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For my first "cafe" build, I for the most part have set myself on getting either a Honda CB or Kawasaki KZ as a 2nd choice.
I have my eye on a '82 Nighthawk 750, and really like the way the modern 3 spoke wheels look. I found the pic below where looks like a front end/rear wheel swap was done and was wondering if anyone has experience swapping the rear wheel? I did some searching and have a pretty good idea what's involved in swapping tripples/stems and the appropriate bearings needed, but came up empty on the rear wheel.
I would assume spacers would be needed to get the chain to line up properly, that being said what could/should I use to safely space the wheel, and has anyone run into clearance issues with the tire rubbing the rear shocks or fender running say a 160 or 180 tire?
Wouldn't I still be faced with the same challenges of having the front and rear sprockets aligned even though the wheel would "fit" in the swingarm better? Unless there is a swingarm swap DIY that is bolt on that I don't know about yet lol .
I know it's tough to say how difficult something is, guess I'm more looking for information on what others have done, or have tried that did/did not work. Obviously SOMEONE figured something out!
Yes. The first issue is getting the wheel in place and not rubbing anything.
The next is to get it in line with the front wheel. Probably require new/modified spacers
Next, align the sprockets and machine the sprocket carrier or fit a an overhung (extended) front sprocket or both.
The wheels on that bike look like SRAD GSXR wheels and the rear appears to be so far back because it rubs. That wheel would be 5.5" and has a 180 section tire. Try something like an FZR600 wheel - I think they are 4.5 inches and take a 150 or 160 tire.
Thanks teazer. Funny you should mention a FZR as I was just thinking about that being a possibility LOL. I had a '98 FZR as a first bike and remember having a 160 bun in the back. I think about it a 180 seems like it is going to be a bit ambitious .
Is there a way to see what the builder in the pic did? From what I can tell the sprocket looks to be attached directly to the wheel.
My 3.0 x 16" rear is sporting a 150 rear tire in the stock swing-arm. The wheels don't have to be huge to hold good rubber. And almost any wheel CAN be adapted, it comes down to how much work you want to put into it and how good you are at reading a set of dial calipers. The hard part about anything rear wheel related will be lining up the chain (if using the matching swing-arm).
3 inch rim is good for 130 recommended or 140 at a stretch. Anything wider is typically squashed and too tall. 150 is designed to fit on a 4" rim and 3.5 - 4.5 is acceptable according to Bridgetsone
That rear sprocket bolts to a carrier which is pushed into the wheel and is cushioned by a set of rubber dampers. Suzuki used a similar system for years on all sorts of bikes. I'm sure I could probably push a GT750 sprocket carrier into an SRAD wheel.
FZR400 wears a 150 IIRC and the 600 is a 150 18" radial.
l
It's all starting to come back now, I remember taking the sprocket carrier out of the wheel when I had my FZR wheels painted. Just didn't know the terminology or thought much aboout what the part actually did other than taking it off and putting it back on the right way lol.
Let's assume I'm at this point. The original bikes sprocket/carrier is pressed into my new wheel & it's mounted, still have to align with the front wheel and front sprocket. If I needed to space the sprocket on the wheel out towards the swingarm to have it align with the front sprocket, what would the proper way to do this be? Would something like spacers that would be used on a car be a good way?
When it comes to centering the wheel with the front and I would need to move the wheel left to right, what should I use? When I search motorcycle wheel spacer all I have seen so far are the actual spacers that get inserted into OEM wheels, and not an actual spacer to move the wheel in any direction.
If you don't want to go nuts with tyre sizes, early Katana (pre 98) and GS500 twin wheels are relatively cheap and way wide than any stock wheel fitted in 70's.
Front is 3.00x17 and rear 3.50x17,
After 98 the spoke pattern changed slightly and rear went up to 4.5x17 (front still 3.00)
They are a lot more expensive
GS500 sprocket carrier is a lot narrower than GSX600/750F one but fits either wheel
there are several threads adressing this sort of thing on customfighters.com -sorry link wont work. guys over there are all about newer bikes, -putting gsxr forks n rear swing arm on a ducati etc etc. etc. they can help you out.
Three dimensional relativity is enough to give you a headache. Keep the process simple and it become obvious what has to be done.
First choose a suitable wheel (not too wide)
Test the wheel in the swingarm to be sure it fits without rubbing
When you find a wheel that fits in the swingarm, try fitting it without spacers or with spacers on one side only.
Measure the distance between the axle center and swingarm spindle centeline on both sides and adjust it with the chain adjusters until they measure the same on both sides. Then lock the adjuster bolts so they cannot change.
Then try to align the wheels. In all probability, the rear will have to move sideways slightly. Do not adjust the chain adjusters to get it aligned. Move the wheel side to side along the axle.
If you can get the wheels in line, the next step is to work out how long the spacers need to be to hold the wheel in the correct spot. Often tehy need to be made thinner on one side and thicker on the other or more comes off one side than the other.
Get the existing spacers turned down to the right size or have new ones machined.
Next bolt the wheel in with the new spacers and check the distances again to be sure nothing changed. I always find that something was measured wrong but you may get lucky and get it right the first time.
Now the wheels are in line and centered, it's time to measure the chain line. Typically the new fat rear will have the chain further away from the centerline of the bike than the original skinny wheel.
Now you can work out how much further out the front sprocket needs to be.
To recap
1 - choose wheel
2 - get rear and front wheels in line and measure for spacers
3 - Fit wheel and measure for chain alignment
4 - get new front (dished/offset) sprocket
Thanks a TON teazer! That's alot more methodical than what I had swirling around in my head LOL. I guess I didn't realize that getting an offset sprocket for the front would be a possibility, but it makes WAY more sense getting the front sprocket to align the rear, rather than the whole rear to align with the front sprocket lol.
No worries. There are always more than one route from where you are to where you want to go, but start with getting the wheels in line and THEN look at chain issues. It doesn't work the other way round.
On some bikes (don't know bout yours) the frame doesn't allow sufficient offset
of the front sprocket to match with the rear one. In this case you'd have to machine
down the sprocket carrier. If this is not possible or not enough can be removed to make
it fit keep in mind that chain alignment is by far more important than wheel alignment.
The bike will be surprisingly rideable with the rear wheel 1" offcentered, .5" would almost
be perfect, you won't realize while riding. Needless to say 0 is best.
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