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Wire Wheels and a 150 Rear - Virago 700 style!!

Discussion in 'XJ Modifications' started by MiGhost, Sep 19, 2011.

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  1. ol_750

    ol_750 Member

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    ol_750, Feb 8, 2013
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  2. sebwiers

    sebwiers Active Member

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    Nice wheels. I'd love a set for my MJ750 seca cafe(ish) conversion, but the only ones I've seen are $1k on ebay.
     
    sebwiers, Feb 8, 2013
    #42
  3. MiGhost

    MiGhost Well-Known Member

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    You will need to use the tapered roller bearing kit for the XJ. Those are the bearings that fit the neck of the frame.

    Ghost
     
    MiGhost, Feb 10, 2013
    #43
  4. Bigshankhank

    Bigshankhank Active Member

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    How did this turn out? Sorry, new guy to the forum but I like wire wheels more than cast, and in am looking at picking up an 85 XJ700 hopefully soon.

    More importantly, is there room on the rear to re-lace the XV hub with an 18" rim? Clearance within the swing arm and to the rear fender and frame, I mean.
     
    Bigshankhank, Dec 8, 2013
    #44
  5. MiGhost

    MiGhost Well-Known Member

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    The XJ700 (Maxim), and the XV700 (Virago) will be a direct swap. They both use the same front end/brake parts.

    As far as lacing on a 18" rear rim. The XJ700 uses the same swingarm as the XJ750R (Seca) which uses an 18" wheel with a 120-90-18 tire. The only place that may be a problem would be bottoming the fender on the tire. Longer/stiffer shocks might help with this.

    Ghost
     
    MiGhost, Dec 14, 2013
    #45
  6. ol_750

    ol_750 Member

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    [​IMG]

    Its been a bit slow going over the year, but the XJ900 motor has had a complete rebuild & is ready to go into the frame. The frame isn't ready yet.
     
    ol_750, Feb 8, 2014
    #46
  7. Polock

    Polock Well-Known Member

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    i see a line on the forks between the clamps, what's that ?
    i like the hammer on a string, rake and trail measurements ?
    looks good already
     
    Polock, Feb 9, 2014
    #47
  8. ol_750

    ol_750 Member

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    Our state regs are strict. We are only allowed a maximum of 550 mm from the centre line of the head stock to front axel when rakeing & extending forks. :?
     
    ol_750, Feb 10, 2014
    #48
  9. Maxim-X

    Maxim-X Well-Known Member

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    Is that law in place for safety regulations or so the boys in blue can pick on bikers....or a combination of both??
     
    Maxim-X, Feb 10, 2014
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  10. ol_750

    ol_750 Member

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    We have the strictest regs of all the Australian states , they are a combination of both. We are a Nanny state. Height & width of handle bar , size & coverage of mud guards & chain guards are all covered in the regs.

    If we alter the frame it requires an engineers certificate.
     
    ol_750, Feb 11, 2014
    #50
  11. coxbow

    coxbow Member

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    hi folks,

    thinking about a spokes wheel too, going another way, crazy maybe but here it goes...

    what about just keeping the XJ hub, cut off the rest of the wheel, put it on a lathe to be sure I have a perfectly round hub, make an aluminum ring with holes in it for the spokes, weld that ring to the hub, you see where this is going...

    possible ? day dreaming?

    thanks for your input
     
    coxbow, May 11, 2014
    #51
  12. Maxim-X

    Maxim-X Well-Known Member

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    ...anything is possible, without daydreams we would still be living in caves. Given enough time, resources and money it could probably be done, but the question would be why?
     
    Maxim-X, May 11, 2014
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  13. coxbow

    coxbow Member

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    maybe because those XV700 spokes wheels are so hard to find, never seen a spoked XV in Europe !
     
    coxbow, May 11, 2014
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  14. Orange-n-Black

    Orange-n-Black Well-Known Member

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    What about trying a set of spoke rims from a V-Star, a Shadow, a Vulcan or a Suzuki S series.
     
    Orange-n-Black, May 11, 2014
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  15. coxbow

    coxbow Member

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    well I looked around, on this forum and others dedicated to XJ, and it seems that the only possible 100% sure swap are the 84 XV700L, and 86 XV700SS period !

    I found another guy who did it with a XV535 wheel, that`s easy to find therefore cheap, but he did it on a hartailed XJ, so he wasn`t sure the drum cover would fit in a stock XJ900 frame because it`s wider + there`s a lot of machining too so...


    and in both cases I`ll have to relace and change the rim, all those spoked XV are in 15' waaay too small !
     
    coxbow, May 11, 2014
    #55
  16. Orange-n-Black

    Orange-n-Black Well-Known Member

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    Whatever you decide to do, it's not going to be simple. You may end up using a whole swingarm assembly and making it fit.
     
    Orange-n-Black, May 11, 2014
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  17. ol_750

    ol_750 Member

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    Hi Cowboy
    The wire wheels I'm using are off an XV 1000 Special only available for 1 year here in Australia. The beauty off them is they are a tubless rim as well.
    I found them on ebay, & when I search ebay I search different countries as well. Germany has a lot of XJ900 stuff more than any other country as an example. Got 2 new Belly pans from Poland for the same price as buying a second hand one here.
    Cheers Andrew
     
    ol_750, May 11, 2014
    #57
  18. coxbow

    coxbow Member

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    Hi ol_750

    The thing with the land down-under is that it`s.... down-under :lol:

    what I mean is that it`s going to cost me 5 times the price of the wheel to ship it over here !

    otherwise there are maybe a lot of XJ in Europe, but no XV700, and that`s what I`m looking for...

    somebody on a french XJ forum just told me about a guy in France who`s specialized in CX500 alloys to spokes conversion !
     
    coxbow, May 12, 2014
    #58
  19. ol_750

    ol_750 Member

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    ol_750, May 14, 2014
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  20. MiGhost

    MiGhost Well-Known Member

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    I believe that the XV700 was a US only model due to import tariffs, and restrictions at the time. Europe, and the UK still recieved the 750 models.

    You are better off looking for the parts from the XV750, or XV1100 to avoid the high shiping, and import cost. They will work the same as the XV700.

    Ghost
     
    MiGhost, May 14, 2014
    #60
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