Rear wheel swap

[Dickey]

Been a while since I've had something worth posting. I've had my bike a year and done some tinkering on it but the reason for the post is for the project I'm about to do.

This is the bike when I got it:
http://www.dickeysgarage.com/images/motorcycle/motorscooter2.jpg

This is how it sits at the moment:
http://www.dickeysgarage.com/images/motorcycle/bike-updates-1.jpg

New handlebars, bar end mirrors and an MT90h16 white wall tire up front. There is a new tire in the rear but it is exactly like the one I replaced.


Since last April, I've learned how to change tires and fab my own handlebars. The next step is to learn how to lace a wheel. I decided to do this because I think the white wall of the front tire looks very good on the bike and there is not a whitewall tire made for a 15" rim that is narrow enough to really suit our bikes. To get a white wall, I could go hardtail and use a 150/90-15, which has been done, but the tire is close enough to the chain that I decided against it. Besides, the bikes that I think look cool have identical front and rear tires.

So for $130 I got another set of wheels for the gz delivered from ebay this morning. My goal is to lace the front rim to the rear hub and allow me an MT90h-16 tire on the rear of my bike as well. I did some math and this will introduce a little less mechanical reduction as moving to a 16 tooth front sprocket. As best I can tell, the 16t update drops the rpms to around 94 percent of what they were and this should put me just under 96 perecent.

I'm not sure yet if there will be significant any interference with the fender. Likely there won't be unless I hit a nasty bump or something. The stock wheel diameter is 24.2" and the new diameter will be 25.3"...which only puts the top of the tire a half inch closer than it was. The width should be nearly the same as the 130/90 tire so my chain concerns are addressed.

Anyway, thought I'd post up as a way of saying hello and to see if you guys had any thoughts regarding my plans.



//also, I have not forgotten the exhaust I intended to make last year. I did learn that the kickstand interferes with my plans though and the project will require an update to the kickstand as well before I can move forward on it. Likely to be like those old style ones that pick up the rear wheel but time being as scarce as it can be, I've not looked into it much more than to say "dang, that's in the way".

[Water Warrior 2]

Interesting project. The difference in overall gearing may not make much of a difference but if it does a new rear sprocket with more teeth will work well. 2 or 3 at most would be a fair guess. You may have a fun time finding spokes to fit the new wheel and old rear hub but have at er and see what happens.
The appearance of the bike now is very eye catching and I like it. A white wall tire on the back would make it more so. Keep us up to date as you progress.

[jonathan180iq]

Complete ditto to what WW said.

If you could add some brown faded leather saddle bags, mount up a sidewall tire on the rear and then get a long holster for an M-1 Garand on the front, you'd be all WWII all over the place ;)

That's one sweet looking ride.

EDIT: Maybe add a white star to the side of the tank :)

[Dickey]

I suspect I'll be cutting down the front spokes and rethreading them to suit. I'm not entirely certain though as the angle of the spokes from front to rear appear to be different.

I suspect the seat is going to get updated to a tan leather configuration of some kind but I haven't made any decisions beyond that aside from wanting the exhaust to be different.

Thank you for the kind words.

[Water Warrior 2]

Complete ditto to what WW said.

If you could add some brown faded leather saddle bags, mount up a sidewall tire on the rear and then get a long holster for an M-1 Garand on the front, you'd be all WWII all over the place ;)

That's one sweet looking ride.

EDIT: Maybe add a white star to the side of the tank :)
That would be too cool for words. :2tup: :2tup:

[Dickey]

I got the front rim in sort of a preliminary lacing to the rear hub without much hassle at all last night. I used the front spokes without cutting them down and it appears that they are about 1/2 inch too long. I'll go back over them a pair at a time to cut them down and rethread the ends when I get time this weekend. I'm feeling pretty good about the project so far.

[mrlmd1]

Do those low hanging down bar end mirrors hit your legs when you turn and how is the visibility with them compared to the stock mirrors?
You can also paint the sides of the rear tire with whitewall paint just made for that purpose.

[Dickey]

The mirrors do not interfere with normal road driving. If I'm at walking speed around a parking lot or something, I move my knees out away from the tank and haven't had any issue. I like them a lot better as far as visibility goes. The stock mirrors would get blocked by my arms, especially if I was wearing a jacket. Bear in mind that I've only had drag bars on my my bike since I've owned it too. The ones that came with it were 28" end to end. The set I have now is 32", which mitigates a lot of intereference details.

I am aware of the paint but I've never seen anyone have much success on a daily driven vehicle with whitewall paint so I've never been inclined to use it.

[mrlmd1]

It's a lot easier to touch up the paint every once in a while if you have to, instead of undertaking what you are about to do and then see how it rides.

[Water Warrior 2]

I never thought of this earlier but...............Will the new rear tire be an actual rear tire design? Front and rear tires do have different manufacturing criteria for their intended purpose. If a new rear in the size you want to swap over to is available then you will have no unwanted handling surprises.

[Dickey]

It's a lot easier to touch up the paint every once in a while if you have to, instead of undertaking what you are about to do and then see how it rides.

I agree but it also wouldn't be what I want.


WW, the new tire is a vintage tread setup which has no front or rear bias like modern tires. The change will likely put the handling of the bike on par with typical fair made 50+ years ago. Having a vintage style tire up front dramatically adjusted the handling characteristics of the bike and I expect there will be a similar, albeit lesser, change when I do the rear.

[Water Warrior 2]

It's a lot easier to touch up the paint every once in a while if you have to, instead of undertaking what you are about to do and then see how it rides.

I agree but it also wouldn't be what I want.


WW, the new tire is a vintage tread setup which has no front or rear bias like modern tires. The change will likely put the handling of the bike on par with typical fair made 50+ years ago. Having a vintage style tire up front dramatically adjusted the handling characteristics of the bike and I expect there will be a similar, albeit lesser, change when I do the rear.
Good that you are already aware of changing the handling characteristics. :2tup: You may want to experiment with tire pressures to get the most out of the tires.