Topic: 18" rim on front? doable?

[torchmonkey]

Shooting for something different on my build. I have stock wheels for my '75 CB750F and I have a spare 16" wheel. I was thinking of using the 16" on the rear and moving my current rear (stock 18") to the front. Wanna go for that fat tire look while keeping it sporty. Does anyone see an issue w/ this set up? Any photos of this being done?   

[Alan F.]

Run a search for a member called drdreas form Boston, I think he did exactly as you said, maybe he started with a 17" rear though...
Nobody local that I know of has met or spoken to him, and he doesn't answer PM's but his threads seem pretty complete and it looks like it'll work.

But remember that the rear rim has spoke holes drilled at angles for a drum hub, a front disk brake hub should have the spoke holes drilled at different angles than that, so there may be saftey concerns there...

-Alan

Also check out MCrider's thread in the project shop, I think he's gonna run an 18" front wheel.

[torchmonkey]

Thanks, man I love this site!
Gotta make a donation next pay.

[Terry in Australia]

Apparently it was pretty common for racers on a budget "back in the day" to lace a CB750 rear rim to a front hub so they could quicken the steering and run slightly wider rubber, I'm not sure of any lacing issues, but it's certainly a consideration, and you'd need new spokes of course. Cheers, Terry.

[Kevin400F]

Stock front spokes from a Yamaha XS650 will mate an 18" rim to a stock CB750F front hub.  I got a set from MikesXS for a very reasonable cost.  Just make sure you get 40 spokes total (some Yamahas came with 36).

I "tweaked" the spoke holes from an 18"x1.85" rear CB400F rim to achieve the correct angle for use on the front of my CB550 track bike.  The 400F rear hub is smaller than a 750 rear hub, minimizing the amount of correction needed in the spoke angles.

[MCRider]

I tried to fit a 2.5 x 17 on the front of my K2. The edge of the rim would interfere with my dual discs brackets, tho I think I could have gone with the one stock disc. So I've switched to a 2.15 x 18 which I haven't laced up yet. Hope to this weekend. But it appears it will miss the bolts. I didn't want to take a chance on a 2.5 x 18 for being too wide. I'd have to eat another rim. A 2.15 is wide enough to hold wider rubber and that's what I am going for.

I bot a rolling chassis 75F and it has a 2.50 x 18 on the front (3.5 x 18 rear). THe guy had started a cafe racer project and never finished. I don't know if he confirmed brakes would fit before he bot/built the wheel or not. But I don't have the brakes to hold up to it to see if they will go. Visually it appears to have enough room.