Has anyone here tried one of these wheels yet?

[VmaxwellSmart]

I Third That!!

 

[4gasem]

I had the same concerns before buying it - it sits in the swingarm perfect, but is offset about 3/8" of an inch - doesn't track weird at all, but I have not checked front to back wheel alignment yet to see how off it is.

Now what I would like to see is a straight shot from the back of bike pictures of other custom rims, ie; Chris's Cazz wheels and others just to see how those wheels are. Any pics would be appreciated.

Mike

My wheels are offset! Front and rear but just a little bit.

 

[venetrex]

I have the 18inch rear wheel with a sportmax d207, the stock vrod tire, I noticed a huge difference in handling and better traction, especially in the cold. I get wierd front tire wearing though.

 

[MikeS]

Hi All.

Well, I just ordered some 18" radial tires from Motorcycle Superstore ( they accept 'Bill-Me-Later' for payment!). I got the Z6 110/80ZR-18 front, and the ME880 180/55ZR-18 rear. Now I need to find the money to buy a rear wheel to mount the tire to! I kind of like the look of the Vrod wheels being sold on eBay, and they seem to be the cheapest way to get a rear 18" wheel for the vmax. What are the disadvantages of a solid wheel rather than a spoked one?

Also, with the 180/55's will they fit with 11.5" shocks, or will they rub?

-MikeS

 

[4gasem]

Hi All.

Well, I just ordered some 18" radial tires from Motorcycle Superstore ( they accept 'Bill-Me-Later' for payment!). I got the Z6 110/80ZR-18 front, and the ME880 180/55ZR-18 rear. Now I need to find the money to buy a rear wheel to mount the tire to! I kind of like the look of the Vrod wheels being sold on eBay, and they seem to be the cheapest way to get a rear 18" wheel for the vmax. What are the disadvantages of a solid wheel rather than a spoked one?

Also, with the 180/55's will they fit with 11.5" shocks, or will they rub?

-MikeS

WEIGHT! Also material makes a difference. Forged compared to cast and so on...

 

[82ndCowboy]

Will a VRod rear wheel even work on a VMAX :ummm:

Cross winds cause you to sway more with solid rims, Is the only thing I can add!

 

[4gasem]

Will a VRod rear wheel even work on a VMAX :ummm:

Cross winds cause you to sway more with solid rims, Is the only thing I can add!

The guy on ebay modifies them to!

The front wheel being solid is the worst one...

 

[Rusty McNeil]

Cross winds cause you to sway more with solid rims, Is the only thing I can add!

I'm sure this has been debated more than oil somewhere before but I tend to believe different when the bike is at speeds of more than 30-40mph or so.

The "slipstream" of air rushing past the bike at speed forms a barrier of sorts that a 5-20 mph crosswind is not going to penetrate; at least that's my thinking anyway......I could be wrong.....

 

[4gasem]

I'm sure this has been debated more than oil somewhere before but I tend to believe different when the bike is at speeds of more than 30-40mph or so.

The "slipstream" of air rushing past the bike at speed forms a barrier of sorts that a 5-20 mph crosswind is not going to penetrate; at least that's my thinking anyway......I could be wrong.....

It was actually a BIG complaint with the first vrods. The front is worse than the rear. The Max comes stock with a damn near solid rear wheel so....:confused2:

 

[maxcruiser]

Ok here's my opinions;

First off, 11.5" shocks do not fit because of 3/8" offset. I found out the hard way, but now I like stock shock over 11.5" shocks anyways - was bottoming out before with progressives - roads are rough in my parts. Less travel will mean that they have to be stiffer.

Did over 700 miles this weekend, in wind gusts up to 30 miles/hour + and no more issues with solid over another rim.

The ebay solid 18" rim is a vrod outer rim mated to a vmax inner hub - it has a 3/8" offset to the right - but no handling issues

Weight is 3.5lbs heavier than stock, with rotor and tire mounted on both. Not much of an issue for me, but I'm sure lighter would be better.

I am overall happy with the rim and getting on radials - much better handling and ride over stock.

Mike

 

[82ndCowboy]

I'm sure this has been debated more than oil somewhere before but I tend to believe different when the bike is at speeds of more than 30-40mph or so.

The "slipstream" of air rushing past the bike at speed forms a barrier of sorts that a 5-20 mph crosswind is not going to penetrate; at least that's my thinking anyway......I could be wrong.....

ummm... Not trying to be a smart ass... but how does air form a barrier?
I have yet to see anything moving through air and then just all of a sudden stop because of an air wall!

 

[Laxfan]

ummm... Not trying to be a smart ass... but how does air form a barrier?
I have yet to see anything moving through air and then just all of a sudden stop because of an air wall!

Every time you walk into one of the big department stores like a Bjs or Sams club that has their entry doors open all day and you feel a small blast of air, well that is an "Air Curtain", it does not stop you but it is a very effective "barrier" to bugs, heat or AC loss and dust.
There is a reason that our Vmaxes will go 100mph very easily but not 200 mph....Air
There is a reason that all of the stuff floating around in space becomes a "shooting star" when it gets to our planet and burns up instead of pummeling us.....air.

Air is actually a very effective barrier , We just take it for granted.

 

[Rusty McNeil]

ummm... Not trying to be a smart ass... but how does air form a barrier?
I have yet to see anything moving through air and then just all of a sudden stop because of an air wall!

Ever stick you hand out the window of your car at highway speeds?

 

[MikeS]

Hi All.

This is probably a dumb question, but here goes... Currently the eBay seller that normally sells these wheels doesn't have any listed. There is one listed by somebody else who claims he just ran out of money, so never even mounted a tire on the wheel he's selling. It looks identical to the ones that eightsnuff (the eBay seller) sells, and When I asked if that's who he got it from, he replied that he got it from a different ebay seller.

What could possibly be wrong with a wheel like this that it's gone thru several ebayers? Or is it possible that the ebay seller this guy got it from buys them from the same person that eightsnuff gets them from (assuming he's not making them himself) I kind of want to buy this wheel, as it's slightly cheaper, and the seller accepts PayPal, something eightsnuff doesn't, but I'm kind of concerned that it might be bad, which is why it's passed thru so many hands.

Anyone have any thoughts on this? Thanks!

-MikeS

 

[4gasem]

Hi All.

This is probably a dumb question, but here goes... Currently the eBay seller that normally sells these wheels doesn't have any listed. There is one listed by somebody else who claims he just ran out of money, so never even mounted a tire on the wheel he's selling. It looks identical to the ones that eightsnuff (the eBay seller) sells, and When I asked if that's who he got it from, he replied that he got it from a different ebay seller.

What could possibly be wrong with a wheel like this that it's gone thru several ebayers? Or is it possible that the ebay seller this guy got it from buys them from the same person that eightsnuff gets them from (assuming he's not making them himself) I kind of want to buy this wheel, as it's slightly cheaper, and the seller accepts PayPal, something eightsnuff doesn't, but I'm kind of concerned that it might be bad, which is why it's passed thru so many hands.

Anyone have any thoughts on this? Thanks!

-MikeS

Does the guy have positive feedback? Paypal and your credit card company protects you pretty well. Email the seller and ask him the questions you have and save his responses if you have further issues you can use them against him...

Chris

 

[MikeS]

Well, I've bought the wheel that was listed on eBay. I'll have it on Tuesday, and my tires should be in on Monday, so with any luck, by tuesday afternoon I'll know if the wheel I bought is ok, and if radials really make a big difference. Should I feel a big difference right away, or should I add a fork brace in as well? or what?

-MikeS

 

[shawn kloker]

I have a fork brace but only because I already did everything else first.I personally think that frame braces make the biggest improvement.

Are you having handleing problems?I was flexing the crap out of my frame on the hilly,winedy roads that we have here in western Pa.

 

[MikeS]

Well, I got the wheel, and tires, and took all of it over to a local motorcycle shop to get the tires mounted & balanced, and the rear wheel installed. The first thing is that the mechanic looked at the provided instructions, and said he didn't understand why the guy says to install the wheel, THEN to install the rotor onto the wheel. So he mounted the tire, installed the brake rotor, balanced the whole thing, and then let the air out of the tire, installed the wheel (with the rotor still attached), aired up the tire, and everythnig went smoothly. Along with the wheel come some washers to move the bar that holds the caliper, but he didn't use them, reconnected everything like it was originally, and while it was a close fit, nothing rubbed!

I've got Progressive 412 11.5" shocks, and I was worried that the wheel wouldn't fit because of the lowered shocks (somebody else here said they had to go back to the stock shocks), but so far it hasn't been a problem. I weigh in at 240# and with the shocks on the firmest preload setting I was able to take a passenger (small chick, she wears a size small dress, don't ask me what she weighs, I didn't ask) and the wheel/tire combo still didn't rub anything!

I'm a happy camper! The bike handles much better than it did before, no wobble at around 40mph anymore, nor at 90mph! (don't ask me about really high speeds, the fastest I rode it yesterday was around 120).

One quick question, with the front tire going from a 110/90 to a 110/80 how much of a difference in the speedo will that make?

The V-Rod wheel must make the bike LOOK like it's going faster, as I got pulled over, and given a speeding ticket for doing 61 in a 40 zone by a ******* motorcycle cop! Then he started giving me a ration of **** about wearing headphones, saying that FL law say you can only have one ear connected, and the other free, and unless they just changed that law, I know that's BS, as I looked up the laws when I first moved back here last year, and FL didn't specify one ear or two, only that they had to be for communications (I have an iPhone, so that qualifies as communications). This same cop gave me **** last year when I had a yellow headlight in my Kawasaki, so he must be a real *******.

Hopefully the weather will be nice today so I can go for a nice long ride!

-MikeS

 

[Hercules]

Well, I got the wheel, and tires, and took all of it over to a local motorcycle shop to get the tires mounted & balanced, and the rear wheel installed. The first thing is that the mechanic looked at the provided instructions, and said he didn't understand why the guy says to install the wheel, THEN to install the rotor onto the wheel. So he mounted the tire, installed the brake rotor, balanced the whole thing, and then let the air out of the tire, installed the wheel (with the rotor still attached), aired up the tire, and everythnig went smoothly. Along with the wheel come some washers to move the bar that holds the caliper, but he didn't use them, reconnected everything like it was originally, and while it was a close fit, nothing rubbed!

I've got Progressive 412 11.5" shocks, and I was worried that the wheel wouldn't fit because of the lowered shocks (somebody else here said they had to go back to the stock shocks), but so far it hasn't been a problem. I weigh in at 240# and with the shocks on the firmest preload setting I was able to take a passenger (small chick, she wears a size small dress, don't ask me what she weighs, I didn't ask) and the wheel/tire combo still didn't rub anything!

I'm a happy camper! The bike handles much better than it did before, no wobble at around 40mph anymore, nor at 90mph! (don't ask me about really high speeds, the fastest I rode it yesterday was around 120).

One quick question, with the front tire going from a 110/90 to a 110/80 how much of a difference in the speedo will that make?

The V-Rod wheel must make the bike LOOK like it's going faster, as I got pulled over, and given a speeding ticket for doing 61 in a 40 zone by a ******* motorcycle cop! Then he started giving me a ration of **** about wearing headphones, saying that FL law say you can only have one ear connected, and the other free, and unless they just changed that law, I know that's BS, as I looked up the laws when I first moved back here last year, and FL didn't specify one ear or two, only that they had to be for communications (I have an iPhone, so that qualifies as communications). This same cop gave me **** last year when I had a yellow headlight in my Kawasaki, so he must be a real *******.

Hopefully the weather will be nice today so I can go for a nice long ride!

-MikeS

Vrod wheel??? Vrods have a 19 in front and an 18 in back??

 

[4gasem]

Well, I got the wheel, and tires.

-MikeS

Awesome! Congrats!