'Sporty' Rims and Tyres for 12GS

AusSteve

Guest
I've been wondering about the possibility of having some spare wider rims and tyres for those occassional sporty outings, maybe even trying a track day. So the purple-yellow AC Schnitzer bike at Intermot (pictured in the Intermot thread) has got me thinking. Here's the quote from their web-site:

"The GS becomes a cornering machine par excellence thanks to the V-Performance wheelset. These wheels come in size 3.5" at the front and 5.5" at the rear, with tyres size 120/70-17 at the front and 180/55-17 at the rear. With the new drive train, cooling opening in the hub and the 5-hole fixing, this wheel was difficult to design. But the result of all the effort is impressive. The 17" mudguard completes the overall picture. The GS modified by AC Schnitzer looks poised for action, and rides accordingly."

[Incidentally, the standard wheels are 2.5" x 19" front and 4.0" x 17" rear, with 110/80-19 and 150/70-17 tyres respectively.]

So, has anyone done or is planning this option with their 12GS? I'd heard a number of 1150GS's had this sporty mod. My concern is if there's enough space between the forks and beside the rear swingarm for wider wheels. Did anyone study the AC Schnitzer mods more closely than me? Assuming you had the spare wheels in the shed, is changing them over a big job? It would be great to have the choice of spoked rims with knobbies or sporty rims with wider tyres.

As always, I'd appreciate the forums advice.

Cheers, Steve :beerjug:
 
It is going to be an expensive proposition to have spare wheels with brake disks and abs rings, etc. I'd love to have a spare pair if wheels, but the cost holds me back.

As far as being more sporty, I personally think it is unnecessary unless you are outriding the oem wheels, which is unlikely. The bike is already a fantastic cornerer. IMHO your money would be better spent on high speed riding training, say at a track school. Determined riders on R12GSs are already running away from R6's on twisty roads...
 
price??

Any one get the price of the AC wheels ?

Respoking not an option due to BM's own rim desighn.
 
I did a trackday yesterday (Sept 24th) for which I mounted a pair of Bridgestone BT020s. They definitely make the bike more stable, and improve the stability in a cross-wind. But compared to the older R11xxGS series the new R12GS is still a bit twitchy.

I do like the BT020s, they improved the ride and the handling both. The tires I took off were a Trailwing front (12k miles) which still had a long way to go to the wearbars, and a Tourance on the rear (7k miles) which had even more life left in it. So it's hard to say how much of the improvement was due to fresh tires, and how much was due to the different tire design.

For the record, I weigh 160 lbs. and have the preload full soft on the front, and medium soft on the rear, with "medium" rebound damping on the rear. Didn't drag anything, but did scuff the tires right to the absolute edge of the tread on both front and rear (though it's much easier to do so on the rear than the front).
 
while all the aftermarket gadgetry is all well and good. I'd go with Emoto's recommendation and get advanced training riding the 12GS. Although the aftermarket Akrapovics underseat exhaust looks awesome. But @ a suggested $2,100 plus Canadian I'd get tons of training in instead and still not be able to ride my bike to its limits.
 


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