Wire wheels on dirt?

[jforgo]

Thinking of making the R65 a bit dirt road oriented. I don't think snowflakes are a good idea for this. How are the stock /6/7 wheels in the dirt?

 

[bikerfish1100]

if all you want is "a bit" of dirt roads- any wheel that holds air in the tire is fine.
the first gs models (r80) used the std spoked street wheels, iirc, but i'd see no issues with snowflakes for mild dirt.

 

[mcrenshaw]

Have to agree with Bikerfish, it all you want is a taste of dirt then cast rims are ok. But if you find yourself in a more aggressive terrain, think rocks here, then cast wheels can easily be broken. Then you're really in a hurt if you're in the outback. The reason most dual sports use spoked wheels is that they can bend, flex and dent and you're still able to get home.

I would also go to a trials type tire instead of the road tire. Knobbies won't clear the swing arm without rubbing, and some of the trials tires out there are fairly sticky. Put some wider bars on the little guy and you're ready to ride.

There are a couple of guys on the bmwr65.org forum that go off road.

 

[boxermaf]

You gotta be careful though, if you've got Brembo calipers in the front they do not cohabitate well with some wire wheels (spoke angle is too severe due to rotor offset), so if your R65 is 1981 or later, you need to look for an R80ST front wheel or hub, I think, or find a good wheel builder.

 

[jforgo]

You gotta be careful though, if you've got Brembo calipers in the front they do not cohabitate well with some wire wheels (spoke angle is too severe due to rotor offset), so if your R65 is 1981 or later, you need to look for an R80ST front wheel or hub, I think, or find a good wheel builder.

Yes, I had heard about this. My thoughts were to get an ATE pre-1981 slider set. Except the forks sit a little farther apart than a /7, so I would have to offset the disc out somehow.
It seems desirable to do this with the most common stock parts available. I suppose an ST gets parted out here and there..

 

[jforgo]

Have to agree with Bikerfish, it all you want is a taste of dirt then cast rims are ok. But if you find yourself in a more aggressive terrain, think rocks here, then cast wheels can easily be broken. Then you're really in a hurt if you're in the outback. The reason most dual sports use spoked wheels is that they can bend, flex and dent and you're still able to get home.

I would also go to a trials type tire instead of the road tire. Knobbies won't clear the swing arm without rubbing, and some of the trials tires out there are fairly sticky. Put some wider bars on the little guy and you're ready to ride.

There are a couple of guys on the bmwr65.org forum that go off road.

I have had dirt track tires suggested as an option with resonable pavability.
The dirt roads, at leasr near me, are very rocky, and feature washed out sections. So figured the cast wheels would not be an option.