http://www.brocksperformance.com/Kawasaki-ZX-14+C113.aspx

If I were a crazy mofo and bought theese for a 14R, what kind of suspension changes would I have to make? I weigh 160 and carry up to 25 lbs of stuff with me.

* Last updated by: Auron on 4/20/2012 @ 12:03 PM *

None whatsoever. CF is supposed to be stronger than steel. ..they say----

That's $4000 he's bouncing on the cement there.

If you just have to have CF, it will cost you. BSTs are the lightest wheel out there but there is one alternative worth considering because it is a lot cheaper and almost as light.

If you choose to buy Tri Rs, 58cycle will give you best deal. You have to request their best price by email. It was al lot less than what you see advertised. You do need to wait several weeks.

pics on p3 and 4
Should I do it?

All I care about is weight. Don't care about carbon, what are the options?

* Last updated by: Auron on 4/20/2012 @ 12:20 PM *

Marchessini (-1 spelling) cast magnesium are virtually the same weight, and more expensive. Cast, not the forged ones.

You'd probably have to special order them. I find those nicer looking than carbon fiber.

If Marcessini (yeah Priv... i have no idea either) has their own R&D dept i would ask to speak to their metallurgist and ask aboot "fracture toughness"
and what values they have recorded versus other popular wheel construction materials.

Ask about "cyclical fatigue life" test results... if they say "pardon me" or "can you spell that"... be skeptical.
I understand this a reputable company worthy of some trust at face value... but im not wild about magsneezeium where it will
be subjected to shock loads.

Ride through Pa and experience my roads... you'll understand.

Ive seen published micrographs of carbon fiber material and its very easy to understand how it arrests crack propagation.

* Last updated by: hagrid on 4/20/2012 @ 6:11 PM *

this is the first I have ever heard of any wheel being lighter than BSTs.

Best bang for the buck is Carrazeria Tri Rs. Refer to my message above.

Exact comparison of wheel weight becomes a very allusive thing considering
rotors
bearings
carriers
spacers
valve stems
any part of the wheel that can be changed out for a lighter piece must be left out.

other problems arise because one wheel may have a part that can be changed where others do not. Now throw in the fact that BSTs and perhaps other wheels are made in different widths and there is more than one that can fit your bike???? See what I mean?

I'm not here to BS anyone Auron. I weighed my Tri Rs and they are roughly each one pound heavier than Shane's at Bikeland BSTs. If you don't know who Shane is, he has a ZX-14 build thread that has become an industry standard for modding the Gen1 14. He is highly trustworthy.

cf wheels $4000 and only adds 3Hp on the dyno. of course brocks even admits thats not where your going to notice the wheels

* Last updated by: scottjkyl on 4/21/2012 @ 10:19 AM *

Asked lots of questions on the performance enhancement of lightweight wheels. The answers I got from those who actually measure the gain by the clock told me wheels are a poor investment. There is a gain of a couple hundredths/second and a mph faster trap speed in the 1/4 mile. If you are ding this for speed, you are paying $1000-$2000/.01 seconds. You will not know the dif and unless you become a serious drag racer. Some real fast racers stick to stock wheels.

http://www.bikeland.org/board/viewthread.php?FID=27&TID=63115

They do say the the lightweight wheels are good for handling improvement. One owner said it was improved at high speed but low speed the bike felt a bit less stable with lightweight wheels.

Another issue is how to get tires on $2000-$4000 rims. Will you trust any shop to do it? Not me. I already asked the Ducati shop and they said, "done by machine, no guarantee," which is the same as saying, "yes, we are going to scratch your wheels because we don't have time to take proper care of your property." I have my Tri Rs sitting here. I am going to have to learn to do tire mounting myself. When I get them on, I can let you know how they handle.

I feel like we may be talking about 2 different things. In reguard to cornering performance, the difference mathamatically is enormous. I have no reference, but someone I trust completely told me a valve cap weighs something you wouldn't believe at 60 mph. Dropping even a pound or two is noticable let alone 10-15lbs.

* Last updated by: Auron on 4/21/2012 @ 7:00 PM *

hagrid, I should be able to spell "Marcessini" and am too lazy to look it up. :)

I had a set of cast magnesium ones on my ZX11, and they radically improved the handling of the bike due to reducing unsprung mass.

And I knew they could fracture, but I rode that bike from the north coast of Holland all the way to the south coast of France, and over into Germany and Italy and Spain along the way, and lots in the Alps, and the wheels did just fine.

At one point, heading north from the coast in France, I had just got off the N106 and came to raised railroad crossing which I misjudged (it dropped off on the other side more than it rose on the side I could see) and I ended up catching a little bit of air. And almost slid into a Mercedes which had stopped because it was a one lane crossing, and I didn't get steering back until almost too late.

That didn't phase them either.

@Priv: i know you wouldnt recommend them if you had a bad experience or had even heard of someone having trouble ;)

The downside of practicing metallography is you start becoming very suspicious when engineers whittle away at the material.
My job is to be pessimistic and critical... the metallurgists job is to tell me to STFU... the engineers job is to constantly
ask me "can we ship it?"

I plan in putting over 50,000 miles on my 14R, does that mean carbon is the way to go? Can't say I'm interested in cracking magnesium or anything else less reliable than stock.

If it were me... just my IMHO as Grn14 puts it... i would get the carbon fiber.

Yea that sounds good, does anyone know total weight savings with just the wheels alone?

See link above

The BST's make the bike more flickable,I had them on my 07,just installed rosso corsa's on them,they will be going on my 2012

Any downsides? As in everyday usability?

They require a little more care,no solvents like kerosene or WD40 when cleaning,I use Motul clean and wax,If you keep them clean and use a good wax like crystal glow ,no problems.I also am very careful as to who I use to change my tires

The BST's make the bike more flickable,I had them on my 07,just installed rosso corsa's on them,they will be going on my 2012