Wire spoke wheels

If I could change anything stylistically on my 650 Maxim it would be wire spoke wheels. I just dig the old school look vs. alloys. I was checking out @Mezzmo XJ build with a different alloy wheel from a 900 so I'm wondering if Yamaha made a shaft drive bike with wire spoke wheels (and ideally drum brake). Browsed through several pages of google photos but couldn't find any shaft drives with wire wheels. Presumably finding a front wheel with the disc on the correct side would be relatively easy vs. the rear? Has anyone else contemplated or attempted this kind of swap?

 

Should have searched harder - 1986 XV700

 

Ha, well I'm vacillating between "in for a penny, in for a pound" and "you need to have your head examined" and if past performance is any indication in for a penny always wins. When it's all said and done, assuming I give in to my neuroses, I may end up spending more on these wheels than the rest of the bike.

Found a couple of XV wire wheels on ebay and should have them in hand soon. Stay tuned...

 

Nice, keep the pics coming!

 

Are you planning to stick with the 15" rear or re-lace to the OEM 16"?
A 140/90-15 might be tight.
I think the Virago came with a 150/90-15

 

Therein lies the potential expense. A 16x3' 36 spoke rear rim seems to be unobtainium. I found a shop that will custom drill/dimple a blank steel wheel and relace with custom spokes but the wheel itself is mondo spendy on top of $275 for spokes/lacing/truing. Considered a less expensive 18x2.5" XS650 rim but tire option are too limited. So probably going to bite the bullet and upgrade to the 16" rim.

 

I know nothing about rim assembly but google search of that size comes up with hits. Something like this work?

https://www.bmikarts.com/16-x-300-3...bF8m4b22-EVTLOzQtSxE0_IAT4Z2RKhhoCJkEQAvD_BwE

 

I was looking at that rim, when I spoke with the shop he said Harley never made a 36 spoke wheel so it was probably a misprint and even if it had 36 holes depending on how it's laid out might cause the spokes to bow and be unusable. I may give them a call to confirm 36 or 40 holes.

 

Then the front wheel - eyeballing the hub from photos and based on the diagrams I'm hoping I can just remove the brake disc from the right side, put the current XJ disc on the left side, change out bearings and the spacer.

Fingers crossed big time on that.

 

These guys are the best in the business.
http://www.buchananspokes.com/categories/index.asp

Just send them your hub and tell them what size rim you want.
And your wallet, LOL
It will be done right though.
Make sure you mount the wheel in your bike as it is now before you consider re-spoking it.
You'll see if the stock Virago wheel is centered where it needs to be.
Take measurements of your Maxim now, determine where the centre of the OEM rim sits.
If you need some offset the wheel builder can do this with the new spokes.

 

Ha, that's who I spoke with and based off a ten minute phone call I have absolute confidence in them. I hope they're the best because they're about the only I could find. Their labor prices seem totally fair from what I've seen, it's just the rim that's pricey.

Def gonna test fit everything before getting too carried away. I'll have them in hand soon enough.

 

I went from a 19" to 21" on the front of my BSA scrambler so I could fit a real knobby tire.
The English parts distributer in Canada (Walridge Motors) did mine, he was very reasonable.
Assembling and truing the wheel was $75 CDN labour.
It would be crazy to even think about doing that myself for that price.

 

The Virago rear hub/backing plate is about an inch wider than the stock wheel, there's not enough clearance even after undoing the four retaining bolts on the final drive. Didn't feel like completely removing the final drive mating it to the wheel and installing as one, but it seems that may be the only option. Pain in the neck but barring a flat tire once it's installed it probably wouldn't come off again for a decade.

 

I read before somewhere the Virago wheel needs removal of the final drive. You’re right once it’s set up you don’t need to remove it until the tire is worn out.
Show us a pic.

 

Is the Virago brake drum wider?

 

The hub is wider from bearing to bearing, about .75 inch. The Virago axle is longer by the same amount so lucky it came with the wheel. Backing plates are different diameter but same width.

 

Bearing in mind the immortal words of Winston Wolf, from a quick fitting it looks like the front wheel is gonna be a go-go!



Turns pretty freely, a little drag on the brake pads. I didn't feel like pressing the caliper piston properly and with the old OEM xj650 disc it was too tight. With the Virago disc it fit - both discs are the same diameter but the XJ disc is probably a couple mm thicker. Virago disc is the same thickness as the EBC replacement disc on the bike now so it should be good.

Interestingly enough, the XV535 has a 17mm front axle vs the 15mm XJ650 so the wheel will fit/spins but I won't be able to make a final call until I get the right bearings and spacer in the wheel and it's spinning true. And the seal, ha, the XJ spacer practically rattles around inside the right side seal on the Virago wheel. Will be huge not having to fool with different forks, brakes, etc..

The rim is 19x1.85 vs. the stock 19x2.15, hopefully no worries to keep the same 100/90-19 tire. Or maybe an XV700 rim laced onto the hub since they're at least affordable vs. having a new rim punched.

 

There is a front wheel on eBay now from the xv700 for $100. I think it’s a direct fit.
Might be easier than adapting the xv535, I didn’t know it had a larger axil

 

Based on the replacement part specs I think all it's going to take is an oddball size set of bearings and oil seal on the right side. Gonna knock out the old Virago bearings in the a.m. to measure and confirm against a new set of XJ bearings but it's really looking like I can pull the front wheel off with $60 worth of bearings and seals.

 

Winston Wolf has entered the chat.

Knocked out the Virago bearings and confirmed the measurements 17x47x14, which can be replaced with a 15x47x14 that isn't common but is available. I found a 22x47x7 oil seal for the right side, left side uses the usual seal.

The spacer is another story, the Virago spacer is shorter than the XJ - 68.5mm vs. 72mm which means I'll need to have 3.5mm machined off the XJ spacer. Bummer but hopefully not a showstopper and clearly better than the XJ spacer being shorter. Thinking I might just order a couple extra bearings then test fit without the spacer to confirm brake clearance before dicking with having it machined. In the wheels that adds up to 96.5mm bearing to bearing on the Virago and 98 mm on the XJ. Presumably .75mm less on each side of the wheel is no worry?

Not gonna fool with the rear much until I get the front sorted out, except I've been reconsidering whether to have a 16" rim punched and laced. Keeping the stock size tire and not having to worry about fitment is ideal, but a plain steel rim is $270, $438 for chrome (which I would do in for a penny and all...) then ~$350 for spokes, lacing, etc.. Alternatively, have the OEM rim straightened then use a 140/90-15 tire to keep the overall diameter about the same. There is 6.5mm clearance between the tire and driveshaft housing now, with a 10mm wider tire that would leave 1.5mm. But I could possibly have the rim laced ~ 2-3mm offset towards the brake side? Gonna call Buchanan's back see what they think. I love this machine but I bought it for less than the cost of that 16" chrome rim.