[DiavelBill]

Hello everyone,

Looking for a good lead on a set of magnesium wheels for my 1995 900ss cr.

Marvic, marchesini, gailspeed, oz piega, 3-10 spoke.

Preferably black but not a deal breaker.

I'm told it's one of the best ways to improve the suspension.

Everything on Ebay is in Japan and expensive as hell.

An Ohlins fork kit and rear shock would be sweet too.

220 pound rider

 

[Iwannaduc]

Magnesium wheels are expensive. I doubt you'll find anything cheaper per set than the stuff you see on eBay out of Japan. New, a set of Marvic Streamline magnesium vintage wheels will set you back around $2400 or so, before shipping and taxes.....sean

 

[spacey]

I think the Oz wheels are aluminum. Excellent wheels though and pretty light. Probably your best choice for "reasonable" cost, problem free wheels for your SS. Magnesium can be problematic especially if you don't know their provenance.

 

[DiavelBill]

Thanks gents, so $1,500 and under is a great deal?
Scott at Moto Servizio says swapping the wheels is a must. Really light bikes with abnormally heavy stock wheels. Kills the suspensions ability to perform

 

[RockAZ]

...
220 pound rider

Sometimes I think this bike was designed for a 135 - 150 pound rider, least expensive upgrade in the suspension is to get down to 179 - just sayin'

 

[DiavelBill]

Sometimes I think this bike was designed for a 135 - 150 pound rider, least expensive upgrade in the suspension is to get down to 179 - just sayin'

Shit I wish, haven't seen 180 since 9th grade. I'm no jockey
Short and wide, just how she likes it ?

 

[Iwannaduc]

Have you read this post by @Shazaam?

Free Magnesium Wheels

How about a free front magnesium wheel with your next tire purchase? Consider this: 3.5 x 17 Wheel Weights: Ducati OEM aluminum 5-spoke .... 9.25 lbs Marchesini magnesium 5-spoke ... 6.80 lbs Weight Savings ................. 2.45 lbs 120/70ZR17 Tire Weights (Sport Rider Magazine June 2002)...

www.ducati.ms

Makes more sense than dropping the equivalent of another bike on the one you already own.

One thing you can do for a fraction of the price of new wheels is swap the front discs out from OEM. The OEM rotors have a steel carrier that weighs around 5lbs. X2 and you have 5 lbs extra weight on the front wheel. A set of EBCs weighs what one of the OEM rotors weighs.

Also, there is a thread on this forum about how much the wheels actually weigh.....according to that, the cast Brembo wheels aren’t a great deal heavier than the composite Marvic Akront wheels from a Superlight.

Instead of dropping $1500 on wheels, that money might be better spent on upgraded fork internals and a shock rebuild or replacement. Jus sayin’....sean

 

[rennsportmotorrad]

But the best way to save is still --I know you want it---I know you crave it, ---I know you dream about it, --BUT DONT EAT THAT CHEESEBURGER--lol---Mate I am not making fun of you--I used to weigh 275 lbs---I changed my diet and lost 100 lbs---do you know how much faster the bike was on the track? ---that equates to 14.257 HP and that cost nothing.

 

[ducvet]

Some times....
$1500 on GOOD wheels 5 years later most likely worth $1500
That = zero long term cost to own and if you look at how many sets are available for these bikes i do not see them going down if you keep them in good shape.

Yes if you buy new you will likely take a hit on re-sale but it is unlikely you would lose 50%
For comparison a big bore kit gains you smiles but zero later on . A ohlins will have good resale but fork work little to none.

I put wheels in the category of buy them if you find them at the right price and condition. No brainer really buy based on condition ,price and finally looks.

That said if you have not done springs i think you are much better off buying springs first unless it is a static model. Stock springs on both ends are horrible for everyone, not changing those parts means you have running shoes with bad knees.

 

[DiavelBill]

Have you read this post by @Shazaam?

Free Magnesium Wheels

How about a free front magnesium wheel with your next tire purchase? Consider this: 3.5 x 17 Wheel Weights: Ducati OEM aluminum 5-spoke .... 9.25 lbs Marchesini magnesium 5-spoke ... 6.80 lbs Weight Savings ................. 2.45 lbs 120/70ZR17 Tire Weights (Sport Rider Magazine June 2002)...

www.ducati.ms

Makes more sense than dropping the equivalent of another bike on the one you already own.

One thing you can do for a fraction of the price of new wheels is swap the front discs out from OEM. The OEM rotors have a steel carrier that weighs around 5lbs. X2 and you have 5 lbs extra weight on the front wheel. A set of EBCs weighs what one of the OEM rotors weighs.

Also, there is a thread on this forum about how much the wheels actually weigh.....according to that, the cast Brembo wheels aren’t a great deal heavier than the composite Marvic Akront wheels from a Superlight.

Instead of dropping $1500 on wheels, that money might be better spent on upgraded fork internals and a shock rebuild or replacement. Jus sayin’....sean

Highly enlightening. With that info I can get a lighter newer set of tires, swap in lighter disks and get damn near the same results for a fraction.
Cheers brother.

 

[DiavelBill]

Some times....
$1500 on GOOD wheels 5 years later most likely worth $1500
That = zero long term cost to own and if you look at how many sets are available for these bikes i do not see them going down if you keep them in good shape.

Yes if you buy new you will likely take a hit on re-sale but it is unlikely you would lose 50%
For comparison a big bore kit gains you smiles but zero later on . A ohlins will have good resale but fork work little to none.

I put wheels in the category of buy them if you find them at the right price and condition. No brainer really buy based on condition ,price and finally looks.

That said if you have not done springs i think you are much better off buying springs first unless it is a static model. Stock springs on both ends are horrible for everyone, not changing those parts means you have running shoes with bad knees.

Heard loud and clear. Buy wheels only when they are a steal. Find a lighter set of tires and disks intead and get almost a better result.

I will definitely be updating the forks and shock. Here's a question along those lines.
What's the consensus on Racetech vs Ohlins?
Racetech says they can update the stock showa forks and shock with new springs and "gold valves" all their bells and whistles for $1,500
I've heard of but can't yet find an Ohlins fork kit, heard it's roughly $400. Rear is easily attainable roughly $800. Include oil and labor and I'm right in the same neighborhood of cost.
Thoughts?

 

[RockAZ]

Racetech only has the springs for the forks that came with the CR most years, which forks exactly do you have?

 

[DiavelBill]

Racetech only has the springs for the forks that came with the CR most years, which forks exactly do you have?

1995 900ss cr showa 41mm and showa rear shock as well

 

[RockAZ]

Wow, you know I think they have added the gold valves since I researched it last year. Had Racetech valves for Showa on my CBR, made a hell of a difference. I bought their springs and tools when I did my 91 and 95 Ducati, but they did not have Gold valves then for either of my bikes.

 

[DiavelBill]

No shit? I talked to them a week and a half ago. Gold valves, new springs, seals, oil, gas and set my weight. $1500 and 2 to 3 weeks time.

Worth the money? Or go with Ohlins?

 

[Lelebebbel]

You are paying a lot of labour at that rate. Which is fair but makes you wonder what else you could get for the money, because as ducvet said, the resale value of modified suspension components is not nearly as good as the resale value of Öhlins...

An option for the fork may be replacement cartridge dampers such as Andréani. I think they are about 700-1000 for a pair? And probably a more complete upgrade than the valves.

FWIW, I have racetech front and rear suspension on my CR and I am quite happy with it, but I did most of the work myself, for less than half the price. If I hadn't had that option I may have gone for full replacement parts instead

 

[DiavelBill]

If I had the knowledge I may attempt it myself. Good to know there's that much savings though. May just buy the parts now and ask a buddy to help.
Looking into Andreani now.

Say I saved on the labor and did the work myself would you go with the Racetech parts or the Andreani 105/D22E $595

 

[rennsportmotorrad]

Remember one thing--Now I am by no means knocking anything RaceTech, Ohlins, Wilbers, or any of the known suppliers provide, But any company who makes upgrades or so called upgrades for any motorcycle, Car, boat etc is going to tell you that their product is the best thing on the market, there is nothing close--This is an example only --Race tech is not going to tell you Oh our product is almost as good as Ohlins, or Ohlins is not going to say -Our product is almost as good as RaceTech --They are all in business to promote their product, So this is something you need to research on and decide what you want to do and how you want it to work--Again these were just examples you can substitute any vendor name is place of my examples it still works the same--That said I do suggest Race Tech & Ohlins--I am a dealer for both, On my 91 900SS I did RaceTech fork springs, when the need arises for me I will probably do an Ohlins rear shock

 

[spacey]

$1500 seems a bit dear for Racetech service on your suspension components. The springs and valves are only a couple of hundred dollars. After that the adjustable Showa forks will still have the compression-rebound circuit interference problem that makes them a problem to set up. You should be able to find a used Ohlins DU235 or similar Penske rear shock for a reasonable price, set it up for your weight, and put appropriate linear rate springs in your Showa forks and get most of the way there.

I wanted to keep stock suspension components on my '92 900SS so I sent the forks and shock to Rick at Cogent Dynamics and he replaced the fork internals with cartridges of his own design and rebuilt the rear shock with new internals, linear spring, and an adjustable length shaft. It wasn't cheap, but significantly less than Ohlins parts, it looks stock, and it works. He sent me the suspension dyno graphs as well, and all I had to do was set the sag and make some fine tuning adjustments. I'm happy with the result. However I think "best value" is represented by what I wrote in the first paragraph and could be a good starting point.

 

[Iwannaduc]

Before you go and spend a bunch of money on your forks, give this thread a read: K4-5 Gsx-r 750 fork internals in carb ss forks

Personally, I’d rather spend a little on this, lo buck upgrade and spend more on either a good shock upgrade or work to upgrade the OEM Showa.

Alternately, the Andreani cartridge route is a proven and reliable improvement based on its use on other makes/models. At about $800 on average, for the pair; they are significantly less than the Öhlins internals kit at $1200 per leg.

If you have the non-adjustable forks, the Andreani kit is your best option aside from replacement. That said, a number of members here have gotten perfectly acceptable results with just springs and heavier weight, better quality oil. If you search the forum, I know you’ll eventually find the thread.

The point is, you can get good to excellent results without pitching 3 or 4 months pay at the suspension. BTW, there’s a set of 2006 GSXR 750 forks on eBay right now for $79 plus shipping.

With that in mind I think for a $100 on top of rebuild parts cost, you’d have a far better feeling front end. Likely on par with maybe, a 2006 GSXR. I mean, if you went that route anyway.....sean