Motorcycle wheel

Motorcycle wheels are made to cope with radial and axial forces. They also provide a way of mounting other critical components such as the brakes, final drive and suspension. Wheels, and anything directly connected to them, are considered to be unsprung mass. Traditionally motorcycles used spoked wheels with inner tubes and pneumatic tyres. Although cast wheels were first used on a motorcycle in 1927, it would not be until the 1970s that mainstream manufacturers would start to introduce cast wheels on their roadgoing motorcycles. Spoked wheels are usually made with steel spokes and steel or aluminium rims. Cast wheels are predominantly made from aluminium or an alloy of, but can also be made from more exotic materials such as magnesium or carbon fibre.

The first commercial motorcycles were built like bicycles, with wire wheels as bicycles had traditionally been built with. The Steffey motorcycle in 1902, essentially a bicycle with a two-stroke engine attached, used wooden rims with wire spokes. This style of wheel evolved into a stouter motorcycle specific wheel, still with spokes, up through the 1960s.

In April, 1922, Borrani started production of motorcycle wheels with an aluminium rim.

Although cast wheels had already been used on automobiles previously, it was not until the 1927 that the Böhmerland, a motorcycle built in Czechoslovakia was fitted with cast wheels.

BMW patented a spoked wheel that cross ran the spokes onto the outside of the rim, allowing the use of tubeless tires.

By the late 2000s, a number of materials and designs in addition to traditional spoked wheels were available, including cast, spun or forged aluminum; cast or forged magnesium; and single-layup or composite carbon fiber.

High-performance motorcycles began to use cast alloy wheels (usually aluminum but sometimes magnesium) as early as the Münch Mammoth, with its single cast-elektron rear wheel which was shown at the Intermot motorcycle show at Cologne in late 1966. Elliott Morris began producing seven-spoke cast magnesium racing wheels in 1973. In November 1974 the Van Veen was exhibited at the Cologne motorcycle show with front and rear cast wheels and triple Brembo disc brakes for their 1975 Model Year rotary-engined OCR1000 machines. Aftermarket cast wheels for Japanese makes having drum rear and front disc brakes were available in UK from late 1974. In 1975, the Moto Guzzi 850 Le Mans and the MV Agusta 750 America were available with alloy wheels as an option.

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Wikipedia