Spokes vs. mags

[bladredhead]

Magnesium alloy wheels, or mag wheels, are sometimes used on racing cars, in place of heavier steel or aluminum wheels, for better performance. The wheels are produced by one-step hot forging from magnesium alloys ZK60 and MA-14 (Russian variation of ZK60). Cast magnesium disks are used in motorcycle wheels.

The mass of typical magnesium automotive wheel is about 8–12 kg (depending on model).

Magnesium wheels are flammable and have been banned in some forms of motor sport in the UK following fires which are very difficult to extinguish. Mag wheels have been known to catch fire in competition use after a punctured tire has allowed prolonged scraping of the wheel on the road surface. Some variants of Magnesium alloy wheels may have low corrosion resistance.

They have the disadvantages of being rather expensive and not practical for most street vehicles. Aluminum wheels are often mistakenly called "mag wheels".

alsooo magnsium alloys are generally more likely to crack than aluminum. they are still used in high performance motorcycle racing, but they have big budgets and can afford to replace them when cracks appear.

[Alley Kat]

Magnesium does burn extremely well, speaking as someone who raided the science lab at school and ignited a whole load of ribbons of it in class. The plastic end cups off the chair legs made nice containers/projectiles.

I did once see mag or mag alloy parts in a road bike; once rode a Rickman Metisse Bonnie which had several mag parts inc hubs and things, though the parts possibly did have race origins. Those parts were said to have a 10-year life absolute max, have heard a lot less as well, because of being prone to cracking.

[LarryG]

Arrrrgh! They're not "swing thingies", they're Swang Thangs. Swing thingies work by tenspression. Swang Thangs work by gremlins in the material acting in past tense to clean and whiten the tolerances which have to be set to "stun".

RTFM, man.

abadee abadee abadee...MAN! That made my head hurt! What in the heck ya'll smokin' ??? :)

[Joker]

Heh heh heh... Just editorializing on the energy spent in semantics when everyone knows what the meaning is.

Ain't I a stinker?

[HorseFly]

I like the look of spokes and was thinking of puting them on my 1100
but I'm starting to reconsider

[hmratbam]

Wire wheels on an 1100 are pretty involved. The Bopper is an 1100 with wires- The front is a CB 750A wheel with a GL1000 rotor on one side using a modified 1100 caliper. The rear is a GL1000 rear hub with an aftermarket 16" wheel laced on it mounted on a modified 1100 swingarm using a GL1000 final. Lotsa monkey business. I could have put a GL1000 swingarm in the 1100 frame and accomplished the same thing with about 3" less wheelbase.
There are several custom made spacers involved also. If you're an adequate fabricator and machinist,you won't have any trouble. If you send your work out,you will spend a lot of money!
Ron

[64ed]

I have Lesters on my 77, I think they are cast aluminum or something, it is all i have ever had, I like the no tube part... some how it seems better??? Im not sure if they still make them, I like them

ed

[the chef]

I have two sets of COMSTARS and one set of HONDALINE CAST WHEELS , guess what? I like the looks of the cast wheels better ,but I like the COMSTARS better because of the size of the wheels. THe 17 inch rears ride better. And the narrower 19 inch front turns in better than the fatter 18 inch front cast wheel does.
yes, spokes are cool looking , old school and all that but looks ain't everything , ( if it was then the best part of a lady would not be so hidden.) I ride the hell out of my bike, everyday, and if you have torn up your COMSTARS then you could bust an anvil!
They may look dated,but sooooo what? All you guys sooooo hung up on how your bike looks are most likely ....in my opinion .......mere posers.
I mostly care about things like : is it going to start in the morning so I can go to work? ( no problems yet!)
:do I have enough gas to get there? (or do I have to stop en route?)
:do I have enough time to save for a new tire before this one goes flat?
:is there a hill where I am going so I can push start it without asking for help?(starter bad for 6 months now)
The things some of you guys worry about .....I find comical.
Cool is inside your head!!!! ( what is cool is.... not breaking down for long periods of time.)the chef

[Doby Pilgrim]

I don't think anyone here is a poser. Posers don't ride 25 or 30 year old bikes everyday or across country or for several years. For that matter, posers don't trust their lives to two wheels when they could have four. They don't wear leather when they could just roll up their windows.

Posers are people who go to a Harley shop to buy the clothes or a leather jacket and don't even have a bike. Posers also have big old Harley stickers in the rear window of their pickup trucks, again with no bike in the garage or under a cover at home. Posers aren't on NGW as far as I can tell.

As far as taste or opinions on wheels, there is no correct answer. There are advantages to both types, plus the Comstars and Lesters. But there are also disadvantages to them all as well.

And almost all of this discussion is just opinion. Nothing wrong with that, since this post is just an opinion as well...

[Q]

What year did the Goldwing first come with tubeless tires? When I bought this 79 I just assumed they were tubeless, after all my 80 CX500 has tubeless tires on the "reverse" Comstar wheels.

Q

[roncar]

What year did the Goldwing first come with tubeless tires? When I bought this 79 I just assumed they were tubeless, after all my 80 CX500 has tubeless tires on the "reverse" Comstar wheels.

Q

78 and 79 GL1000 comstar: tube
80,81,82 GL1100 reverse comstar: tubeless

I've read somewhere (no idea where) that there has been success with 78 and 79 comstars running tubeless, I haven't tried it myself, anyone else have input?

[rcmatt007]

years.... and I mean years ago, I got a stem that was the size of a tube stem but with a O-ring on the bottom (unfortunatley I only got one) and I have been running the rear on my 78 tubeless since 1979 or so

[Rat]

years.... and I mean years ago, I got a stem that was the size of a tube stem but with a O-ring on the bottom (unfortunatley I only got one) and I have been running the rear on my 78 tubeless since 1979 or so

Seems like a reasonable test

Gord

[Joker]

They may look dated,but sooooo what? All you guys sooooo hung up on how your bike looks are most likely ....in my opinion .......mere posers.

Dude, you went Elementary School Playground Bully on us over wheels? Hit a sore spot with you, did we? A bit sensitive, are you? You need a nap.

If you maintain your bike, it doesn't matter what parts you run on it. They're going to work for you. BTW, anyone who leans over and finds 6 broken spokes got lucky. Shouldn't have swung a leg in the first place. INSPECT what you EXPECT. Most of the fun of these old bikes is finding, scrounging and fixing. Then you ride.

My opinion of what YOU ride is none of your business. However, I do acknowlege Comstars as one of the top functional wheel designs ever. If you own and like Comstars, you've bought your last wheels. If I were to use a GL1000 on an around-the-world trip, I'd seriously run Comstars. Set it and forget it. I'm not, so I go with spokes which are mostly set it and forget it. I true the wheels whenever I change the tires and then I don't think about it until the next tire change.

[CYBORG]

They may look dated,but sooooo what? All you guys sooooo hung up on how your bike looks are most likely ....in my opinion .......mere posers.

Dude, you went Elementary School Playground Bully on us over wheels? Hit a sore spot with you, did we? A bit sensitive, are you? You need a nap.

If you maintain your bike, it doesn't matter what parts you run on it. They're going to work for you. BTW, anyone who leans over and finds 6 broken spokes got lucky. Shouldn't have swung a leg in the first place. INSPECT what you EXPECT. Most of the fun of these old bikes is finding, scrounging and fixing. Then you ride.

My opinion of what YOU ride is none of your business. However, I do acknowlege Comstars as one of the top functional wheel designs ever. If you own and like Comstars, you've bought your last wheels. If I were to use a GL1000 on an around-the-world trip, I'd seriously run Comstars. Set it and forget it. I'm not, so I go with spokes which are mostly set it and forget it. I true the wheels whenever I change the tires and then I don't think about it until the next tire change.

I KINDA LIKE THE LESTERS MYSELF..... 8) MAYBE I NEED A TIME OUT