Topic: Is anyone running 17" front and rear rims on a CB?

[coyotecowboy]

LOL, just the guy I was hoping that would chime in   I've been watching the Nighthawk wheels thread pretty closely.

[coyotecowboy]

OK, whose bike is this?  Pretty sure it belongs to a forum member

[Alan F.]

LOL, just the guy I was hoping that would chime in   I've been watching the Nighthawk wheels thread pretty closely.

Thanks CC, I've decided to run a 130/70-17 rear tire due to a cheap ebay acquisition (saved about enough to get the Cycle-x offset front sprocket) it'll handle better anyway and should help me settle the issue of having enough trail up front with the 110/80-17 front I'm planning on.  I'm going to do some mock ups and measure trail with the stock setup, then with my setup with the 17" wheels/calculated tire radii.  should be an eye openner, as I'd really like to know what the trail will be before I build a wobbly suicide machine.

Am I the only one retaining the rear drum brake?   It's really nice to see a few pictures of bikes with 17" wheels, now I can figure out what to paint what color, and what to polish!  Thanks to everyone who posted/will post pics in this thread!   Now to melt some of this snow!

[Triffecpa]

CBR600F1 (Hurricane) used 17" three spoke wheels.  F2's used the 6 spoke wheel just like the F3 except that the rear wheel is half in narrower (4.5").  Front wheel had fixed discs.  The F3's had floaters.  They looked the same though.

TR

[MCRider]

LOL, just the guy I was hoping that would chime in   I've been watching the Nighthawk wheels thread pretty closely.

Thanks CC, I've decided to run a 130/70-17 rear tire due to a cheap ebay acquisition (saved about enough to get the Cycle-x offset front sprocket) it'll handle better anyway and should help me settle the issue of having enough trail up front with the 110/80-17 front I'm planning on.  I'm going to do some mock ups and measure trail with the stock setup, then with my setup with the 17" wheels/calculated tire radii.  should be an eye openner, as I'd really like to know what the trail will be before I build a wobbly suicide machine.

Am I the only one retaining the rear drum brake?   It's really nice to see a few pictures of bikes with 17" wheels, now I can figure out what to paint what color, and what to polish!  Thanks to everyone who posted/will post pics in this thread!   Now to melt some of this snow!

I'm using the drum still with 17s front and rear. Back in my roadracing days, I ran across some info on making it perform better. The problem being they tend to be grabby when the weight shifts to the front and tend to then lock quickly. The article said that the shoes have very little contact point on the drum in stock trim. Production tolerances just don't allow for them to be set up well. So, you put a little marking dye (wasn't needed, I could see the spot without it) spin the wheel, hit the brake real hard, then pull the brake plate. You'll see the points of contact of the shoe to the drum. Then you sand those down. Do it again, you'll have more contact, pull and sand. Pretty soon you'll gt the whole shoe contacting the drum. The feel of the brake is much more progressive and less grabby. The theory (I have no proof) is that the heating is slower and better dispersed.

One may think the shoes would bed properly themselves, but they don't. The small contact patch will overheat quickly and become hard. Unlike disc pucks which have virtually 100% contact from first touch.

IF your shoes are used, it probably won't help. But with new shoes, and especially going straight to the track, or the local twisties, it helped a lot.

[Soos]

odd, can't find that pic anymore.



Not a 750, but I have a 650 i'm working on with 16" rims front and rear.
gotta figure out this new camera....




l8r

[Alan F.]

CBR600F1 (Hurricane) used 17" three spoke wheels.  F2's used the 6 spoke wheel just like the F3 except that the rear wheel is half in narrower (4.5").  Front wheel had fixed discs.  The F3's had floaters.  They looked the same though.

Thanks Triffecpa, I'm fairly CBR illiterate.  I've got a front 3 spoke with fixed discs, thought it was from a 91 CBR1000... 

I'll be running a 90's nighthawk rear 130/70-17 on a stock swingarm with 82 CB750C shocks, and 90's nighthawk trees/forks/brakes with the 3-spoke fixed disc CBR front wheel (with one disc removed) and a 110/80-17 front wheel it'll be .81 inches lower in the rear (radius), 1.08 inches lower in the front (radius), I'll have to mock it up and measure trail, but I'm optimistic that the lower rear will change the neck angle enough to achieve sufficient trail despite the drop in front.  Fingeres crossed utill I can measure it up.

OK, whose bike is this?  Pretty sure it belongs to a forum member

Is that a 90's Nighthawk swingarm?

[Retro Rocket]

they use the same tapered roller kits as sohc 750's but the stem is an inch longer

Hi Alan, i used a gsxr 1100K front end on mine and the Suzuki stem was too long as well, but the diameter was the same so i just had the Honda stem pressed straight into the Suzuki clamps. This may be an option with the 600 front end as well, give it a try before you make up your spacers it may just fit.

Mick

[Alan F.]

I'm set with spacers, I'm not gringing off any welds and pressing out any stems this time around, stock unmodified parts are the name of my game.  My K3 is staying in a form easily converted back to stock, no welding, grinding or powdercoating on the vintage parts.

[coyotecowboy]

Lookey here>>> http://www.sb-max.com/

You fellers that like the pipes on that 750 I posted can have a set for yourself for the bargian price of $4400.  Titanium, of course

That trick swingarm could be yours for $1750

They could even hook you up with a modified version of a 750 tank for.....















wait for it......




















$2200!!!!!



Not sure I'll ever look at my bike the same way again

[unkle fester]

not sure if these are 17's or what.........BUT.......it's badass...........any insight on this bike???

[coyotecowboy]

Look like 18's to me, but its definately badass!!

[Alan F.]

Good pic Uncle, Maybe I'll build a small bore bobber someday.  Be sure to throw that one in the inspiration gallery.

[unkle fester]

found the pic on here a while back.......somebody posted it as an example of a project they wanted to do........after I saw it, I'm putting my 750 on the back burner to start on a 550 to do like that one.............

[Alan F.]

Here's the first pic of mine, it's a 750K3, with 90's CB750NH forks and triples, 91 CBR1000 front wheel and 90's CB750NH rear wheel.  I'll be posting in the project shop...

[coyotecowboy]

Lookin good Alan!!  Are you going to stay with the CBR front wheel, or run a NH wheel?

[Alan F.]

I'll probably stay with the CBR wheel to begin with, maybe later on when the nighthawk is out of storage I'll give it a try with the nighthawk front wheel.  But for the $40 I paid for the CBR wheel, and the $150+ for a nighthawk wheel, I'll cut my losses and drop the difference into tires.  Hopefully I won't have to rethink that decision after the first few miles.  Fingers crossed, but I'll be measuring trail once I get my act together, if trail is anywhere near 110mm I should be just fine.  Besides that, the rear tire I'm going to use will be .81" lower on the radius than stock, so the 27 degrees of stock neck angle should be effectively increased.  I calculate that for every tenth of a degree of increased rake, trail is increased but 1.01mm...so the rear tire's shorter radius will certainly have a positive effect on trail.