R80/7 Wheels

I have a R80/7 which I want to set up for dirt road use, probably with a sidecar. Only real problem I have is that it has the snowflake wheels. Having destroyed 2 sets of these on dirt roads in the past, I'm not keen on them at all. So what I want to know is what wire wheels fit. Maybe the /6 wheels? Its the twin shock with drum brake at the rear of course.

Putting a set of /6 spoke wheels on my R100/7T at the moment, an issue with clearance of the front calipers to the spokes. A few mods will be necessary.

I have two weiman spoke rims (18 and 19) from a /7 that will fit your bike. I was trying to sell them but lost interest.

I will ship these to you for a good price. I've been told by several airhead elites that there's nothing to a swap between snowflakes and spoke wheels.

PM me if interested.

You need one of these to make it work with Brembo brakes. The two flange hub gives the spoke clearance on the calipers.

Thanks Rob.

Are you planning on fitting a leading link front end, or keeping the standard tele forks?

Leading links if I can find a set at the right price. Like the dog box

I am interested in this subject as I am contemplating using my '79 100T (/7 essentially) for more off-road oriented play. Why are the spoke wheels stronger than the alloys? I had thought the opposite would be the case.

Is there a stronger rim that can be laced to a /7 spoke hub?

I am planning on running TKC-80s on my snowflakes.

Thanks for any insight.

Another angle.

Spoked wheels are more likely to bend and cast wheels more likely to fracture under the same impact, many years ago near Derby I hit a pothole hidden by Bulldust at about 50mph, both the front and back rims were badly bent. After some hammering with a rubber hammer, the rims were back in good enough condition to get me back to Sydney.

The other issue to consider is that /6 spoked wheels are very much lighter than snowflakes, I don't know the figures, but maybe 50% lighter.

If your bike have ATE forks, then the spoked wheels are a simple swop, however not so simple if your bike has Brembos as Rob has advised. The narrow hubs are difficult to find, as in the UK they were fitted only to police bikes and are in demand from the cafe racer crowd.

Ah- thank you Charles. That makes sense. I suppose it all depends on the speed you hit that unforeseen object!

My T has dual ATE calipers. I think I am going to try using the TKCs on the alloys and see how it goes before spending big $$ to build up a set of spoke wheels. I am not heading out on a RTW trip this summer, so I will evaluate how the snowflakes work for my usage and style of riding.

Can you machine down a 3-rib hub to make one of these..?

What year is your /7? Spokes will not work on Post 81 /7's. The Brembo calipers get in the way.

I believe you can. Ping Chris at Boxermetal.com. He's in Chico, CA, and does this modification. The front hubs are apparently two piece, and can be split and machined down.

I know its a while back but I only live a few miles from Derby and I've never come across any Bulldust...

But do you get to ride back to Sidney as well?

That would be Derby, Western Australia, Rob.





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That's a different Derby! Somewhere in the northern territories. Mind you there have been some members here who seemed to have specialised in Bulldust.....

Sorry I stand corrected WA.