I notice you said "& rubber overflow tube" for the EvoTech gas filler. Does the tube remain visible after installation, or is it hidden?

No the hose is under the ring and connects the inside filler neck to the overflow outlet hole in the bottom of the ring. This outlet flows through a steel tube under the gas tank and exits behind the tank where the rubber hoses would allow gasoline overflow or vapors to be expelled down by the LH foot peg. You see the three rubber tubes sticking down there on the LH side 1 gas, 2 water, 3 air box water.

If the rubber tube is included with the EvoTech you would just slip it down the overflow outlet where the rubber grommet on the OEM gas cap assy seals. Be careful you do not drop that grommet in the tank when you remove OEM gas cap assy. I have tutorials on all of this stuff. Usually pretty long winded but some good tips.

for someone like me who lives in a condo, where a lift in the parking space is not tolerated and its usage would violate condo rules.

I hate to take a 5 lb penalty after all the work and cost to take weight OFF, but lubing the chain, especially with those ridiculously large mufflers, is pretty darn slow when you do it on a side stand and can reach only a few inches at a time

And the center stand also makes getting the bike solidly raised and secured pretty easy as it apparently comes with a folding grab handle that mounts to the bike somewhere high up on the side. Much easier than lifting this heavy bike, safely, onto a rear stand.

An Abba stand is about as safe as it gets. I have a Hindl Engineering swing arm pivot stand and it is similar. The swing arm pivot stands are very safe because they are attached before you even lift. You do not need to bend way over to lift them and you never leave the side of the bike---they halfway hold the bike vertical by themselves--you just pull forward on the handle a bit and the bike stands vertically with little effort. I like Hindl but the Abba is better. Burst is another good one but then you need to have the adapter bolted to the bike with adds a few ounces. The Abba Skylift is the ultimate and if you plan to keep the bike a long time, it's well worth the cost.

Here is everything I have done tutorials on if you want to have a look. There are a lot of other good ones in the How-To section also.

http://zx14ninjaforum.com/messages.cfm?threadid=B2290E90-D56B-84E2-12EE7284B957F53F

Thanks for all of this, Rook. You are an incredibly experienced resource for the forum! :)

Jim G

Thanks. I'm just obsessed with my bikes over the last ten years and I like to share what I have discovered.

Jim, I have just added it up and thus far I have reduced my Gen1's fully faired weight by an indisputable 75 lbs, 0.10 oz. I can get to 100 with a some more work. I do not think there are any more lightweight parts I can put on other than Pro-Bolts but there are still some OEMs I can remove and a bunch of parts I can make out of aluminum.

I've probably added at least 15 lbs too but the weight reduction is pretty amazing if you ask me.

I will start a thread tomorrow showing pics of individual weight loss mods.

* Last updated by: Rook on 1/29/2019 @ 7:41 PM *

Rook, that is incredibly good! And your documenting it, with actual weights by part or assembly is VERY helpful, as it avoids the obvious exaggerations by some other ZX-14 owners looking for fraudulent fame.

For example, one claims that changing to a lighter seat took off "at least 10 lb", but I weighed my actual OEM seat on a digital postal scale accurate to some fraction of an ounce, and found that, including the cowl that covers the passenger portion, the whole thing weighs only 8.06 lb! So, I guess that owner found a seat filled with Helium! :)

I keep detailed weight reduction records on all my recent motorcycles, so that I can exchange info with other owners, so everyone benefits. I managed to get 44.5 lb off my 2017 Yamaha R3, which brought it to 299.8 lb before gas. (The OEM weight before fuel was 344.3 lb). Chuck Graves also equipped me with a prototype exhaust-intake-ECU tune lit that got me to 47 rwhp, and a 299.8 lb bike with 47 rwhp is pretty lively compared to stock, not only in acceleration, but in handling. I really value nimbleness in a motorcycle.

I have been googling "ZX-14R weight reduction" and the best individual effort i found was 81 lb, but that owner placed very few practical or cost limits on the project, and so included, as examples, a very lightweight but loud and costly exhaust, and a set of costly BST wheels with ceramic bearings.

My wife was very generous with letting me go wild on the Yamaha R3, including even a set of BST wheels, but on the ZX-14R, I just want to get the bike down to approximately the 500 to 520 lb range before fuel, so that:
- the bike will handle easier and quicker
- the bike will pick up a bit more linear acceleration (although even a stock ZX-14R produces more acceleration than the rear wheel can transmit successfully in 1st gear)
- the bike will be easier to move around at slow speeds and when walking it in the underground parking and especially in the car wash area (slippery floor!).

So far, here are the things I have done or ordered:

- Removed toolkit (1.32 lb), because I don't need the onboard kit, and the removal cost is $0.

- Graves slip-on carbon fiber mufflers (-23.6 lb), because I have 2 other graves exhausts on other bikes and love the way they remove weight, sound wonderful withOUT being "too loud", look terrific, and are very high build quality, and because I got a great deal on it that made the price per pound reduced very attractive.

- Driven rear 7075 sprocket -1.05 lb only, BUT it also reduces rotational moment of inertia of the rear wheel, and was relatively inexpensive in the esoteric pricing world of weight reduction.

- Firepower Featherweight (Lithium) battery 490-2524 HJTX14AH-FP-Q (2.0 lb versus 10.1 lb for the OEM battery = -8.1 lb) with CCA = 250 versus 200 for OEM< and smaller size (5.3125”L x 3”W x 5.2”H). This is the lightest Lithium battery I could find that still has higher CCA than OEM and weighs the least. And, I already have another Firepower battery on another bike so know they are reliable. I want betetr than OEM CCA in order to ensure fast starting and longer starter motor life.

- Replace rear fender, lic plate light, & lic mount with “Barbaren” one from Amazon.ca (I live in Canada)
OEM weight = 1 lb 13.7 oz = 1.86 lb
Barbaren weight = ?? but has to be pretty light because it is only a license plate holder plus LED light
Total weight saving = will see once i have the Barbaren kit in hand (The Amazon ad did not provide the weight)

- LATER, when need new tires:
Total weight of both OEM tires = 24.0 lb.
Pirelli Diablo Rosso Corsa Rear = 12.85 lb
Pirelli Diablo Rosso Corsa Front = 9.00 lb
Total for Pirelli tire set = 21.85 lb
Total weight saving = 2.15 lb

However . . .

I really wanted a center stand, that would be on the bike "fulltime", so bought the Kawasaki center stand, which added 5.06 lb, and I have not yet weighed the total of parts removed from the bike to mount it. But, it's obviously a big hit in the wrong direction.

I think the alloy side stands are "low cost" in terms of lb removed per dollar spent, BUT I don't know if I trust the unregulated and unreputed Chinese manufacturers of those side stands to make a stand that won't let breqk at some point and cause $$$$ of damage to the bike, so I have not yet convinced myself to buy one, even though there's probably a half pound saving there over the 1.16 lb oEM stand. Also, some of the sidestands do'nt allow retention of the side stand ignition cutoff safety feature, and I absolutely want that feature, and the ads don't say if the products offered support it or not (You find out when you do the install I guess :( ).

I am wondering if a Catalyst seat, which appears to have no seat padding at all, could be painted Kawasaki Black and equipped with a custom driver-only seat, and still come in lat less than the 8.06 lb of the OEM driver plus passenger seat and cowl assembly. What do you think?

So, I am at 36.20 lb actually or potentially removed so far, plus whatever the rear fender elimination will yield as a net reduction, and maybe 0.5 lb if I can allay my fears about the alloy side stand, but I ADDED something less than 5 lb with the center stand. So I'm currently at say 31.X lb reduction.

I don't want to get lighter front brake rotors because those Brembo rotors are REALLY GOOD brake rotors.

I could probably get a lighter rear brake rotor, and pick up as much as a 1 lb reduction (I got 0.9 lb off the little Yamaha R3 rear rotor).

I can't see any weight reduction potential with rearsets, as the OEM peg / gearshift / brake pedal assemblies look pretty light already.

Carbon fiber clip-on tubes MIGHT be possible, but I have tio take a much closer look at the OEM "clip-ons" to know how feasible that idea is.

The OEM signals are already lightweight and also basically "built into" the bodywork anyway.

BST carbon fiber wheels would save "only" a net total of 10.9 lb at most on the ZX-14R, and their cost, in Canadian dollars, is just too high for me.

So, looking for some more ideas, but I'm not into replacing steel brackets with alloy, etc. I have only very basic workshop access (I live in a condo ).

Jim G

To illustrate the difficulties encountered in getting GOOD product information , even from a product's vendor or manufacturer:

I emailed IOneMoto Sales, who sell the Catalyst seat, with 4 specific simple questions. Below is the reply I received:

Jim,

Body:
Concerning KAWASAKI ZX14 12-18' Drag Step Seat Product Code: ZX14DS12:

1. What does it weigh? (the actual part weight, not the shipping weight
We do not have an exact weight on the parts. It can very from part to part depending on the temperature of the weather. 4-6lbs

2. What height is the sitting surface to the pavement? (assume stock, not lowered ZX-14R)
This we will not have an answer for since we do not have a bike in here to be able to measure. Mike did not keep records like that for us to reference.

3. How does it mount to the AX-14R?
Use a large washer on the rear bolt mounts so the bolt doesn't pull through. It's best if the seat is braced behind the step.

4. Plastic or fiberglass material, or ?
We build all of our parts with fiberglass and an epoxy resin. This process makes our parts very strong and durable.

Cindy
1.772.388.9621
The home of SharkSkinz, TighTails and Catalyst.

Pretty disappointing. They in effect said:

- They don't have any idea how much our product weighs. They estimate 4 to 6 b, which is up to a 50% range!

- They don't know how much thicker or thinner their fiberglass seat is versus the OEM seat? This is an important measurement for me, as I would need to add a padded seat on top of the fiberglass to make the seat usable for "daily" versus dragstrip only use. The OEM seta height is already "high" for my 29" inseam, so knowing the height of the Catalyst seat is critical since I will need to add 1.5" to 2" for any sort of decent padded seat. They really have no idea at what height their seat mounts on the ZX-14R??

- In responding to my question on how it mounts, they simply repeated what the website says. That does NOT cover important stuff, like: Does it use the stock mounting points? Does it come with mounting hardware or do you need to fab your own? Is taking it on or off easy or a pain?

The only question of 4 that was actually answered was the 4th question (Fiberglass versus plastic). But even that answer raises another question: If the fiberglass is so much stronger than plastic, why is a "large" washer (i.e. fender washer)needed to prevent pullthrough?

Disappointing.

Jim G

* Last updated by: JimGnitecki on 1/30/2019 @ 9:07 AM *

On the other hand, SOME suppliers are wionderful. Here's an example email exchange:

Driven Racing 7075 aluminum 42 tooth sprocket for 2017 Kawasaki ZX-14R - weight?
To: julia@drivenracing.com

I have ordered a Driven Racing 7075 aluminum 42 tooth 530 pitch sprocket for my 2017 Kawasaki ZX-14R through a dealer here in Canada, for my ZX-14R weight reduction and moment of inertia reduction project. What is the weight of that sprocket? (The sprocket alone, without packaging)

James Gnitecki

The reply from Driven Racing, just hours later:

Hi James

the sprocket weights 1.15 pounds, which is 18.4 in ounces

hope that helps

Julia

Note that this is higher than Rook's 510 grams = 1.12 lb. That's because my 2017 ZX-14R takes a 42T sprocket versus his 41T. Note that the increase in weight is EXACTLY proportional to the number of teeth, in this case.

Jim G

I have been googling "ZX-14R weight reduction" and the best individual effort i found was 81 lb, but that owner placed very few practical or cost limits on the project, and so included, as examples, a very lightweight but loud and costly exhaust, and a set of costly BST wheels with ceramic bearings.

I think the alloy side stands are "low cost" in terms of lb removed per dollar spent, BUT I don't know if I trust the unregulated and unreputed Chinese manufacturers of those side stands ........Also, some of the sidestands do'nt allow retention of the side stand ignition cutoff safety feature, and I absolutely want that feature, and the ads don't say if the products offered support it or not (You find out when you do the install I guess :( ).

I am wondering if a Catalyst seat, which appears to have no seat padding at all, could be painted Kawasaki Black and equipped with a custom driver-only seat, and still come in lat less than the 8.06 lb of the OEM driver plus passenger seat and cowl assembly. What do you think?

I don't want to get lighter front brake rotors because those Brembo rotors are REALLY GOOD brake rotors.

I could probably get a lighter rear brake rotor, and pick up as much as a 1 lb reduction

I can't see any weight reduction potential with rearsets, as the OEM peg / gearshift / brake pedal assemblies look pretty light already.

Carbon fiber clip-on tubes MIGHT be possible, but I have tio take a much closer look at the OEM "clip-ons" to know how feasible that idea is.

The OEM signals are already lightweight and also basically "built into" the bodywork anyway.

BST carbon fiber wheels would save "only" a net total of 10.9 lb at most on the ZX-14R, and their cost, in Canadian dollars, is just too high for me.

Note that this is higher than Rook's 510 grams = 1.12 lb. That's because my 2017 ZX-14R takes a 42T sprocket versus his 41T. Note that the increase in weight is EXACTLY proportional to the number of teeth, in this case

If you mean the Vortex aluminum sprocket I have, that is a 45T.

* Last updated by: Rook on 1/30/2019 @ 5:06 PM *

check my new weight loss thread out

http://zx14ninjaforum.com/messages.cfm?threadid=4CC8D526-037F-5BE0-2867F1021EDC8385

There's apparently a Titanium exhaust, not sure who from though, that weighs under 6 lb total (headers, muffler, etc all included), but I think it is pretty LOUD!

I bought a complete carbon fiber handlebar from China on Amazon or eBay, got it in under 2 weeks, and it cost me under $100 Canadian = $75US! I have been running it on one of my bikes for a few months now. No issues. Insaenly lightweight.

Also, you can buy carbon fiber tubing in many sizes including the motorcycle standard of 22mm, in 1 foot or 3 foot lengths on eBay. Then cut it to the required length to replace the 2mm alloy tubes in common clip-on kits. The tubing is NOT expensive either. Just be sure to pay attention to the thickness of the tubing - some are too thin to br used as a clip-on, while others are more than robust enough. The weight saving over alloy tubes is BIG as a percentage.

The Gen 2 wheels ARE substantially lighter - about 3 lb lighter EACH than Gen 1!! Kawasaki made a big deal of that in the Gen 2 introduction. This is why the weight reduction with the BST wheels is only 11 lb for a Gen 2 ZX-14R. Heck, I got OVER 11 lb weight reduction in going to the BST wheels on my Yamaha R3, but that bike, being an inexpensive bike, had OEM wheels that were pretty heavy.

Apologies on the weight of your rear sprocket. I had 510g = 1.12 lb for the 41T. So your 45T weighs only 510g = 1.12 lb? That menas it is lighter than a Driven when comapring same size sprockets, since my 41T Driven weighs 1.15 lb, and weight of a sprocket seems to be approximately proportional to tooth count.

I have new data on the center stand:

While it is true that the center stand parts ADDED to the bike totaled to 5.06 lb, today I weighed the parts that came OFF to make room for the center stand. This includes the rearmost bottom fairing, the frame and hardware for that fairing, a separate black plastic piece, and some hardware. The total came to 1.54 lb! So the NET weight increase due to the Kawasaki center stand is only 5.06 - 1.54 = 3.52 lb. This seems liek a REALLY good tardeoff to get all that FULLTIME functionality (easy chain lubing, easier wheel removal, ability to rock the front wheel up bu putting someone on the passenger seat, etc).

I'm going to check out your new weight loss thread right now!

Jim G

Rook, there are interesting differences between Gwen 1 and Gen 2 bikes, beyond the wheels. For examples:

- My 2017 Canadian 14-R has the stainless steel front brake lines and clutch line like the 14-R Special Edition had. In fact, some of the Kawasaki tech literature calls my bike a "special".

- My tool kit has more parts than Gen 1 kits I guess, as it weighs 1.32 lb.

- The OEM battery in the 2017 Gen 2 is a 12V 12AH Furukawa FTX14-BS ( = Yuasa YTX14-BS) with 200 CCA, that weighs only 10.1 lb., so I can save only 8.1 lb by getting a 250 CCA Lithium battery.

I'll be following your Gen 1 thread closely. The really impressive thing about that thread is that many, or actually MOST, of the many individual items save only a few ounces each or even under one ounce, BUT you have identified so MANY of them that the total gets up over 1200 ounces = 75 lb!! For a bike that is still streetable, that is very impressive indeed!

Jim G

I forgot to mention something important about the battery.

The Firepower Featherweight 490-2524 HJTX14AH-FP-Q battery has FOUR terminals, versus two. One side has a set of positive and negative terminals with the positive terminal on the left,and the other side has a pair also, with the positive terminal on the right. This allows you to:

- Orient the battery for easiest installation and removal

- Attach your accessories feed (typically a Battery tender harness with SAE plug on the free end)to the second set of terminals, instead of to the same temrinals as the primary bike feeds. This ensures an optimal current feed to the starter motor.

Despite the 2 extra terminals, this battery is STILL only 2.0 lb, which makes it the lightest battery available that still delivers 250 CCA (50 more than the OEM battery).

Jim G

I contacted T-Rex. They say their aluminum sidestand weighs 12.8 ounces = 0.8 lb, which is only a 0.36 lb reduction from OEM, and their stand costs over $100 US.

By the way, their FIRST reply to my question on the weight was "0.11 lb". They corrected it to 12.8 ounces when I questioned the obvious typo. :)

But, it makes me wonder how accurate other supplier weights are . . .

Jim G

There's apparently a Titanium exhaust, not sure who from though, that weighs under 6 lb total (headers, muffler, etc all included), but I think it is pretty LOUD!

I bought a complete carbon fiber handlebar from China on Amazon or eBay, got it in under 2 weeks, and it cost me under $100 Canadian = $75US! I have been running it on one of my bikes for a few months now. No issues. Insaenly lightweight.

I would like to have anodized gold handlebars but I won't see a bit of them once I delete my control pods and shorten the bars as much as possible. I'll have to try some Chinese CF bars or that CF tube you mentioned.

Heck, I got OVER 11 lb weight reduction in going to the BST wheels on my Yamaha R3, but that bike, being an inexpensive bike, had OEM wheels that were pretty heavy.

LOL you should gave seen my old 1979 Yamaha DT-100's stock wheels. They were sheet metal. I destroyed them changing tires.

weight of a sprocket seems to be approximately proportional to tooth count.

The really impressive thing about that thread is that many, or actually MOST, of the many individual items save only a few ounces each or even under one ounce, BUT you have identified so MANY of them that the total gets up over 1200 ounces = 75 lb!!

The Firepower Featherweight 490-2524 HJTX14AH-FP-Q battery has FOUR terminals, versus two. One side has a set of positive and negative terminals with the positive terminal on the left,and the other side has a pair also, with the positive terminal on the right. This allows you to:
- Orient the battery for easiest installation and removal
- Attach your accessories feed (typically a Battery tender harness with SAE plug on the free end)to the second set of terminals, instead of to the same temrinals as the primary bike feeds. This ensures an optimal current feed to the starter motor.
Despite the 2 extra terminals, this battery is STILL only 2.0 lb, which makes it the lightest battery available that still delivers 250 CCA (50 more than the OEM battery).

By the way, their FIRST reply to my question on the weight was "0.11 lb". They corrected it to 12.8 ounces when I questioned the obvious typo. :)
But, it makes me wonder how accurate other supplier weights are . . .

* Last updated by: Rook on 1/31/2019 @ 2:02 PM *

Speaking of 1970s motorcycles and their sheetmetal wheels, during the late 1970s, I had a Kasawasaki 1000 LTD, which was a very special bike at that time. It came from the factory with cast aluminum wheels and a Jardine exhaust. Both features were firsts for the industry.

My dealer at the time was also pretty cool - he put a turbo onto his own Kawasaki 1000 and did donuts with it in his industrial mall parking lot and on the street after everyone in the other businesses had gone home for the day!

Jim G

Rook, I found that writeup of how a magazine project took 86 lb off a ZX-14. I THINK they used a 2012 model, as the project was reported in September 2012:

https://www.superstreetbike.com/2012-kawasaki-zx-14r-long-term-test-1#page-7

Here is the breakdown they provided:

Stock weight: 584.3 lbs.
Weight lost with Brock’s exhaust: 38.25 lbs.
Weight lost with BSTs: 10.92 lbs.
Weight lost with Shorai battery: 6.69 lbs.
Weight lost by removing stock parts: 30 lbs.
Total Weight Loss: 85.86 lbs.

Note that this was a DRAG bike project, so they took off a lot of stuff that is essential on a street bike. The big exhaust reduction was via a Brock's exhaust. Maybe a Sidewinder?

Jim G

I can see it. The headlights must weigh at least 5 lbs. I'm going after those and hopefully will be able to make some kind of light for daytime "legal" riding.

Amazon claims that the Voodoo after-header system weighs just 5.25 lb:

https://www.amazon.com/VooDoo-Industries-VEZX14L2B-Exhaust-Kawasaki/dp/B0088MK1BU

I don't know how much the OEM header weighs without the cat and mufflers.

But, I suspect that the minimalist nature of the Voodoo precludes both decent performance, AND any semblance of quietness . . .

There appears to be a good market supply of the discontinued Sato Racing exhaust out there including at Orient Express), which is supposedly quite light, but I have no idea how loud it might be. The only manufacturer I have found so far that shows any db readings for its exhausts is Graves:

https://www.gravesport.com/products/graves-motorsports-kawasaki-zx14r-carbon-fiber-cat-back-slip-on-exhaust.html

Brock's sells a piece that provides a "stop" for the Kawasaki center stand, and thus prevents damage to an aftermarket exhaust system, but I don't know if that piece works with any exhausts other than Brock's, so I don't want to buy it unless I find out somehow that it does work with non-Brock's systems.

https://brocksperformance.com/center-stand-stop-kit-for-use-w-zx-14-ct-series-exhaust/

The website ad includes a link to show where it mounts on the bike, but that does not tell me if it would clear non-Brock's exhaust systems.

Jim G

Carbon fiber exhaust system brackets:

https://japan.webike.net/products/21565596.html

NOTE! Cannot install passenger pegs or center stand if use these. But, I imagine they cut a lot of weight versus OEM brackets and even aftermarket metal brackets.

Jim G

Another lightweight wheel option:

https://motowheels.com/i-6922893-oz-motorbike-piega-forged-aluminum-rear-wheel-kawasaki-zx14-06-15.html

OZ Motorbike Piega Forged Aluminum Rear Wheel: Kawasaki ZX14 Rear: 12.85 lb
Wheel weights (lb) include: valve stems, axle spacers, brake rotor spacers and sprocket carriers as applicable.
But I wonder if it includes the bearings.

BST wheel is 10.65 plus 1.15 for steel bearings or 1.05 lb with ceramic bearings.

The OZ Piega rear wheel costs $1290 US, whereas the BST is close to $2k as I recall.

OZ Forged Magnesium Cattiva 6 Spoke DOT approved Wheelsset for the ZX14
Front Weight: 6.65lbs
Rear Weight: 10.1 lbs with cush drive

What does the OEM rear wheel weigh with bearings, valve stems, axle spacers, brake rotor spacers and sprocket carrier?

Jim G

* Last updated by: JimGnitecki on 2/1/2019 @ 7:54 PM *

I can't deny that aluminum wheels are the best bang for the buck but Oh for that last few pounds of rotating mass!! The rear BST RapidTek weighs 8.35 lbs and I assume that is with bearings, carriers, cush drive and valve stems!

What does the OEM rear wheel weigh with bearings, valve stems, axle spacers, brake rotor spacers and sprocket carrier?

I don't think the BST rear wheel is THAT light. I have seen multiple ads where it shows as;
Wheel: 10.65 lb
plus add Bearings: 1.05 ceramic or 1.15 steel
so 11.7 or 11.8 lb.

The front wheel is 5.65 lb plus 0.40 b for ceramic or 0.45 lb for steel bearings. So, 6.05 or 6.1 lb

The set of front and rear comes out, at best, with ceramic bearings (which adds a lot of cost, at 17.75 lb with ceramic bearings.

When you get into the actual detailed fine print, the weights are not the advertised "bare wheel" weights that some vendors improperly imply are the "total" weights.

I think the DRAG versions of BST wheels that are available is even heavier, as they have to take even larger loads, including the impact load of a front end coming back to the pavement after a wheelie (which routinely cracks OEM oilpans apparently - Brock strongly suggests low profile oilpans for dragracing). BST specifically requires those heavier BST wheels to be used in any dragracing.

This is why some of the metal wheel manufactures are pointing out that for SOME bikes, carbon fiber wheels don't give as much a percentage saving as on others. My little Yamaha R3's BST wheels were proportionately much better.

The reasons are LIKELY:

- Some bikes come with lighter more costly metal wheels as OEM equipment (e.g. some Ducatis, and the ZX-12 R 2nd generation), because either the OEM wheels were specially made for the OEM to be notably lighter (and costlier), or because the bike manufacturer is using Marchesini or OZ wheels as OEM equipment.

- Some bikes that generate bigtime torque, oir do so with explosive suddenness, need a stronger wheel to handle it, and in some of those cases, metal wheels can be almost as light as the carbon fiber wheels, once both material designs are made able to handle the peak loads that might be encountered.

Some of the lightest metal wheels have disadvantages in even a racing environment, but especially in a street environment, that make their use problematic or risky. For example, Magnesium wheels, once their protective finish is chipped, corrode very readily and pose a structural failure risk with time. In a street environment, where stone chips and pothole edges are an expected reality, this is a huge issue.

Jim G

* Last updated by: JimGnitecki on 2/3/2019 @ 3:07 PM *

I don't think the BST rear wheel is THAT light. I have seen multiple ads where it shows as;
Wheel: 10.65 lb
plus add Bearings: 1.05 ceramic or 1.15 steel
so 11.7 or 11.8 lb.

The RapidTek? It's the new design but I too am a bit cautious. I'm almost set to buy a set off of Brock and if he is lying, they go back. I will question them more about the exact weight and if it includes everything. The pic seems to show the RapidTek without the carrier but I think I asked about that already and was assured it comes with and everything was included in the weight but sprocket and rotors.

I won't pay out over 3k for a set of wheels and have them one oz heavier than the seller stated. They will need to sign some kind of promise to accept it back free of charge if there is any question or I'm not buying it. Way too expensive to be anything less than 100% satisfied.

I think the DRAG versions of BST wheels that are available is even heavier, as they have to take even larger loads, including the impact load of a front end coming back to the pavement after a wheelie

The RapidTeks have the highest static weight capacity along with a couple other BST designs.

* Last updated by: Rook on 2/3/2019 @ 5:54 PM *

Surely we would have heard screams from the sport bike public if Brock was advertising the weights of BST wheels incorrectly. I looked at these over 3 years ago and it was the same info he has today.