Did the search and didnt really come up with an answer to this, Laced wheels requiring more maint. and tuning. Over the long run Will cast wheels ride better than laced. at some point between trued and need to be trued again, it would seem there would have to be some smoothness of ride lost with the laced wheels. is this a viable thought or am I out there somewhere? ( Well if you ask my wife,we know the answer to that) But really what about the wheel question.

 

I'm interested in hearing what others have to say as well. I've only had cast but just picked up my first bike with spokes. Going to need to know what maintenance will be required and any tips on keeping those bad boys clean will be appreciated.

 

Lace wheels, they are a pain in the backside to keep clean and sparkly if you ride in all weathers..as far as how do they hold up, I have broken spokes in High horsepower bikes that I ran at the drag strip, would this happen on the street?? I did break a few in the rear of a hot rod BMW that was a street bike, they were S/S, I also broke one in the rear on my Triumph Thunderbird sport, also S/S..I must say I have never heard of anybody breaking one on a touring model Harley..but I suppose it could happen. as for maintance, they do need to be checked and sometimes they need to be tightened up..seems that on really hard curves, like the Dragons tail, if you do a lot of that kind of rideing you will flex the spokes and if you do enough they will loosen up on you..Myself I like Mags, couple of reasons, easier to keep clean, and tubless tires..also no maintance to speak of, now that dosn't mean you need to run H.D. Mags, I'm sure there are some really good after market ones out there. is there a difference in the ride from spoke to mag wheels, I don't think so, but here again I never really paid that much attention I guess. When I orderd my FLHT the dealer tried to talk me into spokes, said everybody was getting them, but they were another $400.00 and like I said I like the tubless tires. hope this helps.

 

My Ultra handles better with cast over laced. My guess is that's because they're lighter, so less centrifigal effect. Always liked the look of laced though.

 

In addition to better handling,lighter wheels/less rotating weight equal quicker acceleration.

 

I have never liked spoked wheels.

IronHorse

 

Never could tell any difference in riding the spokes versus the cast wheels. I would think that properly checked whenever a new tire is installed, that the spokes would be just fine. I agree though, that tubeless tires make much better sense for motorcycles. No blowouts or tube shredding (like what happened to me this year, 70 mph in Washington State). Much easier to clean the cast wheels.[8D]

 

The stealer built my bike for himself and I bought it with 2k miles on it. I told him I like the look of the stock spoke wheel. He said that the bike was built for speed and the new wheel is much more stable than the spoke wheel. Just dealer BS? I don't know, but since he put them on for himself and wasn't selling me the wheels, there may be some truth to it.

The other point he made which is definately true, is that the spoke wheels have a tube and if you get a flat, you have to be towed.
The cast rims flat could be fixed roadside.

 

I have ridden both and I love my spoke wheels for the looks and actually for the safety. I have heard too many stories in my surrounding area of people having blowouts on their tubless bikes and some causing death. I would tend to think the extra tube inside the tread would just be added protection. I have also noticed from riding between the two that the air pressure holds up much better tube side.

 

Thanks for the replys , keep them coming. Some of the reason I am asking this is I have developed a vibration on my Heritage and there are some "dead" sounding spokes on the rear. 3200 miles. Going to have it checked out. keep the opinions coming.

Thanks, M2