Wire Wheel conversions

[triguyracer]

Would like to hear from anyone who has done a wire wheel conversion . ? I Have aguired a front wheel from a 76 77 Honda Goldwing which used a nice alloy one, has a 15 mm axel size so it a straight forward swap on the front ,difference is it uses a 5 bolt disk and I will have to find one with the right offset and diameter and make spacers I plan on using Vapor Tech for the speedo and such, Now with that said I am looking for a rear wire wheel that has a cush drive that might work. If you have done this conversion Also I have already done a 520 chain conversion on the stock rear wheel. I would like to know what you used ? Hoping to get it done over the winter

[J6G1Z]

I've only seen a few spoked wheel conversions.
Here is one: http://ascot500.com/index.php?topic=28.0

I don't think there is an "easy" way to go about it. I think I would look at Honda XR & XL bikes. Finding a spoked hub with a cush-drive that will work for your swap is the trick.

J.

[triguyracer]

Thanks have been following his post on his front end and wire wheel conversion for some time now. XR or XL one I think I could make work but would like to stick with a disk on the back even though I rarely use it .I am considering using a Barnes hub and wheel like I use on my dirt track bikes but they do not have a cush unit in the hub, My FT seems pretty smooth for a single cylinder bike so I might give that a go with a Barnes hub ,that would be very straight forward and simple but costs a lot lol , so for the time being I will keep my eyes and ears open for something that will cost less and work. I know there is one that works with not to much machine work out there just need to find it. In the mean time I will work on the front one. 

[J6G1Z]

Perhaps some of the modern large dual sport adventure bikes might provide a spoked cush-drive hub with a disc mount.

[FT500R]

You could try the rear wheel of a honda NX650.
That is a wire wheel of the same time period from honda with a disc.
Might be hard to find though.

For a front wheel you could try the old CB600 four.
Again not that easy to find but honda usually is like lego's so easier to fit than anything else.

The rear wheel of the BMW that I used together with the full braking setup was not that hard to adapt.
Had to make some spacers and machine the brake caliper holder and the sprocket holder a bit but now it fits fine (with a 520 chain).

Good luck!

[triguyracer]

Thanks for the info on the NX650 I will look around and see if it might be workable, Right now I am planning on using the front wheel I have from a Honda Goldwing from 76 that is a alloy wire wheel and uses the same size axel and bolts right up to the stock front end just need to make spacers . The part that will take a bit more is the stock Ascot wheel has disk that uses six mounting bolts where as the Goldwing  uses a five bolt pattern and I will need to find a five bolt disk one and see if I can get the offset close and just make a spacer or if lucky one that will have the right offset, not likely but who knows .I have a four piston caliper from  Ducati 916 that I tried to mount but the stock forks are just not wide enough for it to work with either wheel ,just not wide enough to clear where when you mount the caliper it will not clear the wheel, the disk needs to be offset more so you would be able to clear the wheel and forks even with the stock wheel it will not work, If anyone knows of a four piston caliper that would mount and clear the stock setup wheel and forks let me know would like to change to a four piston  up front   

[scottly]

The FT wheels have a 5 bolt pattern for the discs, not 6? As far as calipers, a two piston 30mm caliper has the same clamping force as a four piston opposed 30mm caliper. The mid-85's Honda V65 used 32mm two piston calipers that bolt right on in place of the stock 30mm front caliper.

[triguyracer]

Sorry bout that got the two wheels reversed on bolt pattern the Goldwing wheel is the six bolt one

[triguyracer]

The FT brake is a twin piston not a opposed type it  has the pistons on just one side and uses pins and pulls one side over to the other moving the whole brake caliper on the pins if I remember right and the Ducati one I want to use is a fixed type and not a sliding type but a true opposed piston type, From my 40 plus years of racing I have not at least on the many diff bikes I have race found a single or twin piston sliding one that works as well as a true four piston fixed mounted one

[FT500R]

Replacing the stock sliding type caliper with a true 4 piston might be hard.
The sliding type is usually really thin on the side that has no pistons so the clearance between the wheel and the disc is quite narrow.

That means that if you want to fit a 4 piston type you have to space the disc further from the wheel.
With the narrow front forks of the ascot I do not know if you have a lot of space for that.

You might run into the problem that you have to make a spacer for the caliper, for the wheel and for the disc. In that case I would contemplate switching the complete front forks as the ascots are sh*t and way too long.

I used to know a website that had an overview of which bikes had which bolt patterns. Can't find it anymore but you might run into it when you google a bit. Might help you in finding a disc with the correct diameter and bolt pattern.

[triguyracer]

Thanks for the info, yes the four piston one will not work as I have tried it on a mock up FT front end I have with both the stock wheel and the spoked alloy Goldwing one I have ,For the time being I am going to try and find a disk that will fit the alloy one and has the correct offset or one that is close or make the correct size spacer and use the stock caliper, The brakes work well now as I have replaced the front line with a stainless steal one some time ago and at the same time replaced the front fork springs with straight weight springs from Race tech ,stops pretty good as it is now. A wider triple tree set would be nice and I am keeping my eyes open for a set, one of the problems is finding a set that have the correct offset [trail] and tube diameter so I could use the leading axel front end on it now  without resorting to new fork tubes