Thumper Club Forum
Technical => Bike Problems/Questions => Topic started by: Pete H on January 03, 2008, 08:48:27 PM
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I'm new to this site so you'll have to forgive me if Ive got it wrong. I was reading some recent correspondence about XBR spoked rear hubs and I presume someone is interested in converting Comstar wheels to spoked. I have done this myself so if can help in any way please contact me.
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Yes there are plenty of people here interested in converting from comstars to spoked wheels. How did you go about it?
GC
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I'm new to this site so you'll have to forgive me if Ive got it wrong. I was reading some recent correspondence about XBR spoked rear hubs and I presume someone is interested in converting Comstar wheels to spoked. I have done this myself so if can help in any way please contact me.
Pete, Sounds like you have found the 'Holy Grail' of XBR ownership! This is something I would very much like to do but no sane wheel builder will even think about it. I would like any advice or help you can offer on this subject.
Regards,
Andy
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The conversion was carried out on a Superdream rear wheel but I presume the hubs are similar. I think I can retrieve photos of the components and a mock up in wood. It would be more convenient for me to answer any questions by phone but I don't know if that is within the site rules.
Regards Pete.
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Couldn't it be published as an article an uploaded to the site?
Not sure I would grasp it over the telephone.
Andy
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Andy,
I would if I could but I'm afraid my expertise,ability is in engineering, I have problems even loggin into the site. Unfortunately the photos I was talking about were lost when the computer went kaput. I still have a wooden mock-up of the flange which is a simple machining job in ally.If you want me to I can take a photo of the wheel in the bike at present, just supply me with an E mail address.
Regards Pete.
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Mail it to me and I'll post it here.
one(dot)pot@ntlworld(dot)com
(obviously replace the (dot) with a . )
Cheers
GC
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Hi There,
This is something I've asked before as its something I'd be interested in doing.
Where as I think the look of the Standard Comstars are unique, I prefer the classic look of spoked wheels.
I have seen early photos of the XBR with spoked hubs, but I think this was just advertising blurb, and possibly never made it into production.
Does anyone know if the GB400/500 variants wheels fit? I know the frame is different, but maybe the offsets are the same? If so, next we need to find an unsuspecting GB owner...
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GB400/500 wheels go straight in but are as rare as hens teeth.
I'm playing with a CB500/4 rear wheel at the minute, It goes in, it has a fairly decent cush drive and it will do the job. I still haven't done the exact measurements on the rim to see if that can be left as-is, but I suspect the rim will have to be relaced to get it into line. Apart from that it's just a matter of making some spacers and getting B&C Express to make you a £27 rear sprocket with CB mounting holes and the XBR width and tooth number (525/36)
The CB brake drum is bigger too... which can only help
Cheers
GC
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Cheers GC
I'll keep my eyes open for GB wheels.
In your bumpf, you say u have many xbr's in pieces- do you have a right hand exhaust silencer?
Regards, Dave.
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Do you mean the separate silencer or the complete side (Honda changed from two piece downpipe and silencer to an all in one).
GC
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I'm after the seperate silencer.
My bike should have the 2 piece exhausts; I have both downpipes, the original left hand silencer, a brand new original stock left hand silencer, and a 1 piece right hand exhaust (thats seen better days if I'm honest). ;) Maybe I can flog it on ebay.
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I'll check, but from memory my spare stock exhaust is fairly wankered. There's no difference in performance between the two variations, I think Honda just trimmed manufacturing costs byt making it all-in-one.
GC
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Probably. I'm just trying to put the bike back to its original condition. Nevermind, I'll carry on looking!
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So that will be original with spoked wheels then?
Ducks and weaves as leaves the room.
R
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As I said, I have seen early pics with XBR's having spoked wheels- They do look like advertising pics so maybe didn't make it into final production. www.cmsnl.com (http://www.cmsnl.com) has some pics of the XBR like this. By the way, this isnt a bad website for aftermarket bits...
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Some of the last models of XBR had spoked wheels, mine (an F reg) XBR500SJ came with them but the drum went badly oval so I had to fit comstars :(
Definately provided as a factory fit though.
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AHA! That solves it then- Its a later model I have seen. Do these wheels fit straight in? Are they the same as used in the GB500? Still probably hard to find tho...
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yes, don't know, and yes in that order!
If you are ever passing Dunfermline give me a shout and you can have a look at a (knackered) set...
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Bit far for me I'm afraid, I'm in deepest Essex...
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Last decent pair of xbr/gb spoked wheels that came upon Ebay went for well over £200 as I remember! :o
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Spoked XBR hubs are exactly the same as GB hubs and they all fit straight into an XBR. However the GB front rim is narrower than an XBR
GC
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Cheers for the info guys. £200 is too much for me to spend on wheels- the idea was to do it up on the cheep and get out and use it, not just stare at it and polish. ;)
Want to get out with some of you guys on a run!!
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My CB500/4 rear wheel came in at £38 (inc P&P) via Ebay. However I still have to get it relaced to a decent rim (I'm not a fan of chromed steel rims and I think the offset if wrong anyway) and I also have to get a sprocket made to suit.
If I go mad then just the rear wheel conversion could cost over £200 :(
Then there's the issue of the front wheel.
Pat... how did you manage to convert the NX front hub to fit the XBR?
GC
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I've looked into spoked wheels for the XBR as part of a project bike I'm building, known to most as Abigail. The route I've taken is using a Dommie rear wheel laced to a 18" rim. This gives me a disc rear drake, but earlier dommies had drums for those that wish it. Things to bear in mind are you can't fit same No of tooth rear sprocket on a dommie hub as are on the XBR as the fixings mean it has to be larger. In fairness only by a couple of teeth but be prepared to have a sprocket made up (chains are different too) and you'll have to make a caliper hanger and RHS wheel spacer (Work in progress for Abigail).
Funnily enough my baby is only recently out from under the dust covers with this as the next job. So watch this space.....
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That's interesting, but...
Pat... how did you manage to convert the NX front hub to fit the XBR?
Cheers ;)
GC
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If you're stilllooking for spoked wheels, have you seen these? Only thing is they're in Germany but he will post to UK
200200279254
200200279603
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That's interesting, but...
Pat... how did you manage to convert the NX front hub to fit the XBR?
Cheers ;)
GC
First off, the front wheel is off a Transalp, not a Dommie (sadly a different spoke pattern) But I did absolutely nowt matey, it just pops in. ;D
Well not completely true, the speedo drive is on the otherside, so there is no casting on the fork leg to stop it spinning around. That said it still drives the cable in the right direction for the speedo and I'm banking on the gripping power of a couple of zip ties to hold things in place. But as for disc alignment and rim off set, all was well. Obviously you have to lace a 18" rim to the hub but the rest was easy peazy.
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converting comstar hubs to spoked rims isnt hard. ive owned a set of goldwing hubs that had been laced onto spoked rims for a sidecar outfit. basically, you dismantle the wheel and keep only the hub. then you get the size of rim you want, 17/18/19 inch, (my wing actually had a 15 on the back and a 16 on the front) when you have your rim, you will know how many spokes need to go to each side, you manufacure a disk from ally that bolts to the hub using the comstar mounting bolt holes, and into this disk you drill the holes at the calculated distance for the spokes to attatch to. from there its just a case of building it up. i'll try and find some pics of the wing wheel i had showing the detail. its quite a simple process. (if you are confident building spoked wheels that is!!!)
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Interesting... I'd love to see some piccies of that.
GC
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Right that's it, I'm going on a second hand Comstar hunt!
The approach is logical and not that difficult to expedite, I would be very interested to see what they look like cosmetically.
My only concern is butchering my existing Comstars, which I don't want to do, hence the hunt for a second hand pair. Could have bought a front wheel not long ago from a breaker on eBay, they only wanted £29.99 + p&p but it didn't sell!
Andy
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Andy, try german ebay (www.ebay.de)
Difficult to understand but in my experience the prices are cheaper than the UK and most will ship to the UK for a reasonable charge.
Dave
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i think the german tuv rules will preclude fitting an xbr whel to anything but an xbr and so on, so the market for spares is probably a bit more slow moving than here, where you can pretty much fit what you like to any bike, so long as it will pass an mot test!