Triumphrat

tealetm · 11-12-2012, 11:53 AM

Hey all- I'm going to be rebuilding a set of wheels for a 71 Tiger 650. Original front and rear conical hubs. Supposedly 19" front and 18" rear.

I'm going to be ordering aluminum rims from Buchanans, does anybody have a recommended rim width for a modern tire that will work? I believe the originals are a WM2 (1.85") in front and WM3 in back (2.15")

DAVE M · 11-12-2012, 12:31 PM

I run Roadriders on my 79

I have no idea off rim size of the top of my head

I can go downstairs and tell you the tyre sizes

But it's a good idea to do as you have to rim the bike to the current tyres.
I remember someone on another forum who built very nice wheels but couldn't find any tyres to suit

( I cut out the hassle by having Central Wheels build mine, and they supplied the tyres fitted by their co-company)

Snakeoil · 11-12-2012, 06:12 PM

Travis,

I would suggest that you start in the other direction. Pick the modern tires you want to put on the bike and which will fit between the forks and the swingarm. Once you know that, you can look up the correct rim size. Armed with that, you can select your rims from the sizes that are available. Buchanan's can drill the rims and make spokes for your hubs.

Do you ride so hard that you would not trust K70 Dunlops? If not, you might just go with original rims. Are you rims shot? If they are just in need of a rechrome, I can send you a chromer that does a nice job for a reasonable price. You keep the bike original which helps if you plan to sell it later.

He did a rim for me on my '66.

regards,
Rob

tealetm · 11-12-2012, 07:07 PM

Hey Rob- I'm doing them for a local guy who saw my craiglist add for my Trident and liked the rims I used. Anyway, I picked up the rims tonight from him and will be going with a WM2 and WM3.

Right now he's not keeping the old rims, so either I'll hang on to them or sell them.

He is going to bring the engine over to our best friend at M&S... but I told him I'd look around for somebody else to rebuild it for him. Trying to figure out if I should tackle the job or not. Any interest?

Snakeoil · 11-12-2012, 07:13 PM

No, but I know the guy to do it. My friend Lance out in Rome. I've got to go out there this week so I'll see what his schedule looks like. I'll ask him for an estimate, too.

He won't be disappointed with Lance's work. He won't make it pretty. If he wants all the aluminum bits polished, he should take them off and do them himself.

regards,
Rob

tealetm · 11-12-2012, 07:29 PM

I don't think he's too worried about that- he has done some polishing allready.

Yeah, let me know if Lance is interested. I'm sure M&S would do a good job... but I can't say I'd recommend him.

BirdoPrey · 11-12-2012, 10:39 PM

I just finished a set of wheels for my '71 Bonneville and used the Buchanan rims and spoke kits. I ordered a WM2X19 for the front and a WM3X18 for the rear. Buchanan supplied the SS spoke and nipple kits for the Conical hubs.

http://artshobbyprojects.com/%2771wheels.htm

Prior to ordering I tried to find if any one was using wider or smaller diameter rims with the stock forks and swing arms but could not get any information that would lead me to believe that any of this would work.

I mounted the Avon AM26 Road Riders in 3.25X19 for the front and 4.00X18 for the rear. Something that I just noticed was that when I went to mount the front fender there is not a lot of room up there between the bosses on the forks for the fender mounting bolts.

The front tire measures about 3 3/4 inches wide at the widest point. The bosses are about 4 1/2" apart which only leaves about 3/4 " of room for a larger tire to fit. I also note that getting the bolts in place once the rim and wheel are mounted is a bit of a tight fit. I think it could get dicey if the rim were any wider. Of course if you didn't plan to mount a front fender using those bolts then all you would need is to be able to squeeze the tire pass the bosses.

In the rear I have about 3/8" between the chain and the tire. Of course you could squeak a little more room with a little more off set so maybe you might be able to find a larger size tire that would fit. However, you still would be able to use the WM 3 with a 4.50 of some brands which would not really justify going to a WM4. A WM4 rim would allow you to go up to a 5.0 tire but then I don't know if you would have clearance for the chain.

In the end I just gave up on trying to figure out whether I could get any real benefit from larger rims and tires. I know they would look cool but I really don't think I could ride hard enough to exceed the traction of the stock sizes so could not justify the risk of buying and then being stuck with tires and rims that would not fit.

Anyway, I'm pretty well pleased with this choice, If you decide to try larger sizes and have success let us know, it will be good info to have.

Art.

Snakeoil · 11-13-2012, 10:03 PM

From a handling point of view, the bike will handle much quicker with stock tires versus putting something wider on.

regards,
Rob

tealetm · 11-14-2012, 11:02 AM

Rob-

Can you send me the contact info for who re-chromed your rim? Maybe thats an option for this guy depending on what the pricing and timeline is.

-Travis

Snakeoil · 11-14-2012, 04:46 PM

The plater is Leonard's Plating in St. Albains, WV. Here's a link to Google info.

https://plus.google.com/108341639346...ut?gl=us&hl=en

Marc will probably answer the phone. He's the son. He will do what you ask him to do. He'll do exhausts if you make sure you have decarboned them. Hot tanking is the best way in my experience. Tell him I sent you. He's a really nice guy and turn around is pretty quick. I think he charged me $85.00 to do my rim.

regards,
Rob