Are wheels worth the coin?

[HO-HUM-R1]

Just wondering for those who have them are aftermarket forged aluminum wheels worth the money for a street bike. I like buying stuff for the bike as much as the next guy but that's a lot of money to drop if you're not gonna see a huge difference.

[slammp]

Not for the street. They make the bike lighter for track days and what not but unless your just looking for bling and have unlimited funds I'd say invest elsewhere.

[Chippertheripper]

Not worth it at all, even as a racer.

That $ is like a season worth of td's. Invest in yourself as a motorcycle rider, not in ass jewelry. .02

[SRTie4k]

I thought about the same thing for my TLS, and I think I've concluded its not worth the money and the time invested.

You can get really cheap stock Duc Marchesini's on ebay, though. That's the route I was looking into briefly, but it might take some work to get them to fit.

[Awesome]

Worth it is a concept for you, not us or anybody else.

[HO-HUM-R1]

Tough call.... i was looking at some of the 1800-2000 $ sets which is roughly the same as full exhaust which provides less benefit. I might keep an eye out for something used and under 1500.

I would spend it on track days. But my schedule doesn't give me the free days during the season..

[boosten lebaron]

i upgraded mine because my old rims were trash. I got a set of pvm's and love them.

[csmutty]

Depends if you can get them for a good price. I got a set of Marchesinis that were mint for $500.

[RandyO]

alloy wheels to replace alloy wheels, not imho unless they are real cheap, I can see spending the cake on laced wheels if yer trying to make an adventure bike more dirt worthy

[Jim]

i upgraded mine because I didnt want the chrome wheels that came with my bike. i found a good deal on a set of Marchesini's. i'd never buy them just because though.

[jwm2k3]

Ive never tried aftermarket wheels on a bike that ive ridden with stock wheels. I have ridden a cbr1k with aftermarket wheels and also a few cbr1k's with stock wheels. The bike with aftermarket wheels felt totally fucking awesome and different. It felt like a much lighter bike, by a large margin. Could i have imagined it? Maybe...but most likely not. My personal opinion...id upgrade stock suspension before wheels. But cost aside, we all like the look of aftermarket wheels!!

[duey]

I changed from marchesini forged to carrozzeria forged and on paper they were ~1.5lbs lighter each and since I only put 200mi's on the original wheels on the street (break-in period) I can tell you I'd be lying if I told you I actually felt a difference between the two. Maybe on the track I would have noticed a tiny tiny bit but not likely. But a friend that had a hyper base model (cast marcheseni's) said he did notice a difference when he made the switch.

But yeah in the end I'm on the same boat as the others to say wheels are more bling than anything.

[DuncanMoto]

The difference in rotational mass can be huge, but I would agree that at the level most of us ride, a suspension upgrade would be more beneficial.

[tsorfas]

Worth it is a concept for you, not us or anybody else.

exactly that. I love my Marchesinis and I didnt even get a decent deal on them, almost paid full retail for them. Do what you want and you find attractive on your bike. You wont notice difference in performance by changing the rims though

[HO-HUM-R1]

Already have the ohlins shock and the forks have neen sprung and revalved.. i have a small flat spot in my front wheel which is what started all this....lol

I've been reading that the difference is pretty substantial vs the stock wheels. Not just in overall weight but also in the wait associated with the outer part of the rim.

Many guys claim it's the best mod they have done to their bikes and it completely changes the way the bike feels. Of course who's gonna spend that kind of money and then say they didn't notice a difference anyway.

I can agree in some ways with everybody's opinion and I'm not sure what I'm gonna do. just throwing it out there

[PhilB]

Wheels are both rotational mass, and unsprung mass, so if you lighten them by a significant amount, it makes a big difference. I agree with the others that suspension comes first (and get fully adjustable, since if you lighten your wheels, you'll have to make some adjustments). I still have the stock wheels on my bike, but I'm (a) not a hard rider, (b) not riding a bike that is really performance focused, and (c) going by the maxim "If'n it ain't broke, don't fix it". But if I ever damage my rims somehow, I probably will replace them with an upgrade.

When I was in college, I had an Alfa Romeo, and I replaced the stock steel wheels with aluminum, saving about 11 lbs per wheel, and I could easily feel the difference in the car. I'd expect that if you lightened a bike's wheels by 3 or 4 lbs each, you'd feel a big difference.

PhilB

[RandyO]

Wheels are both rotational mass, and unsprung mass, so if you lighten them by a significant amount, it makes a big difference. I agree with the others that suspension comes first (and get fully adjustable, since if you lighten your wheels, you'll have to make some adjustments).

can't really disagree with that based on my experience on the darkside

[Lucas]

Having a set of BSTs on my streetbike I can say you can absolutely tell the difference and I never even had it on the track.

Is itworth it? prob not. I'd put my money elsewhere first. If you have the money then go for it.

[HO-HUM-R1]

The bst carbon fiber wheels are nasty

The more I read the more I think about it..
Wheels provide substatial performance gains and braking, handling, and acceleration. I really can't think of any other 1 mod that would do all of those things.

I'm toying with the idea gettingan off road bike but I don't think I'd ever get a chance to write it

[xsiliconkid]

For racing? Yes!
Anything else? Just for the bling value

[SVRACER01]

Wirelessly posted (HTC EVO "DROID" )

Will you notice? Yes. Acceleration will increase and handling will be lighter not mention wheelies will be easier. If these are things that you value in your street riding....then yes...they are worth it.

[HO-HUM-R1]

Wheelies not so much but the lighter handling and better acceleration and braking all seem like good ideas to me

[jwm2k3]

Wheelies not so much but the lighter handling and better acceleration and braking all seem like good ideas to me

Just get them dude...you know youre gonna. With a flat spotted rim too....ummm, ya....aftermarket rims please!!

And dont forget the pictures.

[HO-HUM-R1]

yeah im gonna get em...lol

I'll get aluminum ones though, I'm not gonna fork over 3500 bux for carbon. maybe some used ones will pop up in the next day or two before i order the others.

Now i have to decide on color. black or gold.....hhhmmmm

[duey]

yeah im gonna get em...lol

I'll get aluminum ones though, I'm not gonna fork over 3500 bux for carbon. maybe some used ones will pop up in the next day or two before i order the others.

Now i have to decide on color. black or gold.....hhhmmmm

Which wheels are you looking to get anyway?