• Welcome, Guest! We hope you enjoy the excellent technical knowledge, event information and discussions that the BMW MOA forum provides. Some forum content will be hidden from you if you remain logged out. If you want to view all content, please click the 'Log in' button above and enter your BMW MOA username and password.

    If you are not an MOA member, why not take the time to join the club, so you can enjoy posting on the forum, the BMW Owners News magazine, and all of the discounts and benefits the BMW MOA offers?

Mag Wheels vs. Spoke Wheels

Bradkap

New member
What are your thoughts on mag wheels vs. spoke wheels ? I ride 80% on the road, will do some fire roads, not likely to cross Utah or Colorado off road. Can Mag Wheels handle moderate off road duty ?
 
Yes. The F700GS comes with cast wheels. They're just fine for fire roads.

Added advantage over the F800GS wire wheels is that they are tubeless, so you can plug flats instead of having to break down the wheel to patch the tube.

But I wouldn't want to take it TOO far off road in rough terrain where you run a greater risk of bending the rim. You want a cast rim with as many spokes as possible (8 or more). Forget the three spokes (they bend on the street).

What model bike?



:dance:dance:dance
 
Opinion: spoke look nicer, cast are easier to clean. I had cast wheels on my '05 GS, got spoke with my '13. I had no issues with cast on dirt and gravel roads.

p-122801102-3329.jpg
 
Spoke wheels on a 1200GS are tubeless
If I had a choice of spoked or cast wheels on a 1200 I would go with the spoked, just in case they can take a far greater impact than the cast ones and they look better
 
It is a trade off

Spoke wheels look sexier to most people. They are "tougher" than cast. But not necessarily stronger. Tough as in taking big hits, deflecting, bending to absorb the hit and springing back to position ..hopefully. Usually spoke wheels cost a lot more, take more effort to clean. BMW spoke wheels now are tubeless....good for easier puncture repair....but with out tube...one can not really pressure them down a lot for better traction in dirt, sand, gravel. A benefit of tube type dirt tires . So now tire performance is the same on spoke and cast wheels.


Cast wheels are stiffer, hold up to sideload with less deflection so do better handling the twisties on pavement. The are considerably lighter...so have less unspung weight...better suspension performance. Cast wheels, contrary to common believe are not very brittle. For safety reason BMW and most others use a relatively malleable alloy so the wheel( ususallty rim) bends on big hits. This some time causes a flat tire and out of round wheel.

As I only do pavement and dirt roads....no real off road. Cast wheels are better for me.
 
Last edited:
Weight, in pounds, from the MAXBMW parts fiche, R1200GSW

Code:
	Front	Rear 
Wire	13.62	11.97
Cast	14.11	10.1

Differences are small enough that I'd not use weight as a deciding factor.
 
Weight, in pounds, from the MAXBMW parts fiche, R1200GSW

Code:
	Front	Rear 
Wire	13.62	11.97
Cast	14.11	10.1

Differences are small enough that I'd not use weight as a deciding factor.

I see different weights on the MAX site for the GSW.
Front wire is 14.11 lbs and the front cast is 11.77 lbs.
MAX shows the set of wire wheels weighs 4.21 lbs more than cast wheels.
I don't know if the weights on the parts fiche or accurate, or if they are just shipping weights.
 
What are your thoughts on mag wheels vs. spoke wheels ? I ride 80% on the road, will do some fire roads, not likely to cross Utah or Colorado off road. Can Mag Wheels handle moderate off road duty ?

Yes, the mag wheels can handle moderate off road duty. I ride an 07 1200GS and have not had any problems with the mag wheels that came with the bike. I drop the pressure to about 25psi when riding a lot of dirt roads, the tires hook up better and no issues with the rims.
 
Ask your parts man (or the MAX BMW parts fiche) what the replacement cost is for each type of wheel. That probably ought to factor in to a decision.

Harry
 
Ask your parts man (or the MAX BMW parts fiche) what the replacement cost is for each type of wheel. That probably ought to factor in to a decision.

Harry

Ouch, a set of spoke wheels cost $725 more than cast.
 
I see different weights on the MAX site for the GSW.
Front wire is 14.11 lbs and the front cast is 11.77 lbs.
MAX shows the set of wire wheels weighs 4.21 lbs more than cast wheels.
I don't know if the weights on the parts fiche or accurate, or if they are just shipping weights.

I realized after posting that I had used weights for the camhead model when it was the wethead being discussed. For some reason the edit to the table did not show up. (I've been known to "preview" a post and forget to click "submit")

Corrected:
Code:
	Front	Rear
Wire	14.11	11.97	
Cast	11.77	10.10
 
Bobzellif forgot to mention that the F800GS has tube type spoked wheels, they are not tubeless. A pain to fix because you cannot plug a tube, you have to remove it and patch it. But on the other hand, a ding in the rim doesn't ruin a tire bead seal and leak air. So it is much tougher in bad conditions. The F800GS was always more off-road oriented that the boxers.
 
Back
Top