Motorcycle Touring - Spoked Wheels vs. Alloy Wheels - What you have to know?
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- Опубліковано 1 жов 2024
- Spoke Wheels or Alloy Wheels - how to choose?
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let’s talk about the wheels today. How to choose the right model? To have a nice and shiny alloy wheels or adventure looking spoke wheels? In this video I will try to explain as simple as possible about the pros and cons to each one of the competitors.
The first motorcycles were nothing more than bicycles with small engines. At the beginning they even use very simple wooden wheels. Then slowly move to wire spoke wheels and it was about the same until later 70’ when I believe was Honda who first design alloy wheels. Since then the revolution began.
N: 1 - Alloy wheels.
Pros:
Cheaper price.
Different designs.
Possibility to have wider tire.
You can run tubeless tires.
Easy to repair with very simple kits, no need to remove the tire from the bike.
Safety on the high speed.
Of course as anything else they have some cons.
Number 1 is the weight. Yes, they are heavier.
Number 2 is that it is easy to bend it or damage it, and when it happened will be almost impossible to repair it.
Number 3 - they are not good for off road ride. Off road terrain can easily bend the rim and you are done.
Let’s see the spoke wheels now.
They are used mostly for off road motorcycles. The main reason for that is because they are light and durable..
So pros:
Light,
Durable,
Perfect for off and on road as well.
The spokes could be replaced in the case of damage.
Cons:
The first one is very obvious - you need tubes. Which is fine, most of you will never need to change it, but when you go on the trip you need to have a spare with you.
The second and very big minus for this type of tires is that tube could blow up while you ride and when this happens you lose control of the bike. Is depend of the situation, but this could end dramatically.
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I'm good with my spoked wheels. I ride cruisers, I get a blowout I call for a pickup...Lol.
Good option.
my 2018 vstrom xt has tubeless spoked weels and doesn't cost more than 10k. they are great but in this model the alloy wheels are lighter around 1kg per wheel. so it depends on the manufacturer. hopefully doesn't get damaged any time in my possession because they are really expensive compared to the alloy.
BMW makes spoked wheels with tubeless tires since 1993 :)
Best of both worlds
My new Vstrom 1000 XT has spoke tubless rims and in gold they look great and the price was 12.000 euros. Best price performance on the market by far.
Enjoy it!
Also the small matter of removing the wheel on my shaft drive 200 plus kilo Yamaha cruiser with no centre stand. and all the tyres are being made tubeless so i have to be careful with speed as well and checking the spokes is a pain. im getting rid of the spoked wheels and going alloy lol
Bro pls tell how to choose grade whise spokes
Because I heard that spokes have some grade.
So which grade of spoke is best for RE
alloy wheels is lighter than spokes one compatible size. puncture repair is dramatically simple than spoke tyre...
Any chance of making a simulated tire change on the road? BTW, A tube blowout is my biggest concern on the road, specially on the very mountanous highways in the region I live... keep up the good work Pavlin!
I will think about it.
right, now I understand why x-adv wheels look like that, they are tubeless spoked wheels. I quite like the look of it, much better than alloy.
Btw, most of oem alloy wheels are bad for off road be it bikes or suvs because they cast, cast alloy bends and cracks very easy and can not be fixed. This is why offroaders prefer steel wheel, if it gets bent it can be fixed on the spot, if not perfect it will get you going unlike cast alloy.
Best wheel would be forged alloy, very light and strong, but set of these would cost as much as brand new bike.
how about Spoked wheels with wide and big tires? can they Handle them? hope u respond 🏍️
I'm American , so it took a while to dig your stile . I get it now , thanks for being on here . Thanks All
I am sorry man, but it is not easy to do it on different then your language.
to answer your first question, I like the alloy wheel with a lot of "spokes" that looks like spoked one
generally the spoked wheels are heavier that the alloy ones. Also if you want to convert your tubed wheel you can do it with just a 3M tape, or order an Outex kit, just be sure that the rim is able to hold safely the tyre, some old 21 rims can't be converted because of that
Cheers. Another straight forward,no nonsense informative video. Just ordered your book by the way and looking forward to reading it. Cheers.
Thank you very much Malcolm!
Which one has best strength in the lateral direction? Thinking of using motorcycle wheels on a quadricycle.
Spoked
As someones who's majority of the riding has been in the mountains (Himalayas), the spoked wheels have been the only option of the broken roads and the dirt tracks. People do use alloys but the speed would be too slow. In any case even the average Indian road on the highway is likely to pop up a major pot-hole without warning. I do admit that carrying the extra stuff is a pain and I am considering the new BMW GS310 (if the Indian made bike is ever released in India) with alloys, as it is a great, light tourer (I ride an Enfield Classic 500).
Great videos by the way. Though I've been riding since last few years (started at 42), I am still learning. Do let me know if you ever feel like riding in some of the most challenging terrain in the world. :)
Safe riding.
Rajesh
Yes, for off road, the spoked wheels are the only choice.
Motorcycle Adventures and if it's get puncture on offroad then is there better solution on that ?
Alloy wheels and spoked wheels weigh the same. Alloy wheels Also handle better and are more stable on the road. Alloy wheels are a lot more brittle and can break completely and potentially catastrophically.
The Only actual advantage with spoked wheels over alloy wheels are there durability for offroad and that they are easier to fix if they are damaged.
True
waaw was looking of that. i was about to ask you about this in couple of days, i believe in fréquency's, thank you.
Good, I am glad that it helps.
Is it possible to retro-fit tubeless spoked aftermarket to a Honda CB500X?
Could be
Greetings from Colorado. I just found your channel. Thanks a lot for doing these.
You are welcome!
The new tenere 700 doesn’t look like its tubeless spokes wheels. 😕 Please tell yamaha, they seem to watch your videos!
No it is with normal tube tires.
all comes back to simple light bike that can be repaired anywhere by the rider. i travel with spare innertubes and finelec aerosol spray sealent or xtire sealant. in fact there are good products that prevent puntures. practising how to take wheels off etc is vital to save time on the road. once uve practised it is easy afterwards.
Thanks for taking the time again!
Great informations as aways! Bring me a book to Brazil pls! Tks for this video
Thanks Renato!
I would love a set of wheels for the F800gs with those blue hubs & 19" 3.5" 17" 4.5" black sealed rims. From woodys
Wow, expensive choice.
Thanks Palvin for another informative video. As far as I know there are no Titanium wheels at least in Mass production. "Alloy" wheels can be very light. Forged aluminium alloy wheels and particularly forged magnesium wheels. If you have the money Carbon fibre wheels are super strong and light. Obviously there is different applications for different types of wheels. All the best Max
This is what I wanted to say, but ....
You can have tubeless spoked wheels on vstroms: 650/1000. Vstroms will never go seriously offroad, do I wonder od spoked are really needed?
For only road ride, no they are not necessary.
@@motorcycleadventures Thanks for response. I mean some dirt roads, fire lanes, that sort of surfaces. No 'no road', rocky surfaces, etc. I'm asking because I want to buy vstrom 650 but don't know which version to choose: XT with spoked wheels, oraz cheaper cast wheels.
Have to agree.
But, you can put a sealer in the tubes which fixes most punctures on the move. I still carry spares tubes just in case but this is the best compromise for me on my Tenere. With heavy duty tubes I think this is a reasonable puncture defence.
I believe that alloy wheels corrode over time and sometimes need a liquid sealer to maintain integrity too.
Ordered book a while ago, hopefully will arrive this week.
Happy travels.
The sealant will work, but not always. Also the tire will be rubbish after that. Thank you very much for the book!
Motorcycle Adventures you may already know, but..
Rally Raid in the UK do an excellent conversion on the Honda cb500x. Part of this conversion is spoke wheels with an option for sealing the rims to allow fitment of tubeless tyres. For me it is cheaper to stick with my current system , but the wheel company claim they can convert other spoke wheels (including tenere) to tubeless operation.
Chris Scott, a traveller of some repute has I believe done the conversion on his cb500. His website is full of good stuff.
BARtubeless is the brand and website
There's also the 'Tubliss' system. A small 100 psi tube seals the tyre to the rim, then the tyre can be inflated to any pressure, even zero and it won't come off the rim. Only available for 18, 19 and 21 inch wheels though.
Hi you forgotten an option, these are so-called mousse tyre. I think it's a good option for long trips.
No, I did not. Mousses are good for racing, not for long trips. They cannot last many kilometres.
I do not know if you mean the same as me. I only know mousse tube as a replacement for the regular tubes. These are used mainly on motocross and enduro.
αποδεκτές και χρήσιμες πληροφορίες τις σέβομαι και τις επεξεργάζομαι ... ευχαριστώ
Honda sold bikes with tubless DID spoked wheels back in the mid-80s, and Yamaha followed soon after with the same brand on their larger Viragos, so it has been with us for quite some time. Not sure why it still has not become the universal standard.
I've read more that spoked wheels are heavier than alloy wheels. Pleas explain. Also, please address performance savings by having less rotating mass. Thanks as always.
Hi Pavlin, this question of how to repair a tyre puncture keeps me stressed. I easily repaired a tubeless on road riding. But so far never punctured my tube type on Africa Twin, and wander what to do when it will happen? Should I bring with me anything to dismantle my wheel and tyre, and some pump to inflate again after repair ? What is your experience, how do you prepare yourself for that ?
Yes, you need to dismantle the tire from the wheel, fix it and mount it again. You need air pump or compressor. It is not a rocket since, but you will definitely need some practice.
Motorcycle Adventures thank you.
You can watch some youtube video and learn to do it at home. Also note: spoked wheels are not so hard to destroy beyond repair, as people suggest. You should drive carefully on long motorcycle trips to avoid damaging the rim. On long motorcycle trip I would prefer tubeless alloy over spoked with tubes. I destroyed one spoke wire and bend the rim and had to repair tube almost every 200 km.
In my country, most all spoked wheels require tubed tires. As someone who manages to catch nails on long trips, fixing a tubed tire is much more work than having a tubeless tire. I know spoked wheel are more "fixable" and take more abuse before breaking, but the tubed tire isn't worth the trade off to me. Only one bike I've seen had spoked wheels that were sealed so you ran tubeless tires.
The Honda wheels where comstar wheels. They where composite with the inner separate from the rim. The first cast wheels I remember where I the 2 stroke yamahas. The RD350 and 400 I think?
Yes, maybe.
They weren't the first. Not even the first Yamaha.
Tubeless spoked!
How about maintenances on spoke wheels?
Never done anything!
Another great video.Thanks
Glad you enjoyed it!
Had a front flat on my Road King doing 60 mph. Pretty terrifying experience I can do without ever having again
I will agree and I don't wanted either.
Was it an old tube? Did you replace used tires but reused the tube? In trying to figure out if the safety concern applies only to old tubes.
@@DouglasMendes1983 consider getting a nail in a tire. In a tubeless, there is one small leak and the tire bead is better seated to the rim. On a tubed tire, the tube pops and the air rushes out much more suddenly. The tire bead is also not seated as tightly because of the design of the rim and tire. In the last three years and 24,000 miles, I’ve gotten 2 nails and a small tear. One nail and the tear became slow leaks that I discovered in my driveway. The other nail became noticeable in a controlled manner and my tire never unseated from the wheel. Personally, I’m surprised we still insist on using spoked wheels on street bikes. There are a lot of beautiful bikes out there that never make it on my list because of the spokes wheels. Lots of guys love em.
@@joej2353 I agree. Check my other comment below regarding the new Tenere 700. The tubed tire is such a disappointment. I wish Yamaha followed Suzuki's (vstrom xt), BMW's (850gs and 1200/1250gs), Ducati (Multistrada 950) and Triumph's (Tiger 900 rally) examples and went for tubeless spoked wheels.
Very good video. This and the 'big bike as little bike' video are real winners.
what is your opinion on making your spoked wheels tubeless with the sealing kits? I have seen several online doing it
Nice video! Regarding the "comes with 15,000$ cost" comment about new motorcycles with tubeless spoked rims, there are cheaper examples, i.e. V-Strom DL650 XT, which starts from aprox 8,000 EUR
Yes, correct, there are some cheaper options.
Exactly the bike I bought and for exactly that reason!
Same here, 2017 v-Strom 650XT, spoked tubeless wheels
There are also some more expensive options but wouldn't part with my KTM 1290
I also bought the Vstrom 650 XT for the same reason
My 2001 Cagiva Navigator 1000 has got tubeless tires and spoked wheels as standard, so I wouldn't say you need to put out 15k€ to get them on a bike. Otherwise, thanks for a good video!
Yes, in some bikes they coming as stock.
Thankyou! I learned again!.. always thought the alloy rims were lighter, so less suspended weight, oops... Been considering sealing my spokes & going tubeless on the KLR (I doubt I will though, unsure)
You are welcome anytime!
Have you had any luck making regular spoked wheels tubeless? I see advertisements for Tubliss but it is not road approved and there are others. I like spoked wheels but hate patching tubes!
I have heard about it, but not tried yet.
As far as I know, spoked wheels are also somewhat flexible and can withstand bumps better. That is also a pro during off road use. But, as always, correct me if I'm wrong instead.
Correct.
The new spoked tubeless rims are pretty sweet. I'd love to upgrade to those on my O2 tiger. But$$$
I agree!!
the last is the best
Cool!
You did not mention almost the most important thing. Spoked are flexible, so it helps suspension, or even bearings to absorp some hits and vibration. That makes them harder to bend, too. Of course on fast road bike flexible is not good, so another reason why they use cast wheels.
True.
Thanks for great information its good to have new knowledge in morning time and i think theres 1 advantage for spoked wheels the fuel efficiency it gives more mileage than alloy.
In India i have noticed that Hero splandor (100cc motorcycle) goes 5 more km than alloys need to learn something that i don't know can you help
I m sorry, but I cannot, I don't know anything about that bike.
Spokes every time for me
Good, the same for me.
Hallo Pavlin.Ich habe dich gestern in Zürich bei Swissmoto gesehen.Aber ich wollte nicht stören.Wünsche dir alles gute im leben und weiter so.Wenn du wieder einmal in der Schweiz bist du kannst sich bei mir melden. Frage: dein Buch gibt nur auf Englisch?? Gruss
You should have contacted me, but thanks! I am sorry, but the book is only on English!
Thanks Pavel, another good info. If one day I can afford an adventure bike like the BMW 850, I will check if it has spoke-tubeless wheels.
You are welcome anytime!
haha, very helpful video, so a catch in it! who's gonna spend spoked tubeless wheels for 15000 dollars! haha...great video though, didn't know about the third option!! :))
I am glad that it helps!
Very good. As you said, one should also be concerned about the implications of the type of tires. Tubeless tires are safer and easier to fix.
Yes, much easier to fix it.
Tubeless is better I believe too
Great video
I didn't know about that 3rd model
Cool
Keep up with good work!👍
I will, thanks!
Hi Motorcycle Adventures ! Very nice and usefull vídeos. Can you tell how many times you get a flat tire on your tenere 660 ? What kind of repair you use ?
Thanks
I had it couple of times and I use standard patches and air pump.
Do you ever tryed some kind of liquid sealing for tubes, to prevent flat tires ?
Thanks
Hey Pavlin, I went to Kawazaki and saw the KLR 650 and from your videos I see that the bike it self is not important but as every one knows that a good bike will help alot on the road. From your opinion is it a good bike. And if its not please suggest another one so I can go to the dealership and check.
Thanks.
Sultan from Saudi Arabia.... :)
KLR is very well know bike, proven in many adventures around the world. I cannot recommend anything without knowing what type of trips you are planing to have.
Motorcycle Adventures
It will be my second bike. The trips will be short most of the time, nothing more than 200 km on this bike.
If you have any bike on mind just write it down and I will check it on the Dealership. Thanks
bonjour
great vidéo as usual.
please ,could you tell me witch travel boots do tou wear during your trip ??
i am really interested .
sorry for my bad english , i am French.
I had a boots from Heingericke (German brand). I am planning to buy Sidi Adventure now.
thank you for the answer, you should do a vidéo about boots.
Hi, do you wear knee brace and ,or, neck brace ?
That is what I am worry about in my new Africa Twin. Riding with 2 spare tubes and all this gadgets to repair the wheel is not so funny for me, additional kilograms and less space. Tubeless have only one small repair kit and that is all.
Yes, but...
And for this "but..." I have bought it. ;-)
Yes it's good u have spare tubes... but what about the control over bike if u have sudden flat tyres ???
There are conversion options both kits like Outex and homemade so regular spoked rims could be made into tubeless.
One of the issues with tubes on big ADV bikes you haven't mentioned that heavy duty ADV tires like Motoz, Mitas Dakars, etc are alot stiffer, so mounting them by the roadside could be challenging. We had a whole bike in the air resting on kickstand and could not break the bead.
As I said earlier, I never use it personally these kits and cannot really talk about it, but it could be very good option. Yes, some tires as Metzeler Karoo for example are very hard and almost impossible to change it on the road.
Also you can put a tube in tubeless cast rim in emergency; it had been done. And there are some companies who will straighten cast wheels. Not cheap but cheaper than new wheel.
And wheels are outsourced Honda/Yamaha/Kawasaki/Suzuki buy it from alloy wheel makers.. I think I saw Enke stamped on some when was changing tires.. Suzuki V-Strom and Yamaha Super Tenere are using DID tubeless rims.
4:00. Oops. Theres a cast wheel in that group
What is your opinion about, converting normal spoked wheels to tubeless? There's some product called outex, which goes on the inner part of the rim, and you can fit a tubeless tyre on it? Is it worth it?
I never use it personally and cannot really talk about it, but it could be very good option.
Running tubeless on a wheel meant for a tube can have some risks. Wheels meant for tubeless use have something of a lip just inboard of the bead to prevent the tire from dismounting itself as could happen in a blowout or a sudden flat.
hello there ,I am from india New Delhi and as a new rider riding for a year on a 300 cc bike I am planning to but the new Africa twin for my journeys and then I figured out that in india most of the adventure bike almost all have tube tyres and I was searching for answers online weather I can change my rims to tubeless rims and are they good enough and after watching a lot of bloggers i finally found the answer on ur vlog.thank you for the help.
could also please tell me are the tubeless spoke rim run well for long touring and also on a lil off road
They are fine for all roads.
Thank you so much sir for clearing out my queries , if u ever come to delhi India be my guest also which is the best brand for tubless wire spoked rim for adv bikes
Greetings from India . Third option is a new learning. Thank you
I think you may of forgot to put the link to German puncture video on the screen lol, that was a great trip and you were very lucky that guy helped and extended his hospitality. Once again another great informative video thank you 🙂
Thanks man!
Another great video. Well done Pavlin.
I got a question total different to todays topic: I saw that You got an connection from your handguards to your handlbar. I just saw solutions that cost about 80-100€... how did you closed that gap?
Thaks for your help.
What exactly you mean? I cannot understand.
You got some handguards mounts made of aluminum to attach your handguards with your haldbar. I want to know if you built it your own or is there a cheap possibility to buy?
Best regards...
These guards are from Acerbis. I customized a bit. Actually from two models I made one. You can find it in Ebay.
Will third option good for Long distance ?
Yes, the best from all three.
Nice
Very useful information.I be in that situation .Thanks for sharing.
You are welcome anytime!
Pavlin can you buy wheels like on the BMW GS aftermarket?
I guess yes, but there are not very cheap and difficult to find the proper for the model. You will need to change only the rim, then you will need different spokes and many more. There are some products to make the conversion easy, but I never test it.
Not really, as I said you will need a special hubs for your bike
Motorcycle Adventures ,ok thanks
As always, great information on motorcycling! Thank you for teaching.
Thanks for taking time and watch it Philip!
Thank you sir...
You are welcome anytime!
👍
Nice info.
Great Stuff again ;)
Thanks!
Excellent topic and video
Thanks!
V.nice info👍
Great advice Pavlin!
Thanks!
Hi Pavlin, this summer I'm going for my firs long trip to Nord Kaap and it will be 20 countries in 20 days challenge .
Im a little bit concerned of being with my mate so long together. Last year Ill done 6 day trip and I seen a sparks in between a to petrol cans :D
Please give us some good tips, how to have a nice trip and not to kill each other :D
Thanks for Your great vlog.
Well, I can't really help you with this. You have to find the right company or travel alone.
But Im shore there could be some tips from experiencer rider like You.
Thanks.
My tip, go by yourself. You'll meet more locals and have a better time.
Its not bad idea,but sometimes when you see something good You want to share it to someone and its hard to crack some jokes with yourself or locals only. ;)
Aigaro Pavlin in did a video on this. My experience, I've always traveled alone. Except one time, I went for a five week trip with a friend. He liked to get up early and ride when there was frost on the road. He liked to ride at 150-180 km/h. He had to stop all the time for fuel and stop for a long time each time because he was tired. When we stopped, he would explain to me why I was a bad rider, why I slowed him down, how I could improve as a rider. By midday, after 6 hours on the road we would have maybe 2 hours riding, and covered 250 km. He would have a headache and want to get a hotel to sleep. If it rained, he wouldn't ride. After 3 weeks I said "I've been riding 35 years, with a motorcycle as my primary transport, I don't really need a critique of my riding every time we stop". Without a word he got on his bike and rode away. In the last 2 weeks I rode 3 times further than we had in 3 weeks. I saw places that we hadn't been able to get to because the bikes couldn't go that far on a tank of fuel at 160 km/h. I met locals and I had a great time without ever breaking the speed limit. I saw the scenery, not just the patch of tar 100m ahead of the bike. I stayed for days in the spots I liked. I rode all day instead of a few hours in the morning. I did bush walks and stayed in hostels instead of hotels.
Mansplaining
my 2019 gsa has spoke wheel but it use tubeless tire
Tubliss system can be mounted on any spoked wheel. But a fourth option would be mousses, which are used primarily in Dakar and MX.
To mount it on every wheel, you will need expensive additional stuff and not always work as expected.
Hope honda are listening
I also hope
my god what kind of language is this?? ... I did not understand half of it.....
Well, this is the best I can do. Next time I can make it on my own language...