I changed the wheels on my Ultra last year. Just for grins I weighed them. My front laced wheel was the same weight as the 5 spoke Street Glide wheel I put on. 40lbs.

 

Yup, there is always that one that says something about cruisers and lightness. Why? Why the hell not? There are people that out there that actually are SKILLED in riding their motorcycle and dont like going into straight lines.

 

I doubt if there is much to choose in weight between most cast wheels. It is disappointing to see that a wire spoked wheel is the same as a cast alloy wheel!

If anyone is really determined to shed weight, HDF sponsor Howard at Motorcycle Metal can supply carbon-fibre wheels......

 

No actually probably heavier due to the extra weight of the chrome. Any cast wheels is going to be heavy. Especially with the addition of chrome. The lightest you can probably get would be forged wheels. Usually they are 40-50% stronger than cast and are lighter because less material is used. Typically a forged 21/18 combo will have the same weight of a stock 18/16 or 16/16 while being a whole lot stronger. And yes lighter wheels equals better performance. A 1 pound saving of rotational mass (anything that spins) is equal to a seven pound weight savings on the vehicle in motion. So basically if you lose 2 pound of weight in your wheels, your bike will handle like its 14 pounds lighter.

 

Interesting thread!!

 

Actually I looked there - I think he has wheels for earlier touring bikes - not yet for the 2009 and later. While at a M/C trade show I picked up a carbon fiber wheel - Man are they light - like 7 lbs or something.

 

I was under the impression that the unsprung weight equivalent to vehicle weight, was 4X. So 2 lbs unsprung loss would equate to 8lbs lighter handling bike.

In any case, losing unsprung weight is never a bad thing for handling, braking and performance.....

 

I have been down this path and it was very frustrating. First, as you've discovered, it is very difficult to get wheel weights. PM .. forget it. They basically refused to answer phoned-in and emailed queries. The folks at Ride Wright and Hogpro were the only vendors that provided weights. Neither had the data handy but both weighed product in inventory. I've copied some RW numbers below from an earlier post of mine. See https://www.hdforums.com/forum/touri...im-weight.html. Hogpro numbers follow, too. Second, a lot of our fellow riders think we are nuts for focusing on weight. That's unfortunate. Yes, I know my SG is not a Ducati but why can't it handle its best? Baggers need not be tanks, and unspring, rotating weight is a biggy for performance, comfort, and durability. This is an unmet niche. (BTW, take a look at the red beast on forum sponsor MotorCycle Metal's web page. I think ?? Howard said that it's around 600lb.) Third, some folks told me the OEM Air Strikes are probably as light as it gets. Short of carbon fiber, that might be correct. Probably is because cast Al. is porous whereas forged is dense, and the bubble in the center of the forged OEM is hollow.

So, I bought Hogpro 6-Packs in 16x5 and 18x3.5. Darn nice looking wheels BUT heavier than the OEM. Here's a crummy shot of the front.
The rotors are EBC. Weight comparison follows.

OEM w/ stock, moderately worn Dunlops, rotors, no rear pully weigh:
Front -- 40.8 lb; rear 48.2 lb

Hogpro 6-Pack w/ rubber (new front) EBC rotors, no pulley weigh:
Front -- 41.8 lb; rear 53.6 lb ...

I do not have separate rotor weights, but the EBC's are lighter, maybe more than lb each... In the end, I spent a pile on beautiful 6-Packs (made in USA) that are heavier.

Also, re the pulley. As I have a 2-1 ProPipe the pulley is very visible so the stock had to go. I ended up going with ***** Shiny. Nice. This is odd: my stock pully (w/ bumper) weighed 6.6 lb while the two versions of plated OEM I got from WS (w/ bumper) weighed 6.4 lb. (One WS pulley had a flaw. He exchanged no problem.) I do not get this. I figured the chrome would push the weight up. Yes, the HD model numbers were idenitcal.

Have not ridden the new wheels yet. Finished install last weekend. I'm a bit spooked as this is my first time removing/installing any rear and installing aftermarket wheels on an 800 pound bike that I ride on the Washington DC beltway at 80 .... I hope I did not screw anything up and the HogPro spacing and bearings are good. (After I installed chrome lowers last year I had visions of the forks falling off.)

So, good luck.

Jef

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Ride Wright wheels http://www.ridewrightwheels.com/ has provided me info, as follows:

16 x 5.5 60 spoke (smooth) 24lbs
18 x 3.5 60 spoke 25lbs
(These are steel hoops and stainless spokes. RW also makes aluminum hoops but not in 16 x 5.5.)

Evolution mags
18 x 3.5 24lbs
16 x 5.5 26lbs

Windmill (no rivets) mags
18 x 3.5 25lbs
16 x 5.5 27lbs

 

I've got H-D 9 spoke wheels,Lyndall composite discs and a Street stalker fender on the front. Almost 13 lbs lighter than stock. The rear is only about 4 lbs lighter than stock. The Black wheels are PVD coated ,they may be marginally lighter than chrome.

 

Can you feel the difference?