Anyone Using Moped Wheels?

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5-7HEAVEN

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Aug 2, 2008
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How about something like these?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Mot...Parts_Accessories&vxp=mtr&hash=item2a139c6cb9

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Mot...Parts_Accessories&vxp=mtr&hash=item27bde0c71d


https://www.denniskirk.com/michelin...-00m-17-blackwall-tire.p541777.prd/541777.sku

I've read that quite a few builders use moped hubs and lace them onto bicycle wheels.

They might not look cool (short 21.5" wheels in 24" fork/26" tall frame). However, they come assembled with short tough spokes.


They can work with $15 Michelin 2.25 x 17 motorcycle/moped tubeless tires rated @ 93mph.

Thoughts?
 
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adb140275

adb140275

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Aug 8, 2010
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they would look awful in large forks and frames. but, those michelin tires are nothing short of amazing. they NEVER wear out, i swear. unless you do nothing but hours of burnouts every day. moped wheels are incredibly durable as well. but, again, they're best installed in a real moped.

look toward puch wheels if you wanna get into moped wheels. WAY cheaper than those moby wheels you linked, way more common, too. and probably more durable. you can get rear sprockets ranging from 35 through 50-something teeth. moped wheels have 12mm axles, take this into consideration.

btw those tires are pretty heavy. for street use i prefer IRC NR53 tires. $14 a pop on motorcycle superstore.

yeah i'm pretty heavy into mopeds
 
5

5-7HEAVEN

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adb140275 said:
they would look awful in large forks and frames. but, those michelin tires are nothing short of amazing. they NEVER wear out, i swear. unless you do nothing but hours of burnouts every day. moped wheels are incredibly durable as well. but, again, they're best installed in a real moped.

look toward puch wheels if you wanna get into moped wheels. WAY cheaper than those moby wheels you linked, way more common, too. and probably more durable. you can get rear sprockets ranging from 35 through 50-something teeth. moped wheels have 12mm axles, take this into consideration.

btw those tires are pretty heavy. for street use i prefer IRC NR53 tires. $14 a pop on motorcycle superstore.

yeah i'm pretty heavy into mopeds
Click to expand...
The seller accepted my offer of $125 for both wheels, which is an excellent price. It has a 54-tooth sprocket.

For me, it has always been function over form. A 24" suspension fork is being installed. The 3 x 17 tubeless tires are almost 24" tall. I'm leaning towards this type of tire. I would think it would be an awesome improvement, durability-wise.

The 6hp Robin I'm using will handle the extra weight of any wheel/hub/tire combination. xct2

The Motobecane hubs can be laced onto 19" moped rims. The proper scooter tire would be just about 26" tall.
 
bairdco

bairdco

a guy who makes cool bikes
Aug 18, 2009
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living the dream in southern california
i run old 16" spoked moped wheels with front and rear atom drum brakes with pirelli 16x2.5 tires.

the 16" moped rims are the same as 20" bicycle rims, so you can use the pirellis on a pair of bmx wheels, too.

the overall height is about 2" taller than the average 20" bike wheel.

they fit pretty good in a 24" fork, but there is a pretty big gap. on a 26" frame, there's a lot of extra room in back, and it drops the bike down really low, which is great for the track, but kinda wacky on the street.

you need short cranks so you don't stab one into the ground on turns.

the handling with the pirellis is amazing.

magrider has 17's on his 11hp morini racer.

adb mentioned the larger axles. they're twice as big as a bike axle, and the hubs are much wider as well, so prepare to do some modifications to make them fit. the tires are wider, too. a 3" moped tire is fatter than a 3" bike tire.

once you get them to fit though, you'll love it.
 
adb140275

adb140275

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yes, a 3 inch moped tire seems like it would be too wide for a bicycle.

and maybe i'm missing something here, but are you using tubeless tires on spoked wheels? that wont work.
 
5

5-7HEAVEN

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adb140275 said:
yes, a 3 inch moped tire seems like it would be too wide for a bicycle.

and maybe i'm missing something here, but are you using tubeless tires on spoked wheels? that wont work.
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LOL, you are probably correct. This tire is listed as tubeless, I presumed it'd work if I leakproofed the moped spokes and bought the right valve stem. I bought matching tubes anyway, just in case, so will prolly use them. It would be more foolproof if I could run tubeless.

I bought 2.25 x 17 tires. The wheels haven't arrived yet, but these 2.36" wide tires clear the fork by 1" and .70" at the rear dropout.

The 3" tire would have less clearance. According to the catalog, it is .73" wider than the 2.25"s.
 
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Goat Herder

Goat Herder

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Apr 28, 2008
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yeah I have a little reservations about that much weight. The Engine can push it. The added weight still does not make that much sense to me. Will have to keep looking around. No hurry tho as I am in the poor house at this time.
 
professor

professor

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Oct 14, 2009
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I thought I put in 2 cents on this question, but must have forgot to hit the post button.
I'm using Puch wheels and tires. Tires are the orig. 1977s w/ about 1200 orig. miles on them.
Using a dual brake lever and the stopping power has improved to where it is good (guess I got rid of what rust was in there). I love the moped parts. Had to spread the rear triangle a little. Front fork is from a 24 inch bike.
 
lowracer

lowracer

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I really like the moped wheels & believe the added strength they'll add to a MB is well worth their weight penalty. I am running the heaviest bicycle tire/tube combo now that I could find on my MB (2.5" Maxxis hookworms & Kenda DH tubes) & only wish the rims & spokes were as bombproof. Please post some pics when you get them onto your bike...
-Lowracer-
 
5

5-7HEAVEN

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Aug 2, 2008
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Bairdco, thanks for pics on your 16"wheels in a 26" frame. Mine has a 24" suspension fork, which has extra room for wide tires.

Professor, thanks for your feedback. Puchs would be nice, but the Motobecane deal on the complete wheels was irresistable.

Lowracer, will post pics on wheel fitment in the future.

I'm glad there's a few MBers running moped wheels and tires.
 
Goat Herder

Goat Herder

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Apr 28, 2008
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I gave up looking for now.. Money is still tight. I am darn well listening tho:p

My 24x3.0 tire rim Large Marge combo is nice. Hella wide rims! The wheels have been truly bullet proof to date with everyday riding.. Still like the thought of a true Motorcycle grade '''tire''' tho. I go through a back tire every 2500 miles or so. That is not bad ether. Yet finding a nice ''24X.30'' tire is slim pickings..

Seams far as bicycles go this particular size is just not that important for a manufacture to make a commercial grade tire in my size range? Love my 24x 2.5 Maxis Hook Worms!! Wish they were 24x 3.0's tho. Still they are fine! They have a wire bead as well..

These have been nice tires man. Their rubber is thick enough to thwart Stickers! They grab the street good too. Just read somewhere they may becoming discontinued? Dunno?

Not going to run a skinny tire in back and ain't gonna use a 26 size ether. So its still on my mind to up grade to a motorcycle rim but its has to be in the same size tire range I got. Have tons of room in the rear for a wide tire just not a small one or a large one. Got's to be the same size for me.

I will have to do some more research.. It's about time for me to purchase a new rear tire again.
 
S

svejkovat

New Member
May 25, 2009
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GoatHerder.... can you comment more on the Large Marge rims and maybe post pics of them with tires on them? They look excellent. Can they be too wide? The next step down in width appears to be the unicycle rims I link to below. Price is nice at about half of the Large Ms. It would be good to get some idea of how they would mate with a 24x3.00 tire. Especially compared to the Large Marges.

Can anyone with experience comment on the weight savings/penalties between these two rim/tire options?

http://www.unicycle.com/nimbus-24-inch-muni-rim.html/
http://bigkahunabicycles.com/product/nirve-fatass-24-57971-1.htm
or
http://jonesbicycles.com/product/electra-cruiser-fatti-o-tire-black-159242-1.htm

.................................and..........................................

http://www.ebay.com/itm/KAWASAKI-KX...Parts_Accessories&hash=item2a1a798d22&vxp=mtr
https://www.treatland.tv/heidenau-K56-moped-racing-tire-p/heidenau-k56-17x2.50-tire.htm.

They are roughly the same tire diameter (i believe). It's really tough to find the perfect rim and tire combo for electric or gas powered bicycles. It's always a compromise. The perfect tire/rim falls right in between bicycle and motorcycle use and does not yet exist. That unicycle rim listed first looks very promising. It's six mm wider than the widest downhill bicycle rim, super strong, and priced very nicely. Seems like it would match excellently with those 3 inch tires.

The "Nirve FAT ASS" and "Electra Fatti-O" (by appearance alone anyway) seem to be the only bicycle tires on the market with sufficient depth of tread to indicate long life on a motorized bike. But there is no telling how much they actually weigh or if the rubber compound is decent enough quality to even merit the extra weight. Sure look nice though. Still guessing they weigh less than half the 17 inch moped tire and they/re not likely to see anything over 30mph anyway. For some reason, neither comes in 26 inch. Fine for me since I'm looking only for 24 anyway. Postscript..... Amazon lists ship weight for that Nirve FatAss at 3.2 lbs and Treatland "treats" moped store lists the Heidenau K56 ship weight at 9 lbs. There is probably even a far greater weight differential between that unicycle and kawasaki rim.

There's a thread at endless-sphere where a guy used a motorcycle rim and tire laced to a bicycle hub for his ebike build. Similar to the second option above. He ended up unhappy overall, particularly with the weight penalty.
http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=40312
There are links in that thread to his original build. I'm pretty certain that i will continue to search for the ultimate 24inch bicycle rim/tire for my project.

I'll try to contact the manufacturer of those two 24 inch bicycle tires to see if either publishes info regarding plys, weight, compounds, speed ratings, etc. I kind of doubt it since they're marketed for beach cruisers, but who knows?

If anyone else knows of a more perfect rim/tire combo for the approximate torque/hp and weight that we see on these builds then please list it here or start another thread!!!!!
 
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F

feelyx

New Member
Jun 30, 2012
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sac. ca 95821
I bought some 17" 36h Franco Morini moped hubs, I thinking of using 21"x 1.60" motorcycle rims.
Has anyone done this,,, or have any input as to why not?
I have purchased a pred 212cc for this build, and should plenty of HP/Torque to spin them.
I have also purchased a triple tree and forks that will clear a 3" front tire easily. I plan to use a rear mount to the frame like in the pic which should clear any size in the rear.
Anyone know a shop in Sac to get them laced at?
Thanks
 

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