Not sure if its been asked here before not sure this is even the right section but here goes.

Anyone any thoughts or expirience of matching the front and rear rims ?

I figure if you run a 120/80/18 on the rear whats to stop you having the front hub re laced to a similar size rim on the front?

The benefits are you would only have to carry one spare tube and tyre;

bike would maybe handle better on mud and sand
probably slower turning on the road

is it worth it ?

for instance if I just buy a second hand 18" rear rim is there any reason I can't then get that rim laced up to my current front hub ?

seen some of the wr 250 x's running knobbly tyres on the front and kinda liked the idea and the practicalities.

hi chris scott has done this read http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...erlander-66506 hope this helps steve

Steve thanks I will get reading

If not done properly it's possible to degrade handling. Depends on the bike.
But could be OK too if geometry is altered to suit. Not sure about a fat wide front tire riding on road ...:confused1:

If your bike normally has a 21" front ... then going to a WIDE 120-18" will certainly change things. Not only do rake and trail change ... but all the subtle geometry your whole bike was designed around. But if you run the same size rim up front as on the rear ... then you've got a very wide tire up front ... which might suck or be weird, dunno?

A 120 rear is pretty narrow for a rear tire ... so you might get away with it. Lots of guys on the DR650 forums have gone from the stock 21"/17" combo to either a 17"/17" Super Moto set up ... or a front 110-19" and maintain stock 130-17" rear. Reports are mixed ... but the 19" front has promise ... at least on the DR650 and if set up right seems to work fine. Most changed suspension completely, adjusted ride height or made other changes to get the bike to handle.

Overall I'm not sure it's worth it.

The front 21" tire on my DR650 lasts 2 or 3 times longer than the rear. So what's the problem? I don't carry a spare front anywhere ... if I start with a new one ... I can go nearly 10,000 miles before it needs replacing.

Rear tire is another story. 3K to 5000 miles depending on tire and usage. I carry a rear. But a front can nearly always be found somewhere within a 10,000 mile range on the road.

Also, fronts tend to be cheap and more plentiful. Much more than a 120-18".
In Latin America 17" rear tires are now fairly common, not hard to get.
Thank all the bikes that use 17" rear tires: KLR, DR650, F650, BMW twins,
Vstroms and lots and lots more. Many shops now stock them. But talk to any KTM rider looking for a 130 or 14-18 ... or any 18". Not common at all.
YMMV, IMHO.

Not a bad idea on a long trip, my XR 125 has 19 front and 17 rear, it was difficult and expensive to find a pair of tyres in Turkey but if they had both been 18 inch it would of been easier and cheaper with little affect to handling.

Got my eye on a second hand rear wheel, so guess its time to try, what's the worst that can happen?

I figure the bike will look great, but may be sluggish through the bends will have to see.

I have found cheap tyres that should fit the bill and seem to have a decent profile.

I will update when I have sourced the wheel at the right price

Ive the exact same size of front as my rear. 120/18..

Meant to say it does feel heavyish on turning. An i it does turn in slower..

It can be done, but you need to get the right rim made to order as other rims don't just fit,, in order to do this you need to have your hub type and measurements, wheel offset then have spokes and wheel rim made to fit, you also need to accept a wider rim and tyre is heavier and may affect the brakes, stability and handling, as well as clearance between forks and the ability to get the wheel out easily from the forks.

i.e. a rear rim wont just fit your front hub, everything is different, wheel offset, rims direction (they are often directional) the angle and sequence that the holes are drilled in the rim are different front to back and bike to bike, the spoke pattern can be different 2 x, 3 x 4 x etc differ side to side and so on, as can the spoke gauge, the wheel parts are all one off made for a particular application, the size of the holes for the nipples are usually smaller front compared to rear - rear wheel spokes are designed to move power and torque to the rim from the hub with minimal distortion and flex as such the spoke pattern is different to the front - often heavier, the front has to deal with front end loading from braking (opposite to the rear forces pushing the rim), the front is designed to be stable for turns and steering (more side to side stresses) the hubs sizes often differ, as do the offsets front and rear, and even changing the rim does not mean the spokes are just shorter the spokes need to be redesigned with different angles and length after bend to take up the new PQR ratio's that are affected as the triangulation ratio moves as the hub width, spokes and rim ratio is altered. If you do what you say try sticking a rear onto the front chances are you make a very dangerous conversion, with very weak spoke set up - if it can fit in any case.

Much easier sourcing a tyre somewhere on the road than the compromises that may affect the bike in other ways.

By the way I trained with an old boy master motorcycle wheel builder and speak from some degree of experience and knowledge. Jake.

Are the forks wide enough apart?

Can you sort out the speedo?

Other than what has been said you are just turning your bike into a Supermoto.

Tom

Just an update on the wheel change finances life etc got in the way and I never did it.

Reading some comments it would seem maybe I was lucky as the last thing I want to do is make the bike sluggish.

I ride the bike to work most days so it needs to be good on the tarmac.

At the minute its all about keeping the costs low, and I seem to be able to get the 90/90/21 front tyres pretty cheap (about £35 delivered) so for now I will stick with this

I used to have a big plastic tank that could hold 23lts and give a massive range but I sold it, the standard tank is a bit small for everyday use.

So I am looking to fit a bigger tank from a road bike maybe a cg style tank but at the moment I am struggling to get anything to fit nicely over the high frame.

I tried an old dt tank that look good but when offered up to the frame it sits way to high or at a daft angle.

Any ideas?