Mags VS Spokes

spokes are the bomb

Cast alloy wheels are easier & cheaper to restore.
Cast alloy wheels seem to give a better ride (my opinion, however limited).
If there are tubeless cast alloy wheels that'll fit your bike, then often times a nail puncture can be more easily repaired, so that you can get home.
Spoke wheels require maintenance.
Spokes get rusty & are expensive.
Spoked wheels have a tube, so a roadside flat repair is more difficult, if not impossible, for most folks.

I put KZ550 cast alloy wheels on my 81 CSR. Everything from the CSR wheels is the same. The 550s cost $40 total shipped. New spokes for the CSR would've been ~$115/wheel.... plus installation. ouch. Plus I still would've had to deal w tubes.
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Nice bike!

What size wheels are those? I'd like to some of those for my '77 when money permits. JMKZHI wrote:

Cast alloy wheels are easier & cheaper to restore.
Cast alloy wheels seem to give a better ride (my opinion, however limited).
If there are tubeless cast alloy wheels that'll fit your bike, then often times a nail puncture can be more easily repaired, so that you can get home.
Spoke wheels require maintenance.
Spokes get rusty & are expensive.
Spoked wheels have a tube, so a roadside flat repair is more difficult, if not impossible, for most folks.

I put KZ550 cast alloy wheels on my 81 CSR. Everything from the CSR wheels is the same. The 550s cost $40 total shipped. New spokes for the CSR would've been ~$115/wheel.... plus installation. ouch. Plus I still would've had to deal w tubes.
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If you start off with a stock/factory spoke wheel then at some point in the future the coating on the spokes will wear off and they will most likely rust. Factory spokes are not top-of-the-line in any aspect. However, if you build a wheel from scratch using stainless steel spokes you pretty much eliminate the maintenace/rust factor. This is also assuming you take care of your bike. You don't need to constantly torque or maintain your spokes, espescially for street riding. A new wheel will need to be trued initially, then maybe once or twice thereafter while the wheel "settles". After that you're good to go. When my stock MX wheels turn into stop signs I use Excel heavy duty SS spokes and Excel rims. I can race all season and only have to go over them once.

Got to love the spokes!

The bike is a 77 KZ1000, sorry i forgot to mention that. and i am thinking about swapping to a stock mag. im not a big fan of mags on most bikes but i do like the stock KZ mags. what i would really like to have is a nice set of Lesters but thats probably out of my price range at the moment. My spoked wheels have seen better days for sure and i think mags may be a cheaper solution than trying to piece together a decent set of spoked wheels. i need to buy tires soon so i gotta decide. . .

elfmagic17 wrote:

What size wheels are those? I'd like to some of those for my '77 when money permits...

19" Front 16" Rear.
For your 77 model, you'd probably have to use either 650-SR or 650-Ltd wheels - I believe those wheels are the same size. The SR has a Rr disk brake. The 650-C has cast alloy wheels, but the rear is 18" w a Rr disk as well. I don't know much about 70s wheel fitment, though. It seems like the 70s stuff is kinda interchangeable... to an extent... and maybe a couple of 1980 models.

I happen to prefer mag wheels & I wanted tubeless. For my bike the wheel swap was as easy as it gets. All of the needed hub components from the CSR are the same as the 550's. The only parts I used from the 550 wheels were the wheels themselves & the Fr disk.

I have a 18X5.5 on the rear and a 18x3.5 up front on my 77 1000. It handles a lot better with the 18 up front. I had Buchanons build both wheels with heavy duty stainless spokes and I powder coated the rims. They are easy to clean and look sweet!

I dont doubt it looks sweet, sounds like a real nice setup but i dont have that kind of coin right now.

Now that I own a house I dont either. Man that 8 grand I got didnt go far lol.

thats the one thing i do like about keeping my spoked wheels, which i probly will for when i have money to fix them up, but they are just a re-lace and a couple hoops away from wider rims.