The New And Improved Unofficial R65 Forum V2

General Category => Chit-Chat => Topic started by: littledave on December 02, 2012, 10:48:24 AM

Title: r65ls wheels ?
Post by: littledave on December 02, 2012, 10:48:24 AM

hi all i have bought a r65ls as a cafe racer project but hate the standard wheels could anyone tell me what wire wheels will fit a r65 ie from what other bike in the range as it has twin discs on the front and drums on the rear im not sure if this is a problem
cheers dave

Title: Re: r65ls wheels ?
Post by: nhmaf on December 02, 2012, 01:53:51 PM

As far as I know, there were R65 bikes with a wire wheel option available in europe, but not north america.
The issue with the LS wheels and rotors is that the hub width on the LS wheels is quite narrow.  You will need a different rotor carrier (dish depth is different) when used with another wheel for the front calipers and rotors to stay in alignment.   An early R80 monolever (ST) front wheel hub will work (though it is a 19 inch wheel instead of an 18, the hub could be relaced to an 18" hoop or you could just run with the 19 wheel and adjust your front fender bracket/fork brace if needed.

We have a member on the forum from the UK with a very cool looking R65 cafe with wire spoked wheels setup - he can definitely give you more specifics

Title: Re: r65ls wheels ?
Post by: steve hawkins on December 03, 2012, 05:28:39 AM

Yes it is the narrow hub from an ST or a GS that you need.  And either lace the wheel to a 18 rim appropriately or run the 19inch rim of an ST like me.  However, you will need to compensate for the 19 inch wheel by sliding you fork station up through the yokes(triple tree) by half an inch.  This might be a problem with normal handle bars as they will touch the top of the fork leg, before you have raised them the required distance - but if you are using clip-ons this will not be an issue.

I am in the process of converting my cafe racer back into a dual sports machine, with LT bars - I am looking into this issue.

Should be ready for a try-out soon.

Title: Re: r65ls wheels ?
Post by: littledave on December 03, 2012, 04:24:38 PM

thanks lads i knew someone would know

Title: Re: r65ls wheels ?
Post by: steve hawkins on December 04, 2012, 04:13:29 AM

Often reffered to as a 2 ribbed hub as opposed to the wider hub that the older ATE swinging caliper bikes used.

Hope this picture shows the ribs going around the outside of the hub in question.