Triumphrat

Napalm

I have a 1997 Thunderbird. I want a wider rear wheel. For cosmetic reasons mostly. I could do the Daytona or Kwaka wheel conversion (looks great) but I like the old world charm of spokes. (Call me old fasioned)

I have been quoted for a Morad-Akront 5.5 inch alloy rim and I am happy with the price. That will allow me to run an Avon Storm 17 180/55. (works out to be about the same diamater as the 16 150/80 Azaro I am running now)

My front wheel is 18 inches. Although I would prefer a wide 17 inch rim, but I don't really want to change it to 17 inch as it will cause issues with the speedo, fork rake, suspension (just ordered wp rear shock) and front guard. It will also cost me a lot more money.

I wanted to know if running a 17 180/55 rear and 18 110/80 front will cause any problems with handling.

Has anyone had problems with their fatter rear wheels?

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"I love the smell of Triumphs in the morning!"

Slinky

I can't help you with the rear wheel, but I can tell you I switched to a 17" front and it worked out well. The bike seems to turn a lot easier + there is a better choice of rubber. I did have to switch the speedo drive too.

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98 Thunderbird, 03 Speed Master

MickMaguire

I run a 180 rear no problem - in fact it improves the handling. Dont be tempted to go larger as there is only just enough room for the 180 (unless you shift the bike's wheel centerline). I don't run and 18" front as I converted to a 17" so cant confirm that there are no problems with the combo (unlikely). If you wanted to convert to a 17" front just get a legend or early speed triple speedo, or leave it as is - the rolling circumference change is not that great in percentage terms. It will just over-read a bit. Quite a few run speed triple (white face) clock without mods on the 17" wheel and just live with the slight inaccuracy.

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Mick...

Just remember; an awful lot of the free advice you will get on forums is worth exactly what you paid for it. There will always be somebody trying to convince you to do something really stupid, just because they did it or want to do it.

Napalm

Thanks for the info guys. I will get the rear wheel built and see how it feels.

I might beef up the front wheel later. I suppose it will give me greater tyre choice.

Has anyone else got any custom wheel knowledge to share.

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"I love the smell of Triumphs in the morning!"

Napalm

The wheels arrived today (finally). Spoked custom 17" 120mm front and 17" 180mm rear (looks great!) with Pirelli Diablo Corsa III tyres.

Does anyone know if the "speedo drive" is in the hub or the speedo? From the stuff I have searched it looks like it is in the hub. That would be great as there is no need to change the speedo.

If I did need to swap the speedo, I hear the speed triple speedo is white. Does anyone know if the white part is backlit at night when the lights are on?

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"I love the smell of Triumphs in the morning!"

crosstie

Photos please!

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"Creag an Sgairbh"
'99 SpeedLegendRetroCafeFighter:
ZX12R USD Forks : Custom 3-1 exhaust : FactoryPro jet kit : Speed Triple cams : Pod filters : ZX9R shock : 5.5" rear wheel : Customized seat : FEK : SPA speedo/tacho : Pazzos

parrycm

I assume you had the rims laced up to your hubs? Please could you tell us who did the work? Did you go with chrome or polished ally?

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Chris

"Panniers can never hold everything you want, but they CAN hold everything you need."

Napalm

I will post photos tomorrow.

I had the work done by http://www.central-wheel.co.uk/.

I got Morad polished alloy rims. They now own the tooling for Akront (who manufactured the original Thunderbird alloy rims) and seemed the traditional choice.

I can't wait to try them out in the morning!

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"I love the smell of Triumphs in the morning!"

MickMaguire

the difference is in the speedo head not the drive (which is at the hub), the legend (17") and the tbird (18") use the same drive. You will likely not notice the difference with the speedo. It will overread a bit but if you look at the difference in rolling diameter of the wheels its not a huge ratio. If you want to swap to Speed Triple guages you will have to modify the wiring a little but no biggie. The whole face is lit at night with the numbers showing brighter white than the rest. The speed triple guages are nowhere near as easy to read as the Tbird ones

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Mick...

Just remember; an awful lot of the free advice you will get on forums is worth exactly what you paid for it. There will always be somebody trying to convince you to do something really stupid, just because they did it or want to do it.

Napalm

I had a bad day today. I was eager to fit my new 17" front wheel and hit the mounains. Looking forward to a sharper handling bike.

I had a wrecker send a set of hubs to the wheelbuilder to save shipping and so I could sell the custom wheels on ebay if I ever sell the bike.

I asked for good quality hubs. When the newly built wheels arrived the first thing I noticed was the hubs were in terrible condition. "Oh well," I thought "I can clean them up."

When I tried to fit the front wheel I had all kinds of problems. After 5 hours of removing and replacing bearings (no fun at all) I discovered that the wrecker had sent the wrong type of hub to the wheelbuilder.

The incorrect hub is from a legend or adventurer (who knows what year), The bearings and spacer were of a smaller diameter and the offset was different. The rim sits too far to the left but the disk is too far to the right.

I will have to get the wheel dismantled and rebuilt to my old Thunderbird hub.

I am pretty dissapointed. I have been so excited about these new wheels.

I wil take some photos tomorrow so you can see how it looks.

P.S. (Thanks for the speedo info Mick.)

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"I love the smell of Triumphs in the morning!"