The New And Improved Unofficial R65 Forum V2
Technical Discussion => BMW Technical Q&A, Primarily R65 => Topic started by: Bob_Roller on April 28, 2021, 11:58:59 AM
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I ordered a set of tires for my '81 R65 back in mid February front tire showed up in six days, the rear finally showed up yesterday, shipping delay from Europe .
I put a composite wheel from my parts bike on the rear of this bike about 8 years ago, I had a tire mounted and then decided the bike would be more or less a parts bike, so I put the composite wheel from an LS on the '81 .
I swapped the worn out composite wheel tire back to the parts bike, took the snowflake wheels to the local independent bike shop for mounting and balancing .
In this process I remembered that the brake shoes are different between the two style wheels, along with the two springs on the shoes .
Also the rear axles are a different length between the two wheels .
Not sure if this is the case or not with the front wheels .
I went to Metzeler Roadtec 01 tires, I put these tires on the '82 silver LS about 16 months ago, had the Me33-Me99, Lazertec tires since '85 on this bike, needed a change .
Have not had any wet road experience with these tires yet .
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When I order Avon's off of eBay I get them in a day or 2 here in St Louis
No mater who I order them from they drop ship out of Illinois or Tennessee :clap:
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This was the first time I have ever had issues with getting tires since I started riding 42 years ago .
The rear tire is the ' freshest' tire I have ever gotten, manufacture date molded into the sidewall 0521, fifth week of 2021 .
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Bob, not sure I know what a composite wheel is, I'm assuming it's a cast wheel with the spokes at 90 degrees. Do you know if it's possible to mount a spoked wheel in place of a cast wheel? The spoked wheel would need to come from a /5,6, or 7.
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Fitting spoked wheels to an R65 has been done and I recall some posts here about it in the distant past but the 18" spoked wheel needed for the front will be as rare as hens teeth as I think they were only ever fitted to police bikes.
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A composite wheel, is what the LS version came with .
It's a two piece cast aluminum wheel .
https://www.bing.com/images/search?view=detailV2&ccid=T6qt38M0&id=16741065459E15EC6A67B513045088974086D43C&thid=OIP.T6qt38M0-hi7AkSd38NdIAHaEK&mediaurl=https%3a%2f%2fwww.classicmotorcyclesales.com.au%2fwp-content%2fuploads%2f2020%2f04%2fSAM_1062.jpg&cdnurl=https%3a%2f%2fth.bing.com%2fth%2fid%2fR4faaaddfc334fa18bb02449ddfc35d20%3frik%3dPNSGQJeIUAQTtQ%26pid%3dImgRaw&exph=1080&expw=1920&q=bmw+r65ls+composite+wheel&simid=608026550113751193&ck=DA4ED6B3DDDCA033C4116B3B8785C38C&selectedIndex=40&qpvt=bmw+r65ls+composite+wheel&FORM=IRPRST&ajaxhist=0
https://www.bing.com/images/search?view=detailV2&ccid=VVAiKHom&id=FF854C033A754EF703283538308C596B6D21EA4E&thid=OIP.VVAiKHomI5k3u70Oqs2HDwAAAA&mediaurl=https%3a%2f%2fi.ebayimg.com%2fimages%2fg%2fv14AAOSwCH9drW84%2fs-l300.jpg&cdnurl=https%3a%2f%2fth.bing.com%2fth%2fid%2fR555022287a26239937bbbd0eaacd870f%3frik%3dTuohbWtZjDA4NQ%26pid%3dImgRaw&exph=225&expw=300&q=bmw+r65ls+composite+wheel&simid=608008030211689200&ck=58414953651307BD7ABA092141E62C6A&selectedIndex=2&FORM=IRPRST&ajaxhist=0
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As far as spoke wheels, I have no idea, never had any experience with them .
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Just to show spoked wheels have been fitted to an R65. can't remember where I found the pic.
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I seem to recall someone here doing the conversion...
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What about the elusive R65G/S? Didn't that come with spoke wheels?
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Hello,
I know a guy in France which make a living (he is retired) by selling spoked wheels for Airheads.
HE says it is possible to make the conversion on the R6( but the front wheel need a special hub as the spacing between the fork legs is different from the others airhead. I can ask if you want to do it ...
HAve a nice week end ans stay safe !
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Bob I have trial fitted the LS wheel to my R65. The axle is the same for both LD and composite though I think the spacers may differ - I am unsure as I have non-standard spacers.
You must use the slimmer brake shoes as the standard shoes will not fit. The late model springs fit either.
My LS wheel was sold to me as "straight" which was a lie, it is currently off being rolled.
Spoked wheels from a /7 can be made to fit albeit that you end up with a 19" front which is really no great problem other than adjusting the mudguard mounts.
I toyed with the idea of fitting a set of R100s wheels I had at the time, but that would have involved converting to a D SC rear end - doable but the concept didn't excite me.
In any event I went with a K100 front end and am fitting the LS rear rim to kind of match the K100 front.
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Bob I have trial fitted the LS wheel to my R65. The axle is the same for both LD and composite though I think the spacers may differ - I am unsure as I have non-standard spacers.
You must use the slimmer brake shoes as the standard shoes will not fit. The late model springs fit either.
My LS wheel was sold to me as "straight" which was a lie, it is currently off being rolled.
Spoked wheels from a /7 can be made to fit albeit that you end up with a 19" front which is really no great problem other than adjusting the mudguard mounts.
I toyed with the idea of fitting a set of R100s wheels I had at the time, but that would have involved converting to a D SC rear end - doable but the concept didn't excite me.
In any event I went with a K100 front end and am fitting the LS rear rim to kind of match the K100 front.
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Hi Bob,
I read your posts about using Metzeler ROADTEC 01 tires on your 1982 R65LS.
I also own a 1982 R65LS and am very interested in trying these tires.
Could I ask a few questions?
Are you using a 100/90-18 front and 4.00-18 rear on your R65LS?
Does the 100/90 front fit the original 2.15-inch rim without any clearance issues?
How does the steering feel compared with the older Metzeler tires? Is the bike light and natural when leaning into corners?
Are you running the tires tubeless, and do they hold air reliably?
I'm currently using Continental ContiClassicAttack radials, but I previously enjoyed the natural handling of a Dunlop F8 front and Metzeler ME77 rear combination.
I'd love to hear your impressions of the ROADTEC 01.
Thank you!
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Front 90/100 and rear 4.00 fit fine.
Handling is about the same as the Lazertec tires . Better handling in cold temps for the first 10 miles is so that the Lazertec tires took to come up to temp .
I live in a low desert and I have no clue as to how they are in wet conditions .
Yes I run tubes with these.
I had issues with Lazertec tires with no tubes .
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Thanks so much, Bob! 😊
It's really hard to find information from other R65LS owners here in Japan, so I'm very happy to hear from someone who rides the same bike!
I really appreciate you sharing your experience.
I noticed you're using tubes with your Roadtec 01 tires. Have you ever tried running them tubeless? I'm curious whether they might have trouble holding air without tubes.
I'd also love to hear everyone's thoughts on tire choices for the R65LS.
The original tire sizes were:
Front: 3.25-18 TL
Rear: 4.00-18 TL
But these days, it's really difficult to find a tubeless front tire in 3.25-18.
So far, the only one I've found is the Dunlop F8 3.25S18 4PR (52S) TL.
Ideally, I'd like to have matching front and rear tires from the same range, preferably bias-ply.
I'm currently considering:
Front: 100/90-18 TL
Rear: 4.00-18 TL
And these two tires have caught my attention:
* Michelin Road Classic
* Metzeler Roadtec 01
Has anyone tried either of these on an R65LS?
I'm especially interested in how they handle and whether they can be used tubeless on the original wheels.
Of course, if you have any other recommendations for a good set of bias-ply tires, I'd love to hear them!
Thanks again, Bob, and thanks everyone!
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I had one shop replaced a set of Lazertec tires, there were tubes installed on the old tires.
They didn't put tubes in on the new tires.
The front had no issues, the rear tire lost 4 psi around 12 % every week, had a tube installed on the rear .
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Hi Bob,
Thank you very much for sharing your experience.
I'm sorry for posting my tire question in the wrong thread. My English isn't very good, and I misunderstood the topic of this discussion.
I'll start a separate thread to ask for tire recommendations for my R65LS.
Thank you again for your kind reply!
Best regards,
R65LS_Japan