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good call from turbo charger!
you would be hard pressed to damage the rear rim on the f650. i did some super stoney tracks with 1 bar whist cruising down the east side of lake turkhana in nw kenya. i was carrying a 12L fuel bladder and 2x5L fuel bottles, plus water, spare front tyre (it was a hardly worn tourance i was gonna use further south), all my gear etc (and its a bmw so you know it was heavy). i dented the front. i installed a tube. it would have been fine indefinately except i wanted it tubeless again because i paid 400 bucks for the tyre pressure monitors (RDC). ok if you want, change the front rim. but not both. honestly, save the bucks. if you do damage the front in bum-f*ck-nowhere, pay the freight and replace the one you damaged. my first trip, i cracked an excel rim on an xr250 while riding gravel. sh*t happens. i kept riding until i got to a nice town where i airfreighted a new front rim/spokes/hub. happened to be luang prabang, laos. cost me 100 bucks inc freight. bargain. read the posts above. plenty of km with no completely unrideable situations resulting from rim damage. i find it hard to believe the same situation where the alloy is damaged beyond repair would NOT cause the same issues with a steel / spoke rim. finally, i rode botswana a couple months back with a mate on a dr200. broke 1 spoke, then 2. no spares, no spoke tool. broke 7 & thats the end of it - the wheel was too warped to continue. truck it back to jo'burg. sure, he should have had the tools and spares, but this is weight i didn't need to carry on the f650. happy travels d |
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Thanks for the info, I guess?? |
If BMW's spoked rims were high quality there might be an argument for having spoked wheels, but the BMW rims are made of cheese. I've done literally thousands of km off road on alloy rims on a R1200GS and an F650GS twin, and they are just fine so long as you ride with compassion for your bike.
I've seen/heard of two examples of damaged alloy rims, one caused by a head-on accident, the other by hitting a kerb at 100kph. I've actually seen more examples of damaged spoked rims than alloys. And the advantage of tubeless tyres... I've only ever had one puncture in tubeless tyres in more than 200,000km. But on my tubed Yamaha Tenere I've had five punctures in 20,000km and two have been real show stoppers. |
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I don't think anything about overland travel is black and white. Definitely nothing related to the bikes we take. Yes, spoked rims are probably better, but that doesn't mean you're guaranteed to have problems without them. No matter what you're intending to ride, someone has done a harder ride on something far less suited, and had a great time doing it. |
Thanks guys the info, it's great and I hope for a lot more.
I guess I should have clarified what I'm looking for and that is the best solution for the rims. As part of my search I thought I would put it out to the Hubb to see if there has been problems and so far very little has been reported, which is great. I'm also very aware that the bike will go around the world on it's alloys but again thats not what I looking for, I'm looking for the best solution, not the most rewarding solution, cost effective or spiritually uplifting, etc. Kinda like why I'm not riding my wr450f on the trip but instead got a F800GS which is in my very, very humble opinion the best solution for me on this trip. |
Cast Wheels
As I said in an earlier post I have ridden my bike 2up fully packed over some
of the most gruelling roads in Cape York Nth. Australia, and then overland thru Africa including the big tester of Mayole-Isililo road as well as the potholed roads of Kenya and Uganda. You are aware of the bike you are riding like clearance, cast wheels etc. so if you value your equipment you take care, now most people I have met on the road do take care of there machines as they are travellers out there doing it. Enduro riders would not like cast wheels, but I have not met many of them on the road, but there is no shortage of them offering opinions that are relevant to them but not to relevant to someone riding his own bike on a RTW. So I give them a cautious thumbs up based on my own experience. Paul:scooter: |
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Yes, I manage to do about 9hr work day in 6hrs so it leaves me with plenty of time to trawl the forums for unsuspecting nuts looking to replace perfectly good alloy rims with spoked ones. :smartass: All I guess I'm saying is take the opinion of others with a grain of salt and make up your own mind, only you know whether you have the money to spend on spokes and only time will tell if it was the right decision. Personally I like to look after my investments Francois (my 1200GS) included so i ride very slowly over bad/rough/rocky terrain. There are quite a few factors at play here and not just whether I have alloy or spoked wheels, because when I'm riding I don't usually think about the wheels.
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I've been away for the past couple of weeks, and boy has this thread taken off!
Im gonna stick with my cast alloys, don't seem to be any reason to change! As a rider I would rather take it slow and enjoy the ride! Might not be doing russia in 2012 as planned due to money and job not going well! doh But there is talk of doing morocco on 2011! :clap: Good times! |
Check on ADVrider, there's a guy that's done the spoke conversion (Markymcd is his user name I think, from Vancouver BC), a F650GS single front will bolt right on and for the rear he used an F800GS hub and had Woody's lace it to an Excel rim. He's pretty happy with the results. I think it should be available from BMW myself...
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Woody's on an F650GS Twin
Hi Guys,
Just thought I'd chime in. We stopped by Woody's on the way home from a 6 week trip around the western US and had wheels installed on my wifes F650GS. Firstly, Woody's Wheel Works is a great shop with great bunch of folks that work there. Getting the wheels ordered was easy, and they offered us a fair trade-in on the OEM cast rims that made the price totally reasonable - not sure if they always do that. Our setup uses excel rims, Superlaced to a 650GS hub on the front and a modified KTM hub on the rear. And it's tubeless :) During the install they explained every aspect of the wheels, the shop and their process. The wheels are rockin! They're a work of art. I got to take Nita's bike for a spin in the dirt and the difference was remarkable. I honestly didn't think I'd feel that much of a difference but the bike felt noticeably more planted. On the highways the ride was also super-stable. I can't recommend them enough. The full story is here: Day 36: Woodys Wheel Works. And Denver. | welovemotogeo The full gallery is here: Western US Gallery | welovemotogeo Here are some pics showing the set-up: http://www.welovemotogeo.com/advimg/woodys/01.jpg http://www.welovemotogeo.com/advimg/woodys/02.jpg http://www.welovemotogeo.com/advimg/woodys/03.jpg http://www.welovemotogeo.com/advimg/woodys/04.jpg http://www.welovemotogeo.com/advimg/woodys/05.jpg http://www.welovemotogeo.com/advimg/woodys/06.jpg http://www.welovemotogeo.com/advimg/woodys/07.jpg :clap |
Nice!
Those are indeed beautiful wheels Issa. How did they make them tubeless? Did they use some kind if sealant where the spokes come through the rim?
Out of curiosity, how much did the wheels set you back? |
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