Spoked wheels for 650 twin?

[Malcolm Leick]

Has anybody come across any spoked wheels that will fit the 650 twin? I have just had a dent eased out of my alloy rims after a collision with a large stone block while off roading in the Peak. This may have been avoided if I hadn't let the tyres down by 10psi for the muddy bits. On the other hand it was twice the height of the average curb so it may not have made much difference.To put things into perspective a 4WD vehicle behind me lost an entire wheel!

Shortly after, I ended up on top of another block, grounded on the bash plate. (see pic) After a cartoon moment of hanging in the air the bike went down hard.

For future expeditions I'd rather have something which can be repaired more easily without fear of cracking the rim.

And before anyone says it, I'm too short for the 800GS! The larger front wheel and ground clearance would have helped. Being able to steer straight would also help a lot. Having said that, our guide from Overlander Trail Tours was amazed that I got up everything the others did on proper trailees (KTM 450/WR 250/DR350). A brilliant day.

 

[Sooty09]

Are those crash bars Metal Mules? did they prevent much damage dropping the bike so far? Did you damage the steering stops in any way?
Sorry I don't know of any spoked conversions but only having the one disk may make it easier to fit a s/hand enduro wheel with adapters. The early F650ST Funduro had a similar spoked wheel front arrangement and may fit, otherwise you may need to go up to 21". The speedo drive from the rear is also a great help.

 

[old-man-andy]

I was half-heartedly looking into this only a couple of weeks ago.

Rear wheel - An F800GS wheel should fit without any problems, same swing arm and all that. Slightly wider than the 650's cast wheel so takes a 150 section tyre.

Front wheel - The front brake disk, axle and spacers from the 03-07 650GS single are the same part numbers as the 650twin but the disk is on the left hand side rather than the twin's RHS. SO you would need to turn the wheel and disk to swap them to the RHS.

Links for the parts fiche;

03-07 650GS single http://www.maxbmwmotorcycles.com/fiche/DiagramsMain.aspx?vid=51604
08- 650GS twin http://www.maxbmwmotorcycles.com/fiche/DiagramsMain.aspx?vid=51596
08- 800GS http://www.maxbmwmotorcycles.com/fiche/DiagramsMain.aspx?vid=51598

The biggest problem will be finding the wheels for sensible money. Your cheapest bet would be to get some 2nd-hand cast wheels (some recently on flea-bay for £100 each), stick some knobblies on and not care if (when) they get bent, cos you'll still have your regular "tarmac" wheels.

Having just re-read you post, if your original wheels are less than perfect now you might want to keep the 2nd pair of casts as your main wheels.

 

[zebra]

Shortly after, I ended up on top of another block, grounded on the bash plate. (see pic) After a cartoon moment of hanging in the air the bike went down hard.

On a lighter note, there does seem to be a perfectly challenging, but easier route down the CENTRE of that track in the 2nd picture, and thus no BIG rock to mount/surmount!
Or did yuo purposely choose ''the road less travelled!"

But maybe that's just me?

 

[santrix]

Too short for an 800... how small are you? i'm 5foot 6 and a bit with stumpy legs of 29... I manage ok.

 

[Malcolm Leick]

Thanks for all the very helpful responses which I will look into. The second pair of alloys may be the best bet as money is tight.

Yes the easier track down the middle was where I was aiming but the bike was bouncing around so much I went off line. My tendency in those situations is to open the throttle and power on through, which doesn't always work!

 

[Malcolm Leick]

Re the height thing I noticed that our guide for the day was shorter than me and his KTM was much taller. He just slipped off the seat when coming to a standstill which I'm guessing is easier on a smaller bike. I may give an 800 a try when I get my next service. I won't be buying a second bike for a while though, and when I do it will probably be a cheap s/h 250 trail bike than I can bash around.

 

[Malcolm Leick]

The crash bars and bash plate are Adventure Spec. Both highly recommended. I have dropped the bike many times on the bars and they are rock solid. What they can't prevent is large rocks that are jutting up hitting the silencer when the bike goes down so that has a few dents in it. Sounds more fruity now though.

The bash plate took a hammering on this ride too, so that also has dents in it. The original BMW plate split along a weld seam on a previous ride and is a bugger to refit once its distorted.

The Adventure Spec plate has a separate bracket that bolts on to the front of the engine first. You can then easily bolt the bash plate onto the bracket from the front and to the sump underneath which makes it much easier to take on and off. The plate is also 1mm thicker than the BMW one which makes it more robust.

The plate brackets that connect to the sump both compressed, but were easy to straighten out with a crow bar with the plate off. Some of the powder coating came off at the front but I should stress that this was a head on collision with a half buried stone block. For all other rough stuff the plate will take the hammer without any dents or flaking.

Hope this is helpful.

 

[Malcolm Leick]

'Did you damage the steering stops in any way?'

Hi Sooty09. Not sure what you mean by steering stops???

On the collision that dented the rim (and sent me over the handlebars) the left hand side of the handlebars got bent back and up a bit, but the steering itself seems fine. I did about 500 miles up to Scotland and back the following weekend. BMW quoted me £90 for new bars so I will get the guy who did my rim to sort out the bars.