Picking a rear wheel size

staf0s

staf0s

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Hi everyone. I’m about to go ahead and order everything to build new wheels. I decided on a 21” front (chopper build) but I’m having a hard time deciding what to do with the rear. Im going to be running the stock drum but I’m having trouble deciding on 16” or 18”. The bike is hardtailed with a zero stretch rear. Depending on what size I go with what size sprocket should I be looking at? Since I’ve created this thread I did some reading and found that the stock sprocket is a 32t.

While we’re here, does anyone see a problem running a 1.60x21” front? I can’t seem to find anything wider than a 1.60 as far as Excel rims go and I’m not sure if that too skinny
 
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staf0s said:
Hi everyone. I’m about to go ahead and order everything to build new wheels. I decided on a 21” front (chopper build) but I’m having a hard time deciding what to do with the rear. Im going to be running the stock drum but I’m having trouble deciding on 16” or 18”. The bike is hardtailed with a zero stretch rear. Depending on what size I go with what size sprocket should I be looking at? Since I’ve created this thread I did some reading and found that the stock sprocket is a 32t.

While we’re here, does anyone see a problem running a 1.60x21” front? I can’t seem to find anything wider than a 1.60 as far as Excel rims go and I’m not sure if that too skinny
Click to expand...
Choppers typically run a 16" rear. If you want a narrow 21 get a rim off an late 70's or early 80's Yamaha DT,MX, or YZ and lace it to the XS hub. They are 1.6 or 1.65 thats about the narrowest your gonna get. If you use anything other than a 36 spoke your gonna need to run the corresponding rim & hub. If you want to run a non 36 spoke rim and hub you will need to either adapt the hub to the XS front end or run the corresponding front end on the XS frame.
 
RustiePyles said:
Choppers typically run a 16" rear. If you want a narrow 21 get a rim off an late 70's or early 80's Yamaha DT,MX, or YZ and lace it to the XS hub. They are 1.6 or 1.65 thats about the narrowest your gonna get. If you use anything other than a 36 spoke your gonna need to run the corresponding rim & hub. If you want to run a non 36 spoke rim and hub you will need to either adapt the hub to the XS front end or run the corresponding front end on the XS frame.
Click to expand...

I ended up finding a 1.85x21” 36h Excel that I’ll take to Buchanan’s to have them mount up to the stock hub and dial it in. As far as the rear wheel, I keep finding so many photos of chops with 18” rears as well as 16” rears. I suppose it’s really just preferred look at this point as I don’t know how either ride on a hardtailed frame. lol. I do have a few options..

stock drum laced to a 16” or 18” rim
MikesXS hub laced to 16” or 18” w/ disc brake
or
I currently have a 16” Harley solid mag. I believe I would need a 3/4 axle but I don’t know what else other than sprocket/brake. Is there a bearing swap?
 
Stock rear sprocket size on these was a 34T but a 32T works really well on a 16" wheel. A 33T works better on an 18" wheel.
 
470a52d923160e786e01150c346a397b.jpg
My 2 cents. An 18 inch rear can be a nice step towards an "Old school" look.
 
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Son, years ago built a 47 pan in a 50s hardball. Springer, apes, flames in the paint. All from swap meet parts. He was 19 or 20. First year he had break downs and teething problems. 2nd year he ran 18k miles with his club. Told me a started wearing a kidney belt in August. He was young, 18 years ago. Discovered his cases didn't have numbers. Parked for the last 18-20 years.
 
I’m looking at this rim I purchased. It looks like a tire has definitely been mounted to it. Not a huge problem. I’m curious if this is normal though..It looks like it could have been cracked and possibly welded and then ground down? Or is this how these rims are made? Should I return it or am I trippin out?
 

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staf0s said:
That’s what I mean…18” looks so killer! One reason why I keep going back to 16” is because I’ve always liked the look of Moon Disc’s and those only fit on 16” spoked wheels I believe
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Mooneyes USA will spin discs of whatever size, offset, and center hole you want if you call them. You can also make your own dry lake wheel covers out of aluminum pizza pans of whatever diameter you want. I know it sounds hokey but a lot of guys have made them look pretty good.
cbpizza pans.jpg
 
staf0s said:
I’m looking at this rim I purchased. It looks like a tire has definitely been mounted to it. Not a huge problem. I’m curious if this is normal though..It looks like it could have been cracked and possibly welded and then ground down? Or is this how these rims are made? Should I return it or am I trippin out?
Click to expand...
It has been welded and ground down. That's how they're made. They don't turn those out of 19" diameter billets, they're flat extruded, ring rolled and welded.

 
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This is just my very personal opinion, but parallell twin choppers look best with skinny rear tires, i.e. 18 or even 19 inch rim. This because Triumphs, BSAs, XS650s, etc are fairly slim and lightweight machines to begin with. Unlike big V-twins....
 
My 2cents. 18" rear with a 19" front looks good but 18" rear with 21" makes a bike look like all wheels. Where as a 16" rear looks good with either a 19" or 21" up front. If your going for old school there are more tire options for 16" than there are for 18", if not there are plenty of 18" tire options. Frame geometry plays a part as well, with 0" stretch an 18" could end up looking to tall in the back and making the bike look lumpy. This is of course all "opinion" and I'm not sure mine is worth all that much. I personally like the look of your FLSTFB wheel coupled with a 21" on a parallel twin.
 
Jeez you guys are a load of useful info. I literally read your comments as you post them and I always mean to respond but I keep getting side tracked with more Google searches so that I don’t have to keep beating the same dead horse you guys have been dealing with every time someone asks the same ol questions.

As stated above the look of a skinny tire on the rear is something I’m definitely going for. I know the stock wheel on the 83 was a 2.75x16. I believe Excel makes a 2.15 and a 2.50 width rim but only in 18” and beyond. They don’t make 16” wheels but I can easily get a Mikes or XSPerformance 16” for a fraction of the cost of an Excel.

I think I would prefer a solid mag wheel like my Harley wheel, I just don’t know if it’s worth the headache of the fab work and everything else. If it’s true I can call Mooneyes and have them spin me a 18” disc I may just do that. Although, I’m not sure how an 18” with Moon Disc’s would look lol (here I go back to my google)

I really need to start a build thread. I think once I get enough stuff in order to actually start posting content for you guys to check out I’ll do that.

I really appreciate all the help from you all.
 
staf0s said:
Jeez you guys are a load of useful info. I literally read your comments as you post them and I always mean to respond but I keep getting side tracked with more Google searches so that I don’t have to keep beating the same dead horse you guys have been dealing with every time someone asks the same ol questions.
Click to expand...
As well as this site having a good search function, you can also use Google to search just this site. Type into Google or your address bar....

site:xs650.com (space) (search words)

It will confine it's finding to just this site.


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