19" Wheel Conversion

[kojack]

there is a company making a true dual sport wheel set for the versys now! using a 19/17 excel wheel and custom hub....im very close to buying a 2012 and tossing them on and probably selling my KLR.

[cmoreride]

Thats sounds very interesting how much to get the two wheel changed out, hubs, wheels, spokes, lacing, truing and tires?

Originally Posted by kojack

there is a company making a true dual sport wheel set for the versys now! using a 19/17 excel wheel and custom hub....im very close to buying a 2012 and tossing them on and probably selling my KLR.

[kojack]

Appox 1500 bucks complete. worth it. I hate cast wheels for anything off road. one wrong move and your walking. plus the VERSYS looks way cool with the spoked wheel setup. Here's a shot of er!

[jdrocks]

Originally Posted by kojack

...I hate cast wheels for anything off road. one wrong move and your walking...

often repeated urban myth. the Versys with the OEM 17" cast wheels has been off paved surfaces for a gazillion miles by riders all over the world by now. most likely lots of "wrong moves", have you seen a whole bunch of Versys rider reports of anyone walking because they broke or mangled a cast wheel so badly it wouldn't hold air? i have a bent BMW spoke wheel in the shop that i keep as a reminder that spoke wheels are not the end all solution for off pavement riding, especially since a bent Versys wheel can be replaced dirt cheap.

i've run cast wheels on over 10,000 miles of gravel, some very rough conditions included, and i've never walked an inch despite enough "wrong moves" that could fill a book.

if you like those spoke wheels, buy them, but cast will work just fine for places the Versys will go, and no, i'm not talking about the Versys as a single track dirt bike. with the availability of the TKC in 120/70/17, the Versys will get out there even more.

[moechester]

Originally Posted by kojack

Appox 1500 bucks complete. worth it. I hate cast wheels for anything off road. one wrong move and your walking. plus the VERSYS looks way cool with the spoked wheel setup. Here's a shot of er!

Here is my version with RAD mfg hubs and Excel wheels. Took about 30 mins to do the conversion. Easy!

[kojack]

The problem is with cast wheels they don't bend, they crack! I would rather bend a wheel, keep air in it and ride home with a wobble, than ding a rock at speed that cracks your cast wheel and your walking back...

Oh, JD, im not talking about single track etiher, more of fast fire roads with some loose rocks etc. I have a plated crf for blastin the single track. but im just very weary about the cast wheels..I know you have been EVERYWHERE on yours. My buddy back here has a varadero and destroyed a wheel on the trans lab, was stranded in the middle of B.F.N. for hours. No cell service, never rented the sat phone and no vehicles passed. he was contemplating walking, but waited and got picked up later.

[jdrocks]

nah, i haven't been "EVERYWHERE" with a 19" cast wheel on the front, but i have been lots of places. i don't read every word of every bike forum either, but i have to say that i have not seen reports on destroyed cast wheels used on the roads you intend to run. anyone on this forum "crack" a wheel, front or rear, pavement or other?

sorry your buddy had a problem on the Trans Lab with his cast wheel, but i and countless other riders have crossed the same road on cast wheels without incident. That particular road is nowhere near as rough as other roads i've been on, it's almost the gravel equivalent of the superslab these days due to all the traffic. you can run 80 in the family Civic, many do. i've had the 17" OEM cast wheels on plenty of rough roads too, no problems. i don't know what your buddy hit, the speed he was running at the time, aired down or not, but call it bad luck, not cast wheel karma.

your spoke wheel setup should do a good job on your Versys, they look good on the bike too. i hope they are found to be as durable a DS wheel as the 19" Suzuki cast wheel, in use now for 10 years on the front of the Stroms. i don't know the production numbers for those DL650/DL1000 bikes over those model years, or the miles of offroad use by these same number of bikes...let's just agree that it's probably a real big number, considering 10 years of worldwide use. i'd say that the 19" cast wheel is a well proven setup at this point, on the front of a Strom...or Versys.

[moechester]

I was not scared at all of the cast wheels. I simply could not find one when I decided to make the switch. So I opted for the spoked version. JD won't steer you wrong. His track record with the cast wheels speaks for itself. That's JDrocks not Jack Daniels! Don't listen to Jack Daniels!

[BAMF]

I think i am going to take off that 83 honda shadow front 19in wheel and do some measurements,,, see if it lines up.

[kojack]

Well, we will see, I will be riding it off road for a bit with the stock wheels...I will be getting the laced wheels anyways because I want quick swap wheels for blacktop and off road.

[jdrocks]

Originally Posted by moechester

I was not scared at all of the cast wheels. I simply could not find one when I decided to make the switch. So I opted for the spoked version. JD won't steer you wrong. His track record with the cast wheels speaks for itself. That's JDrocks not Jack Daniels! Don't listen to Jack Daniels!

you were doing fine there for a stretch until ya got to that part about the Jack Daniels...

[jdrocks]

Originally Posted by kojack

Well, we will see, I will be riding it off road for a bit with the stock wheels...I will be getting the laced wheels anyways because I want quick swap wheels for blacktop and off road.

here's a prediction, mount the 17/19, you won't be swapping back.

[kojack]

Maybe not, but I will because of the rubber on the 17" pair.

[BAMF]

I wanna know which one of you joker snatched that DL1000 front wheel away from me ....1 minute before the auction closed.

OMG i thought I had it in the bag...i was so excited.

[alien71121]

Originally Posted by Bart

I am sure others here are more qualified to answer this but my reasons are to enable the wheel to roll over obsticles better off pavement and a wider tyre choice for off pavement too.

Yes it probabilly will slow the steering down but the V is so quick anyway. I am planing to run 17" for pavement and 19" off pavement.

Hope this helps.

Actually, I plan on riding on pavement only, but don't like the stock sport bike tires the Versys comes with. What would it cost me to have 19" wheels put on front & back? I can put 19" [road] tires on front & back, right? I like the look, feel & ride of a trail/Enduro type [tall, thin tires] bike much, much better than that of a sport bike. The roads I ride are bumpy, but are still paved.



Allen

[cuff]

Originally Posted by moechester

Here is my version with RAD mfg hubs and Excel wheels. Took about 30 mins to do the conversion. Easy!

I like your fork guards.