Has anyone adapted motorcycle wheels onto bicycles?

[5-7HEAVEN]

my latest projects involve high horsepower and quickness. however, speeds will be kept below 30mph, for safety sake and because of lousy road conditions. that being said, i need wheels and tires that will promote a stable platform for my bicycles.

has anyone adapted motorcycle or moped wheels onto bicycles? is it practical, or should i just stick to balloon tires?

or maybe 4" STINGRAY wheels/tires front and rear?

Myron

 

[DougC]

The problem with the Stingray wheels is they're not built particularly strong, and there's only one source for tubes and tires.

A lot of motorcycle and moped wire-spoked wheels are 36-spoke, which is a common bicycle count as well. Even many of the pre-WW I board-track era motorcycles used 36 spoke wheels, though some had 40 spokes instead. A motorcycle wheel shop can generally lace any rim to any hub you send them, if the two parts have the same number of spokes. Even just using spoked moped wheels would be WAY stronger than bicycle rims and hubs.

Motorcycle/moped hubs can be driven a lot harder of course, but many have the chain drive on the left side (opposite a normal bicycle chain) so if you want to have (or are required to have) regular pedals, that may be a problem.
~

 

[iRide Customs]

If you have any fabrication skills and a welder, the beefier wheels should be used...at the least, on the rear. It should be VERY simple to adapt a motorcycle wheel to a bicycle.

 

[5-7HEAVEN]

Thanks for tips.

my original front fork is so flimsy, i can easily spread it by hand to install the front wheel. when i upgrade to stronger wheels and brakes, i'll change the fork.

i have no welding skills, so i'll have to farm that work out.

Myron

 

[uncle_punk13]

If you can afford 'em new or find 'em cheap I'd reccomend Worksman wheels. Heavy duty and in my opinion the best of both worlds, they'll bolt up with minimal modification! Moped grade wheel hoops with front drum brake and heavy duty coaster. I use 'em on the Whizzer and so far NOOO problems!

 

[oregon freerider]

OCC Schwinn wheels are super cheap so they are not very strong and not very round and the "wheel hop" starts at about 7-10 mph.

 

[Zomby Builder]

Drill the hoops

I wanted to do the same for braking advantages on MC wheels. By the time you buy bicycle components you will prob spend twice as much as high quality Japanese MC parts. (Honda) That being said, it is a lot easier to use bicycle stuff. They are a LOT smaller. Shop for the deals at your BIG local shop, Precision Bicycle is my fave here in Burned up Land. They always have opened product, returns, managers get rid of it stuff. I just bought a rear Hyd Hayes Dot 4 for 49.00 - 53 .00 out the door. It orig cost over 175.

If you still want to do the MC parts - drill the 36 holes in your hoops to accept the spokes & be sober. I did it to my Whizz hub & it was fine.

 

[the wheelmaster]

I've had great succes installing #10 or #9 gauge spokes in bicycle wheels, yes the hub and rim require drilling, but you can change the lace pattern to help strengthen the hub, pm me if you like and I can help you..... there's also buchaanans in cali, they can sell you spokes of most any size or length, but I would reffer to a pro for the drilling and assembly unless you reeeealy know what your doing.. it can be done with success, so enjoy those high speeds ....

 

[5-7HEAVEN]

Thanks for the heads up, Wheelmaster.it's good to know that 9-10g are available, and you can use the bicycle rim. i have HD hubs; i guess they can also be drilled out.

i'll scrounge the 'net, look for 9g-10g spokes. then i'll contact my local bike shop, and see if they can do the spoke job.

Myron

 

[the wheelmaster]

MC spokes

Remember that when you get to the #10 gauge or bigger your probly looking to talk to someone in the motorcycle shop, your bike shop will scoff at you and say it can't be done.. best of luck on that baby !