THE BIGWHEEL THREAD!!! Yamaha BW350, BW200

[Mr. BigWheel]

This is the difference between the 25 and 22 inch tires. It also illustrates a square profile on the 22' tire that is just a little too flat for a motorcycle.

The one on the right is what CliffH will be riding on soon.

Tonight I'm trying to fit a 26x9 - 12 onto the front of the BW. I know that the world waits with baited breath for the results, so I'll keep you all posted.

Regards,

Mr. BigWheel

[Cliff h]

Mr. Bigwheel, I am very thankfull and gratefull to have to opportunity to use your tires. You have done much to promote, educate and entertain many people about the Yamaha Big Wheel. I thank you for your valiant efforts!

[bouldertag]

Originally Posted by Mr. BigWheel

This is the difference between the 25 and 22 inch tires. It also illustrates a square profile on the 22' tire that is just a little too flat for a motorcycle.

The one on the right is what CliffH will be riding on soon.

Tonight I'm trying to fit a 26x9 - 12 onto the front of the BW. I know that the world waits with baited breath for the results, so I'll keep you all posted.

Regards,

Mr. BigWheel

Holy solidified water destroyer Batman!!

[LDL]

Hey there Mr.Big Wheel , what is the name brand on that 25 " tire ?

[Shercoman]

Both look great.
What are the brands and exact sizes for both of those?
I have considered the possibility of making an adaptor to allow the use of standard,offset ATV wheels on the BW.
If this would open up the tire choices, I will pursue the idea.
If anyone would be interested,let me know. I could design using modern size,aluminum rims.




Back in the 80's I built a BW using a Yamaha TT500 motorcycle. I used the biggest tire I could find at the time,called a "Spider Track".
I fabricated the entire swing arm,triple clamps,both wheel hubs and copied the jackshaft arrangement used on our BW's.
The bike was awesome.
I have some pictures of it somewhere.I wish I could find them.

[Shercoman]

Mr. Bigwheel,
And all other BW people...
Thanks for this thread.
You are getting me interested in my BW again.
Have to start wrenching on it again!

i'm currently building a CB750 powered Suzuki Quadzilla sport quad.Had to cut the frame into four pieces to open it up enough to fit that engine.
Currently welding the frame back together.

[Mr. BigWheel]

The tires are:

Dirt Devil A/T 22x11 - 9

Goodyear Rawhide ATT 25x12 - 9 This is my favorite tire ever, which must be why it has been discontinued. I would desperately like to find some new ones.

The 26 inch tire installation was successful. I gave up on it after 2 days and took it to a tire shop. They spent two hours heating, freezing and beating on it. The entire staff got involved and used over a gallon of tire lube to seat the bead. When they finally got it to seat, I felt obligated to give it a trial fit and stud it up.





That one is a Goodyear Grip 26x9 - 12

[Mr. BigWheel]

Shercoman,

I am not the first to be utterly frustrated by the pursuit of another rear wheel that will allow the fitment of something other than a 9" tire. The lug spacing on the rear shaft is almost unique and there are only a few other Yamaha three and early four wheelers that use it. 4/125 with zero offset is apparently rare as hens teeth on a dodo bird.

Your idea about the spacer might be the best solution. And I would guess that if you could make something useful out of a TT500, then you're the right man for the job.

The BW World needs you.

Regards,

Monsieur BigWheel

[tpar1220]

bigwheel... i gotta ask. whatcha gonna do if ya have a flat?

that was my concern when i was mounting an atv tire to my tw in my pics above. i actually bent my rim a lil tryin to spoon that damn thing on. figured that if i ever had a flat... i was done for. no way i would ever be able to repair it trail side.

i finally decided to take a razor knife and trim the bead slightly. i know... i know... you are not supposed to do that. but i will try to keep the tw under 150mph!

there is a metal band inside bead, i didn't mess with that at all.. i just trimmed about 1/8th off the bead and it mounted/seated normally.

although the sidiwall on the atv tire is so stiff, i could prolly ride it back home with it being flat.

[tpar1220]

oh, and how much air pressure did it take to finally POP! onto rim? i couldn't get mine to seat no matter how much air i put in it. i was nervous as hell... any lil noise and i dropped everything and ran for dear life!

[Mr. BigWheel]

tpar1220,

When the BW200 was introduced it had tires with thinner sidewalls that would flex and rub the swingarm when flat. That tire was immediately replaced by Yamaha with one that didn't immobilize the bike when the air got on the wrong side of the rubber. Most of the tires I run have even stiffer sidewalls than the original BW tires since they have to carry the weight of those huge, portly four wheelers.

I think I could ride for a reasonable distance on a flat but I carry a plug kit and a tire pump and wear my lucky rabbits foot just in case. It's worked well so far.

The 26" tire was only difficult to seat because the beads were nearly touching one another after being flattened during shipping. I've never really been nervous seating the bead on the BW tires except when using the Redneck Bead Seating Method:



Of course the mohawk is optional, but any safety gear is apparently optional too.

Regards,

Mr. BigWheel

[Shercoman]

Originally Posted by Mr. BigWheel

Shercoman,

I am not the first to be utterly frustrated by the pursuit of another rear wheel that will allow the fitment of something other than a 9" tire. The lug spacing on the rear shaft is almost unique and there are only a few other Yamaha three and early four wheelers that use it. 4/125 with zero offset is apparently rare as hens teeth on a dodo bird.

Your idea about the spacer might be the best solution. And I would guess that if you could make something useful out of a TT500, then you're the right man for the job.

The BW World needs you.

Regards,

Monsieur BigWheel

My experience is with sport quads and the 9 inch rim is very popular. The hard part is finding a round profile tire because square is good on a sport quad.
I was going to make an adaptor for the Honda 9 inch rear rim as they are plentiful but that doesn't sound like a good idea if tires are a problem.
Since you have done more research on this,what size rim would you go to? Picking the right size (common?) rim would be best and then design an adaptor around that.
What do you suggest?

[Onederer]

I have got these in 25x12x9 on my ATC and they have far more bite than they look to have. I wasn't sure how they would do in mud until last weekend when they propelled the ATC thought every hole that wasn't over waist deep, which at that point I lost traction due to floating and had to push it across. Far, far better in mud than I would have thought and they clean well enough that a whole lot of wheel spin isn't needed. I have taken them through fresh clear cuts, running over cut and broken saplings and haven't punctured them. They are radials and when running them with 2-3 psi, they ride very smooth, as smooth as a hard tai ATC gets anyway. They are stable enough that top gear slides aren't too much of a worry but the sidewalls are soft enough that side hilling the ATC with these takes a little more angle of the dangle. On a BW they might be too squishy for high speed handling, if a BW had high speed handling to start with.

Figured I'd throw out my experience with these. Look like they might work good for a BW rear. I got the XT200 engine into my BW, but that is as far as I have got before some other projects toke precedence.

[Shercoman]

Those look good.What brand and model is that?
Nice and round profile.

[Happy Seal]

Originally Posted by Mr. BigWheel

The tires are:

Dirt Devil A/T 22x11 - 9

Goodyear Rawhide ATT 25x12 - 9 This is my favorite tire ever, which must be why it has been discontinued. I would desperately like to find some new ones.

The 26 inch tire installation was successful. I gave up on it after 2 days and took it to a tire shop. They spent two hours heating, freezing and beating on it. The entire staff got involved and used over a gallon of tire lube to seat the bead. When they finally got it to seat, I felt obligated to give it a trial fit and stud it up.





That one is a Goodyear Grip 26x9 - 12

Same plane? We need more plane footage Mr BW! cool thread!