a bit of fettling and the hub fitted to the later GS series has four studs

but how it fits up to a Monoshock rear drive is questionable ... in any case, they're made to lace up to a 17" rim.

I've also heard of people fitting the 3 stud rear drive from an early GS which allows a 18 " spoked wheel although I've never seen it. Virtually anything can be achieved if you really set your mind to it but, like everytning else, it comes with a cost and it's your decision whether the end result is worth it.

Rob

Cheers Rob, I’ve learnt something! I actually like the snowflake, not a huge fan of the Y spoke. I wonder if I can fit the older 3 stud rear drive and then use the snowflake. Might be easier to source then a wire spike rear

The snowflake is a spline drive wheel and the Y spoke is bolted to the fd, no spline. Incompatible.
You'd need to change the final drive to pre '84, or twin shock model, to fit a snowflake.

Ah bugger, Guess I’ll stick to a wire spoke hub then

Aus_R65 wrote: ↑Wed Dec 11, 2019 6:44 am Cheers Rob, I’ve learnt something! I actually like the snowflake, not a huge fan of the Y spoke. I wonder if I can fit the older 3 stud rear drive and then use the snowflake. Might be easier to source then a wire spike rear

The 3 stud hub is only used on the 'GS and the R80 ST which always had spoked wheels.

One other thing you need to be aware of relating to the front wheel is that the monoshock bikes have a completely different bearing system to the earlier twinshock machines, Monos use sealed ball races, the earlier machines use taper rollers. Even the axle diameters are very different. Add to that the facts that the early machines use 19" wheels against the Mono 18" wheels and that the disc dimensions and fixings are very different. In practice it is nigh on impossible to fit an early wheel (spokes or snowflake) to a Mono front end.

There are non OEM conversions available... but they cost an arm and a leg... probably more than the bike is worth' Here is an example...https://www.walzwerk-motorcycles.de/onl ... ke-wheels/

If you can't come to terms with the 'Y' spoke wheels, I would say you have a choice between searching for a set of spoked wheels to fit a Mono... these were mainly produced for and fitted to 'official' machines and may well be hard to find... or undertake an engineering solution... or spend a fortune.

There are a number of accounts on line from people who have done the modification and I think you'd be well advised to work through them to see how others have approached it. Googling 'Monolever spoked wheels' will find them.

Rob

Cheers Rob, the front forks on the current bike are rooted so I will be swapping them out front end with something else, maybe gsxr or cbr600. I’ll explore the engineered solution, if I find something that works well and doesn’t cost the earth I’ll report back