Spokes vs. mags

[Scott Ironhorse]

I have a '78' GL1000. I don't like mags. I found a pair of '79' spoked wheels. Can they be be put on my '78'? How? The mags have 5 bolt attachment for the break disk, the '79' has 6 bolt attachment. Can a trailer hitch set up be gotton for my '78'?


Scott Ironhorse

[hmratbam]

Scott,go to Goldwing Discussions and look up "Rim Switch" that will pretty much explain what works. I'm pretty sure the spoked wheel with the six-bolt disc mount is NOT a '79,very likely a 75-77.
Ron

[RebelRouser]

Moved To GoldWing Disscusion

[rcmatt007]

Scott,go to Goldwing Discussions and look up "Rim Switch" that will pretty much explain what works. I'm pretty sure the spoked wheel with the six-bolt disc mount is NOT a '79,very likely a 75-77.
Ron

78-79 had mags.... 75-77 spokes.... they could have been changed out by a PO.... which would also mean trading out the bottom (or whole) fork, brake caliper, speedo and rotor

[Sidecar Bob]

no GL1000 came from the factory with "mag" wheels. From '79 0n they had Comstars - possibly the best wheel design ever. Comstars combine the low maintenance of cast wheels with the flexibility of wire spoked wheels.

Cast wheels weren't introduced until the GL1100.

[Doby Pilgrim]

One good reason to keep the mags on your GL: Safety. Last Spring I had a tube on my front tire blow out on my Vulcan at 90 MPH on I-25. It is frankly a miracle that I was able to keep from crashing. I have seriously thought about getting a set of aluminum wheels for that Vulcan,and have never had the confidence in it that I had before that happened. The tube was not inflated twice by the tech who installed the new tires, and I ended up with first a kink, and then a quarter sized hole in it. If that blowout had happened on a tight curve in the mountains, I would have dumped the bike. As is, I used three lanes of the freeway and a very wide shoulder to get it stopped.

I love the way wire wheels look, and I like the relatively low unsprung weight. I have two bikes with them. That said, there is a reason that all high performance bikes come with mags nowadays,and it is because you can run more safely without tubes. Also, if you have a flat in a parking lot, you can generally just stick in a plug or some Fix-a-Flat and get to a bike shop to have it repaired properly.

[Sidecar Bob]

Given the choice between cast alloy, comstar or wire spoked and considering what it takes to keep all of them looking good, I would choose comstars every time.

I was never able to keep wire spokes looking good on bikes that were only used in the summer.
The cast wheels on my GoldWing need to be cleaned up & polished every couple of years.
The comstars on my sidecar machine go untouched from the time they first salt the roads until after the first heavy rain of spring, then get hosed off. They look just fine, thanks.

BTW: The only wheels that should be called "mags" are real magnesium alloy wheels. I have never seen them on a bike.

[Ebola]

BTW: The only wheels that should be called "mags" are real magnesium alloy wheels. I have never seen them on a bike.

I had mags on my BMX bike in '88 and they were plastic.

[Sidecar Bob]

I had mags on my BMX bike in '88 and they were plastic.

Unless they were made of magnesium alloy they weren't "mags".

[mrflamewerks]

Magnesium alloy wheels, or mag wheels, are sometimes used on racing cars, in place of heavier steel or aluminum wheels, for better performance. The wheels are produced by one-step hot forging from magnesium alloys ZK60 and MA-14 (Russian variation of ZK60). Cast magnesium disks are used in motorcycle wheels.

The mass of typical magnesium automotive wheel is about 8–12 kg (depending on model).

Magnesium wheels are flammable and have been banned in some forms of motor sport in the UK following fires which are very difficult to extinguish. Mag wheels have been known to catch fire in competition use after a punctured tire has allowed prolonged scraping of the wheel on the road surface. Some variants of Magnesium alloy wheels may have low corrosion resistance.

They have the disadvantages of being rather expensive and not practical for most street vehicles. Aluminum wheels are often mistakenly called "mag wheels".

[Sidecar Bob]

Magnesium wheels are flammable and have been banned in some forms of motor sport in the UK following fires which are very difficult to extinguish.

Now that you mention it, I remember a high school science teacher lighting some magnesium shavings with a match and explaining that burning mag wheels was the reason some fires from race car crashes were so spectacular and hard to put out.

[Joker]

VW engine cases are made of magnesium and the fuel lines aren't peened or clamped from the factory. There is a rich history of roasty German carcasses on the roadside as a result. The darned thing'll smolder and reignite themselves, too!

[Ebola]

Okay, since nobody has wheels on their bike made out of Magnesium can we progress to the more common use of the word "mag" to mean what we all think it means unless Bob has an actual term that we can use in it's place?

[mrflamewerks]

Okay, since nobody has wheels on their bike made out of Magnesium can we progress to the more common use of the word "mag" to mean what we all think it means unless Bob has an actual term that we can use in it's place?

Alloy wheel.

[hmratbam]

I think it's kinda like "Thermos" All vacuum bottles are not made by Thermos, but they are still "Thermos Bottles" Likewise,at least to Ebola and me all aftermarket alloy wheels are "Mags".