Hi,I'm new to the forum and firstly would like to say Hello. I've been lurking for a while and would like some advice if possible. I've sold my Tiger (stuck with the name though) and now have a 1979 R100S airhead which I am bobbing , er bobbering or whatever the correct term is to turn it into a bobber. My question is this: At the moment It has snowflakes on with the rear disc setup, Can I fit spoked wheels to this? I've only ever seen spokes fitted with drums and wonder if they are interchangeable.I don't want to convert to drums , but wonder if my disc will bolt onto the spoked wheel. I much prefer the look of spokes and there is a pair for sale locally for a good price. Should I snap them up or is the conversion not possible? Many thanks in advance.Geoff
Welcome to the forum! And post some pix! We warm up better with a bit of visual stimulation. I've never seen the 1970 - 84 wire wheels mated to a disc rear end. It could possibly be done but would require manufacturing a custom hub. Frankly, I prefer the drum rear to the disc that came on those bikes. What's the reason for staying with the disc?
Drums vs Disk.... Drums vs Disk... If set up correctly, they both work fine and there are adherents to both systems. I have both and a I like the feel of the disk brakes better than the drums and especially during a panic/maximum effort stop. On the other hand, the drum brake system is way lighter and less complicated than the disk setup. If you want wires, you'll have to convert to a drum rear drive (Under most circumstances. Some rear drives can be converted.) but if you have a Brembo front end, you'll need a narrow hub from an ST or a CS to make the switch. AFAIK, theres no free lunch on this swap! PS: If you have an RS or RT and ride two-up you would do well to leave the disk brake in place. With a passenger aboard, you'll need as much brake as you can get and the rear disk will really make life a lot more pleasant, not to mention safer!
The R90S has a spoked front wheel with disc brakes, so I have to assume it's possible; however, I'm sure you'd have some shaft drive/swing arm issues to resolve. I've always like the rear drum, usually the only brake I need (and yes, I drive very fast, but aware of what's happening around me). Pam
Many thanks for the input. When I said I didn't want to change to drum that was because I assumed (perhaps wrongly?) that it would be a PIA to do. Would this be an easy conversion? My mechanical skills are above basic but not exactly rocket scientist level! Once again any input would be gratefully received. Oh, and pix? I'll try but I am what you would call computer ILLiterate, it takes all my concentration to turn the computer on so it may take some time
The guy says that he has an 79 R-100S. That means that he should have dual ATE's in the front and a drum brake in the rear. The bike could be equipped with either wires or Snowflakes. To install a disk set-up he'd have to install the entire disk brake system (I have one if you need it!) including the correct rear drive, wheel, swing arm and maybe the axle plus the little brake line tab that welded to the rear of the frame. After all of that, he'd still need a very good fabricator to machine a wheel hub and carrier to accept the disk. I'd say that it probably isn't worth the trouble but if the poster is determined, all it takes is more determination, plenty of time and lots of money!
True - the 90S does have a disc brake spoked FRONT wheel. However, we're talking about the REAR, which was drum on the 90S. And the 79 R100S came with a disc rear brake, not a drum. It doesn't take any great skill to convert from disc to drum. The final drive should even have the bore drilled for the brake arm (covered with a plastic plug). You'd need the brake shoes, pivot, brake shaft, brake lever and all the associated little parts. The parts diagram will tell you what you need.
Oh.... OK!! I couldnt remember what year got the brakes switched to drums. Disk to drum conversion is almost a no-brainer.
I converted my 78 R100RS from a rear disc snowflake, to a rear drum spoke ... and yes, a very easy conversion. I'm pretty sure I even used the same brake lever. Going in the other direction would be a nightmare of parts ... PS - I have all the parts ... but not the disc spoke wheel (which doesn't exist ) The first year of the rear disc was indeed 78 ... and to be honest mine did not work well ... it might have been ridges in the rotor, but mine would lock up with just light pressure on the grip. I modified the original final drive with the brake set up from a parts bike (whose final drive was spline-less) ... my original final drive looked good, and the levers and brake shoes fit right on. The parts bike had strait wheels ... but I got Nathan at Boxerworks to pack in new barings ... she runs real good now ... and more importantly ... stops on a dime. I will say that the twin ATE front helps considerably
Hmmm interesting. I think I might go down the route of changing the rear to drum as it seems easy enough. I'll have to locate all the bits though because the wheels I've got in mind haven't got any of the brake bits with them, just the wheels. I think fleabay is calling me...(I'm on a tight budget!) Thanks for all the great input. Seems airhead owners get to know quite a bit about these beasts. (guess that comes with owning one?)Thankfully from what I have seen so far they seem fairly easy to work on, rather like a giant meccanno (sp?) set from my childhood. Thanks for being so welcoming to me, you seem a great bunch of guys and gals (my wifes name is Pam by the way!) I will be visiting here daily to pick up whatever golden snippets of information I can. Since owning this bike I've become like a sponge, wanting to absorb everything about it that I can. Quite scary really!
It was an analogy, Wirespokes. Sorry it didn't help you, I quit buying large motorcycles in '76, my R90S being just perfect, know nothing about later years (don't even want to after the last 20 years accretion of plastic). I think it would be a bit of work to convert one way or the other given the drive shaft. Looks to me like you've answered your own question. Pam
Thanks to EVERYONE for the input and help. I'm going to have to think about this and see how the finances go due to the fact that because of ill health, I'm not working at the moment. (prolapsed discs in my neck and cervical spondylosis).As I sell parts off the bike, so I can buy new parts etc.Also I can only work on it for an hour or so till I have to stop. Its going to be a long build! Once again many thanks Geoff.
I've decided to keep the snowflake / disc setup but this now raises another issue. The wheels are really corroded and will need painting. So heres the question; Should I paint them silver or will silver be too gaudy? Should I paint them "steel" finish? Should I paint them black? If black, should it be gloss, satin or matt finish? The tank and rear fender will be gloss black. Any opinions and pictures would be helpful. This build is getting under my skin. I think I'm slowly going mad! Beep beep, whoo whoo, miaow. Sorry had a bit of a turn there
I painted me SFs silver last summer but now I'm thinking that I'll just have then bead blasted back to a natural finish. Painted, theyre a bitch to keep even semi-clean!
Well done! Looks like a good thing to do with a hub that spun the bearing on that side. Any plans to finish opening up those trapezoidal holes with the circular holes drilled in them? That would be a good finishing touch!