Rd350 front hub remove the casting rib?

I am building a Yamaha xs500 that I am converting over to rd350 spoke wheels. I have unlaced the front wheel and am about to clean the hub so I can rebuild it. The center of the hub has two large casting ribs 180 degrees from each other. I was thinking about putting them on a lathe at school and removing the remaining ribs. Any thoughts?

Don't do it.
Pat

Ok. Any reason why?

uh it would no doubt weaken the hub ,of course you know that it is overbuilt with a safety factor but where is the safe limit ? finding the limit of the safety factor on the front wheel will not be pretty
what does the hub interior look like has it got a large hollow ? if you remove those ribs what is actually left ?

Here are some pics of the "ribs" in question.

Wouldn't it be easier to get a front wheel from an earlier 500 Yamaha - it had spokes and it should bolt on? It's a bit stronger to take the heavier weight of your bike and can take twin discs if you wish.
Pat

I wanted an 18in front wheel at the time the rd wheel was all I could find.
I'll just leave well enough alone. I didn't want to build the wheel and then
wish I had done more to remove weight.
Chris

They have been modified for years. As long as you don't mess with the spoke flanges or reduce center it will be fine.
The amount of weight removed is miniscule compared to weight of bike, only reason to remove them is looks
Make sure you follow radius at base of flange. I'll be doing mine when I get around to it

Yeah, taking the change out of your pocket before jumping on the bike will reduce more weight than those ribs, but if you can put your hands on more hubs just in case, toss one on your lathe and go to town. Always good to get time on a lathe.

I do this ALL the time. There is absolutely no structural reason to leave them. They are there only because of how they are cast, and the factory only grinds the least they can for an acceptable appearance. I remove most of the material with a die grinder, then spin them on a lathe and take off the minimum I can to clean them up and true them up round. You might be surprised how asymmetric the castings are. I also polish them up to a degree so they can be cleaned and look a lot better a lot longer. You can polish them up fairly matt if you don't want too much bling. I have done quite a few hubs, and most have small air bubbles below the surface which may be revealed if you skim the surface, so keep that in mind if you are expecting flawless polished surfaces when you are done. Conversely, aside from the obvious cosmetic and maintenance reasons, there is no reason to remove them. The weight you will save is negligible, and not worth the work if that is the only reason. By the way, TX500 and RD350 hubs bolt up identically. The 500 hub will take a second disc though, which is very handy if you want flip the fork to move that boat anchor caliper behind the fork leg and keep the stock speedo drive.

Thank you, it looked like it was from the casting so I thought I'd ask.