Hey guys, I'll be getting 17" wheels for my XR soon and just wondered what some good choices would be without breaking the bank. The front rim will be a 17x3.5 and for the rear I can choose either a 4.25 or a 5.00...I was just going to go with the 4.25 unless I hear from you folks that the 5.00 is better. I was concerned that the 5.00 might cause the chain to rub, but I guess a lot of that has to do with the offset? I was tempted to go with Warp 9, but I'm a little unsure...so I may just go with Excels from East Coast Wheels. I guess the Conti Force tires are suppose to be a good choice, but I kind of wanted to spend a little less if I could...I mean...I'm not going to race the thing. Why can't I just go with like Bridgestone BT's...or some other sportbike rubber? Thanks...I know there are a lot of questions here! Russ
Hi MatadorMkV, I'm running a 3.5 front and a 4.25 for the rear on my XRL. My wheels are made up of silver Excel rims laced to gold Talon hubs, riding on ContiForce tires. I'm very happy with their performance. I got mine from East Coast wheels and had no problems with their service. Here's a pic of them on my bike:
The 160/90 Pirelli MT60 Corsa R radials I run on 5" wide motard rear is exactly 6.5" wide when mounted and rubs on my chain only when cornering to the left on my TE610 without a chain guard. Get the 5" rim only if you have the room. The wider rim is better for the tire choices but you need to measure your current tire width and see what gap you have left. I have no issues with a little chain rub. I am on my 3rd motard rear tire and I usually get 3,000. miles out of one.
I"ve got a 4.5" on the rear of my BRP and it does fit but you MUST grind down the bolts the hold the two halfs of the lower chain together. If you don't the bolt will carve a nice big scratch all around the side of your new rim (don't ask me how I know). I'm running Michelin Pilots 150/60 ZR17 rear and 120/70 ZR17 front and am very happy with them. Having a 60 series rear and 70 series front makes it so the bike doesn't look like it's going down hill all the time. Also, if the big rubber fin on the chain slider is worn (big notch in it from the chain) then the chain will scuff the tire some. It won't rub all the time, just scuff it from the slack. With street tires the big 650 is going to hook up nicely so make sure you use a high quality chain and keep it tensioned properly. 43 Hp will make light work of a cheap chain. You're going to love the 17 inch rubber on the XR, it makes it so snappy through the turns.
Anything wrong with going the hex hub/carrier route? It's a little cheaper than the Talon set-up AND I guess you can use the wheels on other bikes in the future by swapping carriers.
There's nothing wrong with running street tires as long as you don't miss the traction off road. I'm running an Avon Distanzia in the rear and an Avon supermoto rain up front. If you plan to ride on dirt/gravel with any real frequency I'd recommend the Distanzia. If you'll be almost exclusively on pavement then just pick your favorite sportbike tires.
I've got Talon hubs and I didn't need any carriers, (I assume your talking about disk brake carriers) the F & R disks bolted right onto the hubs.
Well, they make what they call a "modular" wheel that you can use on almost any bike just by swapping these carriers...probably for the rotors and maybe even the sprocket as well. I called East Coast to ask about them again today, but they were closed due to a bad snow storm.
I got my Marchesini from Motostrano, man I gotta love this, the tires I went with are Bridgestone Battlax BT003 racing front and back, Rim sizes are: Marchesini Supermoto Wheels [Rim Sizes:17x3.50/17x4.25] here is a picture of her not fully finished yet but she is on the street now before winter comes, enjoy!
Sorry, I gotta ask: are you saving the Hypermotard SP for the Track? (I rode the Non-SP for 40 minutes and am trying to not go back to the store)
I've used Avon, pirelli and Michelin on my XRR with Warp9s and they all have performed really well. I think the rear is 4.25 but I can't remember. All the rear tires I have used were 160/60/17 and the only ones that rubbed the chain was the Avon's. also use steel sprockets along with the high quality chain. The xrr will eat aluminum sprockets.