Measuring trueness and runout on wheels

[georgesgiralt]

Tony,
This is my 18" spare wheel. I'll try to find the markings and take a pict of them. I'll make a picture of the bike with the front wheel to show you.
Hello Tony, with all due respect...
Look at the picts (sorry the quality is very poor)

[georgesgiralt]

I'm surprised to see that the pictures are not inserted as they show either on my computer or on the screen of the smartphone which took them ?
I've checked my files, I had two accidents with this bikes involving a replacement of the front wheel. One was in 1988 and the other one in 1989 (the last one was with a huge Nissan 4 wheeler which cut my path quite abruptly. Boy, Nissan steel is very hard to my bones...)
The dealer did not bother to put the P/N of the parts on the bill, so I can't tell what was  the  exact P/N of the  wheels.  But something comes to my mind : I bought my bike new in 1984 and when i checked on RealOEM it appeared the bike was actually produced in April of 1982. So the bike was stored for two years at the dealer's premises. Maybe, Tony, the date on the bike registration is not the actual manufacturing date ?

[Tony Smith]

Well that is fascinating! Very definitely an 18" wheel, I apologize good Sir.

But, when were those wheels made? After 1985 i wonder? More ot the point, let's throw this open to all - does anyone else have a reinforced front wheel like George's?


The question that rattles around in my mind is that given that I have wheels from Australian supplied bikes from 1979 and 1984 that are to all intents identical and a wheel from Germany from a 1982 built bike, when were your wheels made and if before 1985, why?

I wonder if your wheels were made for the R80ST and as time passed they were all that was available?


Last question, how do you find the 3.25' front? I have a 3.25" front on my r65 and I rather hate it compared to the 3.5" on the R65/80 which is far more directionally stable and "bites" better on cornering.

[georgesgiralt]

Apologies accepted  ! We do not know all of our bikes ! BMW is full of surprises.
As per the front tire, it is an Heidenau K34. it is made in former east Germany in the city of Heidenau and is quite cheap (51 € delivered to my door). A very classic design but made with modern rubber.
I like it more than the previous tire I had (Metzeler Lasertec in 100/90 V 18 size). This huge front tire made the bike very heavy and lasted a very few km. But it was the only fitting tire at the place I used to buy tires from to replace the destroyed front tire I had.
I  think  the 3.25  is  a good size for my style of riding. (a lot of city commuting and some musing in the small roads around) The only drawback is that it is very noisy  when heavy braking. All people around are scared when I brake hard... I have done more than 23 000 km on it .... So a good bargain.

[Barry]

Some other oddities with snowflake wheels.

The original 19" wheels had 10 major spokes.

The replacement 19" reinforced wheels have 8 major spokes

18" snowflakes have 9 major spokes.

How many spokes does the reinforced 18" have  ?

[georgesgiralt]

Barry, I count 9 of them.
So reinforcement was not a major redesign ;-)

[Tony Smith]

Ok, so earlier in this thread you can see photos of George's R65 18" front wheel with reinforcing on the spokes radiating form the hub.


Also in the thread you can see photos of my 1979, 1982 and 1984 wheels that do not have reinforcing.


So, here's the thing - please look at your front wheel and "vote" according to whether or not your wheel has reinforcing ribs.

Bonus points if you can shed any light on the origin etc of George's wheel.

[Barry]

Some will remember wirespokes who used to post here and maybe still does occasionally. He seems to know they did eventually cast ribs into the 18" wheel .

http://advrider.com/index.php?threads/another-airhead-back-on-the-road.708480/

[stubmw]

"As per the front tire, it is an Heidenau K34. it is made in former east Germany in the city of Heidenau and is quite cheap (51 € delivered to my door). A very classic design but made with modern rubber.
I like it more than the previous tire I had (Metzeler Lasertec in 100/90 V 18 size). This huge front tire made the bike very heavy and lasted a very few km. But it was the only fitting tire at the place I used to buy tires from to replace the destroyed front tire I had.
I  think  the 3.25  is  a good size for my style of riding. (a lot of city commuting and some musing in the small roads around) The only drawback is that it is very noisy  when heavy braking. All people around are scared when I brake hard... I have done more than 23 000 km on it .... So a good bargain."

Hi georgesgiralt, just about to get a new front tyre. The k34 is top of the list, how does it handle in the wet, or if you push it a bit more?
Anyone else used these?
Which ones have the rest of you had a best experience  with (make, sizes etc.)
Stu

[georgesgiralt]

I think the K34 is not on par with the latest Continental or Michelin or Bridgestone.
But it suits my stye of riding fine.
It is noisy on heavy braking so I bet I could block the front wheel if i'm too hard on the front right lever. This helps me augment my distance to the previous road user and reduce the speed....
It is not bad on  wet weather but it is somewhat fuzzy. So, as above, Ireduce speed when it is wet.
All in  all  a very good  tire for my money. YMMV.

[Tony Smith]

sorry - nothing new here, just elevating the poll to the first page.

[mrclubike]

I wish the Heidenau were cheep here in the USA
 They are almost the most expensive tire on the market here  outside of the Radial Conti's