New to the party with a question about wheels:

General forum on frames, brakes, suspension, wheels and tires

Moderator: rztom

Post Reply
Message
Author
HighSide
Posts: 7
Joined: Wed Jan 24, 2018 7:33 pm
Location: California, USA

New to the party with a question about wheels:

#1 Post by HighSide » Thu Jan 25, 2018 11:44 am

Forgive me if this question has been asked repeatedly but I am a new and first time owner of the big RZ.

I'd like to put a 17in front wheel and of course the wider rear rim to match and I've heard that the FZR600 rims will work. Is it one particular year or spread of years? Do you use the FZR axle, spacers, and brake rotors? And with the rear, FZR600 spacers and axle?

Thank you all for your help.

User avatar
Jeff B
Posts: 751
Joined: Fri Nov 18, 2005 6:15 pm
Location: Wisconsin

Re: New to the party with a question about wheels:

#2 Post by Jeff B » Thu Jan 25, 2018 3:18 pm

The complete FZR600 front fork will mount to your RZ. Not sure about the rear.

2manyprjx
Posts: 150
Joined: Wed Nov 28, 2007 7:12 am
Location: Anderson, Indiana

Re: New to the party with a question about wheels:

#3 Post by 2manyprjx » Sun Jan 28, 2018 2:04 am

I never tried to use the FZR600 front wheel in the stock forks because I wanted to get rid of that silly anti-dive. The stock forks are slightly wider than the FZR's so you may have to work with the spacers to get it sorted. I swapped in the entire FZR600 front end, including triple trees, from a 1990 and it was 100% bolt in and you get much better brakes too.

All the FZR600's from 89 through the mid 90's have an 18 inch rear wheel. When they did go to the 17 inch wheel, it's the same wheel that was used on the FZR1000. The rim width allows you to use a much wider tire but you'll probably run into issues with chain clearance and you'll have to deal with that. Those wheels have a much larger center hub which makes for pretty short spokes. To me, they just don't look right on the 500 so that wasn't an option. Thinking, surely, Yamaha used a small hub, three spoke 17 inch rear wheel on one of their bikes somewhere, I did a lot of research. I finally found two bikes that did. The early 90's XJR400 and SRX600 both did. Neither was sold in North America so after patiently waiting on Ebay for months, I got an XJR rear wheel. Perfect in my opinion. It uses the same sprocket pattern as the RZ and the sprocket alignment and wheel alignment are correct. You have to make a small spacer to go between the caliper bracket and swingarm because the RZ rear wheel is slightly wider on that side. I modified the stock RZ spacer to use on the left side because it has more surface area on the aluminum swingarm. The stock XJR spacer has less because it was used on a steel swingarm. These wheels are 4 inches wide. I've got a 150 rear tire on it and and it looks great. Any wider and it would rub the chain. Hope all that helps you out.
Last edited by 2manyprjx on Mon Jan 29, 2018 4:55 am, edited 1 time in total.
RZ500
RZ350
SRX600
NT650 Hawk
VFR400R NC30
NS400R
CBR400RR
CBR250RR
DUC 916
Derbi GPR50 w/CR125 engine

HighSide
Posts: 7
Joined: Wed Jan 24, 2018 7:33 pm
Location: California, USA

Re: New to the party with a question about wheels:

#4 Post by HighSide » Sun Jan 28, 2018 8:15 pm

Thanks a lot, this has been a big help. I was hopping to use FZR rims because they are easy to come by here in the US. I'm not a huge fan of the RZ anti-dive front end so I may as well swap out the forks for the newer FZR units. However, having rims that match is important to me. I would like to run modern tires while still being able to undo my upgrades so as not to devalue my bike.

2manyprjx
Posts: 150
Joined: Wed Nov 28, 2007 7:12 am
Location: Anderson, Indiana

Re: New to the party with a question about wheels:

#5 Post by 2manyprjx » Mon Jan 29, 2018 3:47 am

Just in case you thought they don't, the two rear wheels I wrote about are perfect matches to the FZR front wheels.
RZ500
RZ350
SRX600
NT650 Hawk
VFR400R NC30
NS400R
CBR400RR
CBR250RR
DUC 916
Derbi GPR50 w/CR125 engine

thunder938
Posts: 79
Joined: Sat Jul 13, 2013 6:16 pm
Location: Ohio

Re: New to the party with a question about wheels:

#6 Post by thunder938 » Sat Feb 24, 2018 11:59 pm

I have A FZR1000, 89 wheels, forks and brakes on my RZ500

Image

HighSide
Posts: 7
Joined: Wed Jan 24, 2018 7:33 pm
Location: California, USA

Re: New to the party with a question about wheels:

#7 Post by HighSide » Sun Feb 25, 2018 3:27 am

Thunder938 your bike is gorgeous!! Are those Lomos chambers? So the '89 FZR1000 rear rim fit right on to the RZ using the FZR wheel spacers? Also, I thought the 1000 rear rim was 17", the rim on your bike looks like an 18.

User avatar
giron
- - - - -
- - - - -
Posts: 560
Joined: Wed Nov 16, 2005 7:49 pm

Re: New to the party with a question about wheels:

#8 Post by giron » Sun Feb 25, 2018 3:55 am

I have on my RZV500 YZF750SP forks. Now on the back I got creative. I'm running a TZR250SP 3XV swingarm. The Yamaha wheels from a FZR1000 or a YZF750. The cush drive hub are very wide. I opted for a 1992 GSXR750 wheel and the spokes are very close to the front wheel. The gsxr wheel has a narrow hub and is the same width as the FZR1000 or the YZF750. Their is no issue with chain and the tire. As far as racing the rear height. Look into the bracket where your front shock mounts. Take the bracket off and have a hole drill 10mm back. This will raise the rear of your bike.
1991 3MATZR250SP
!993 3XVTZR250SP
1996 RGV250(Lucky Strike)
1994 MC28SP
1995 MC28SP
1996 MC28SP
1985 RG500(Walter Wolfe)
1984 IT490
1985 RZV500R
1985 NS400R
1985 NS400R
1997 VFR750
1992 FZR1000
RGV400
TZR500
TZR350
1990 RZ350
1971 Porsche911S

bungerlowbill
- - - - -
- - - - -
Posts: 100
Joined: Fri Feb 12, 2010 3:47 pm
Location: surrey u.k

Re: New to the party with a question about wheels:

#9 Post by bungerlowbill » Sun Feb 25, 2018 8:12 am

thundercat rear wheel 160/60/17 and 120/70/17 front wheel spacers and different bearings in stock swing arm ,check on old post as i asked about this some time ago on this site you then can keep the original
disc or f2 ypvs frts and thundercat rear disc is the same size as rear you mill down 13mm rear caliper carrier etc had this set up 6+ yrs great and it can go back to original if needs be as the price of parts for these is getting silly now
regards and good luck with your quest Bill

thunder938
Posts: 79
Joined: Sat Jul 13, 2013 6:16 pm
Location: Ohio

Re: New to the party with a question about wheels:

#10 Post by thunder938 » Sat Mar 10, 2018 10:03 am

Yes mine is a 18 rear. 160/18. i must be off on the year. I picked up the forks, wheels, and brakes from a member who had it on his RZ500 and was going to R6 stuff. SO, I got it as a kit just added tires.

Bengt Weil
Posts: 224
Joined: Sat Aug 04, 2012 2:01 am
Location: Ventura, California

Re: New to the party with a question about wheels:

#11 Post by Bengt Weil » Sat Mar 10, 2018 12:22 pm

Here's a link that describes the spacer drawing that Ron Atchison did for adapting the FZR600 18" x 4" rear wheel to the RZ, RD & RZV500 using the original sprocket carrier and caliper mounts.

http://www.rzrd500.com/500phpBB3/viewto ... n+atchison

The FZR600 rear wheel is way lighter than the FZR1000 and is a nice conversion if you aren't looking to go with over-kill sized rear tire. Hopefully, you'll be able to track down the document with the spacer specs to make the conversion happen - Good luck!

P.S. The 17" x 3" FZR600 front wheel is a good match for the 18" x 4" rear wheel, as well.

HighSide
Posts: 7
Joined: Wed Jan 24, 2018 7:33 pm
Location: California, USA

Re: New to the party with a question about wheels:

#12 Post by HighSide » Fri Mar 16, 2018 12:33 am

Thanks for all the help guys.

Post Reply