Going from spoke to alloy

Hey guys,
I'm wondering how difficult/pricey it would be to change over to alloys from my spoked rims. I have questions like, "Do I have to go with dual discs and a rear disc, or can I keep my stock single in front drum in back setup?" I'm lookin for the easiest cheapest way right now, might upgrade next winter. I just want an alternative to paying $200 to get my rims trued when I want to go to alloys later anyway. Thanks.

Not sure of prices, but you dont have to put dual discs up front, and you can get rear mags with drum brakes.
Scott

i did the swithch to mag and tripple disc by canibilizing a boneyard ltd. ended using the engine too after the a rebuild ... but if you want to go even lighter and staay with your stock set up get some exel or simular rims and lace it up with new spokes. much lighter that mag. wheels and you can still go with dual discs later on this set up if u want. did this on my hi wich shares the same front end with the kz650, but i used calipers from a ex500 .

77_650B1 wrote:

Hey guys,
I'm wondering how difficult/pricey it would be to change over to alloys from my spoked rims.

'77 KZ650C1 minus top end and engine covers offered to me by a motorist at a stop light = $40.00

Removed the cast wheels, swingarm, the Lockhart oil cooler, both complete brake sytems, cut the rear master cylinder bracket from the frame to have a friedn weld it to my frame = about 2 hours of my time and $3 bucks worth of beer to my friend to weld the bracket to the frame.

Had the worn and stuck swingarm bearings removed and brand new bearings installed = $40 for labor and $21 for the bearings.

Gave the frame to another member here to replace his damaged frame.

Kept the crankcase and complete transmission, but parted the remainder of the bike out on eBay = stuffed just under $700 back into my pocket!

The (long) point I'm trying to make here is, check your local newspaper classifieds, Recycler, Pennysaver, etc for people who either don't know what they have and what it's worth, or who are just trying to get rid of it to make space.

Motorcycle salvage yards are ok for some parts, but cast KZ wheels usually sell for $100+ through them...and that's without discs!


Post edited by: RetroRiceRocketRider, at: 2006/04/14 00:34

My biggest problem is that I'm in Newfoundland, Canada, and I've never seen another 77-80 KZ650. Of all alst summer talking to various people about my KZ, only once did I hear, "I knew a guy with one of those". I honestly think that I might be one of the only ones left in teh province. So I dont think most of thats an option for me.

77_650B1 wrote:

My biggest problem is that I'm in Newfoundland, Canada, and I've never seen another 77-80 KZ650. Of all alst summer talking to various people about my KZ, only once did I hear, "I knew a guy with one of those". I honestly think that I might be one of the only ones left in teh province. So I dont think most of thats an option for me.

I hear ya bud, I have seen a 750 ltd here in NB, thats it so far, but I see that Letthegoodtimesroll (has a KZ650)is pretty close to me, going to have to go out for a cruise some time when my bike is done and see his KZ. So far with parts, ebay has been my best friend, I see stuff for our KZs all the time, just keep your eye out and something is bound to turn up. An option for a rear mag wheel might be a 500 ninja wheel, some of them came with drum brakes and shouldnt be hard to swap in, it might take the ninja axle to work, but Im not sure....but you might want to check it out, the wheels look nice.

I just today fitted a later model alloy wheel to the back of my 77 650.
The wheel was a drum type, and EVERYTHING from the spoked wheel bolted/ fitted right in. It was such an easy swap!
Now I have no more worrying about a rusty steel rim and inner tubes popping every 3 months (my last inner tube, the steel rim cut the valve off the tube!). Plus I can patch the tubeless tyre in minutes by the side of the road( within reason).

Regards, Andrew.

Do you know what year and what bike it came off of? Thats my problem, i dont know which bikes had the drum, I found a good front rim on eBay, looking for a rear now, 18".

I have a 76 900 I'm working on. It has a 16" rear mag with disk, but it still has a spoke 19" - 1.85 front wheel that's rusty. Does anyone know what range of bikes I could get a matching front mag for this? I've seen wheels on Ebay from 450 & 550 ltd's from the early 80's, but they said they were 19 - 2.25. Does anyone know if that would fit. Thanks

I have a 76 900 I'm working on. It has a 16" rear mag with disk, but it still has a spoke 19" - 1.85 front wheel that's rusty. Does anyone know what range of bikes I could get a matching front mag for this? I've seen wheels on Ebay from 450 & 550 ltd's from the early 80's, but they said they were 19 - 2.25. Does anyone know if that would fit. Thanks

I have no idea which year wheel my bike was off. I called the bike wrecker, said I wanted 18 and 19" wheels, and had to be rear drum.

Regards, Andrew.

Post edited by: typhoon, at: 2006/04/15 01:03

I just changed my KZ 650 from spokes to alloy, for the same reason.
I cruzed e-bay until I found what I wanted.
I got a set of alloy rims for a KZ 650 I don't know which model, I was going off of the pictures, and got single disk in front (I think the disk is thinner than on my original B2 wheel) and a rear with drum brake.
Not all is equal however. The inside diameter of the rear sprocket is larger on the alloy wheels (80mm) than on the B2 spokes (74mm).
If you buy the wheels off of the web, or anywhere for that matter, MAKE SURE YOU GET ALL THE SPACERS AXELS AND PARTS THAT GO WITH THE WHEELS. Your B1 spacers and cush drive hub will be different. I was able to use the brake unit off of my B2 in the alloy wheel, but nothing else fit.
Hope this helps.
Humph, try the pic again...


After looking around, my alloy wheels appear to be from a 78-79 KZ650 SR E model. maybe.
Oh, and I'm running 19" front and 16" rear.
Post edited by: BRGMGBGT, at: 2006/04/15 02:27

Post edited by: BRGMGBGT, at: 2006/04/15 12:27

Post edited by: BRGMGBGT, at: 2006/04/15 12:56