Rear Wheels/tires, The End All Discussion

[dallasb]

There seems to be a lot of questions about rear wheel and tire sizes and fitment, here is the answers to all who inquire, please correct me if I make a mistake.

Rear wheel ID picture

vfrwheels.JPG

3rd Gen wheels, 90-93, the infamous 8-spoke

Size: 17"x5.5"

OE Tire: 170/60-17

Tire recommendations: 180/55-17 is the best handling tire you can put on a 5.5" rim, nothing else.

The 170 will not put as big of a rubber contact patch down when cornering hard. The 190 tire will be too big, not as stable handling in hard cornering.

Fitment: Will fit all VFR's 90-09 without any problems

Weight: 13.1 lbs

4th gen, 94-97

Size: 17"x5.0"

OE Tire: 170/60-17

Tire recommendations: 170/60-17 is recommended for the 5.0" rim, a 180 will work, but won't be as stable handling in hard cornering. Some may argue this, the 180 will work, but I think the 170 is a better choice.

Fitment: Will fit all VFR's 90-09 without any problems

Weight: approx 12 lbs, please confirm me this.

5th & 6th Gen, 98-01, 02-09

Size: 17"x5.5"

OE Tire: 180/55-17

Tire recommendations: 180/55-17 is the best handling tire you can put on a 5.5" rim, nothing else.

The 170 will not put as big of a rubber contact patch down when cornering hard. The 190 tire will be too big, not as stable handling in hard cornering.

Fitment: Interchangable between 98-09 no problem, and will fit 90-97 with notching modification to hub mounting surface.

The bolts for the brake rotor stick out instead of being flush, as shown in pic. This mod has been shown, use the search feature.

Weight: 13.1 lbs

vfrhubs.JPG

Edited March 12, 2009 by dallasb

[JZH]

A spacer would put your rear wheel off-center, but maybe not noticeably?

You might be able to use different bolts for the rotor, or turn them around--it's had to say without looking at the hub assembly.

But notching the RC46 wheel would also be a simple solution. Those wheels are not rare, and I don't think anyone will ever see the notches!

Ciao,

[Guest da9b20]

will a VFR400 rear wheel fit the 5th gen? not sure if i missed something. just looking

[JZH]

will a VFR400 rear wheel fit the 5th gen? not sure if i missed something. just looking

Well, if you really want to have a 4.5"x18 rear wheel that requires a lot of work to fit (i.e., new rear spindle), I'm sure it is possible!

Ciao,

[Guest ohlarikd]

I was going to ask about the RVF400RR, RC45, and RS250 wheels, but I can see now that they are mounted from the other side. Guess the hub on those bikes are completely different. Bummer, cause the RVF400 rim would be awesome. I like the straighter spokes that they have.

Derek

[JZH]

I was going to ask about the RVF400RR, RC45, and RS250 wheels, but I can see now that they are mounted from the other side. Guess the hub on those bikes are completely different. Bummer, cause the RVF400 rim would be awesome. I like the straighter spokes that they have.

Only the RS250 is "backwards"; the other Honda SSSA wheels can be made to fit, but it helps if you're an engineer with a fully equipped machine shop...

Ciao,

[Guest ajaxamog]

I saw the post asking about the OEM VFR wheel offset, I too am interested and wondering if it changed from generation to generation. I don't have any OEM wheel to measure. Initially I believed they wheels would have no offset at all but would be absolutely centered on the wheel, after giving it more thought it would not surprise me if they did actually have offset in the wheels and a counter offset built into the swingarm to null it out and place the wheel back to center. I'm only speculating and just suggesting the possibility of a positive or negative offset. I wish I had some to measure. I would so much appreciate if anyone could find and share it :-) thanks. Same kind of thoughts on the SSSA CB1000 wheels

[JZH]

They are not dead-on centre. In another thread on here somewhere I recounted measuring my NR750 rear wheel and an NC24 rear wheel, and despite being vastly different wheels (17" magnesium/unobtanium vs. mass-produced aluminum 18") they had the exact same offset (whatever it was).

Ciao,

[Guest DarkKnight]

Good info,,,

Edited August 13, 2012 by DarkKnight

[Auspanglish]

Front wheels from '98-'09 all the same.

ABS equipped VFR's model have an ABS sensor ring on the front brake disc on one side. You can still use it on non-ABS VFR's though; the ABS ring can be unbolted and removed, which has no affect on the braking of a non-ABS bike.

Thanks for the info.

FYI-You will need to use the axle spacers off your 5th gen. I did the opposite (5th gen front on a 6th gen) and noticed the spacers are different widths.

I do believe that they are just switched over, the left one on the 5th gen is the long one and the other way round on the 6th but they're actually the same one's, just placed the other way around... don't know I I explained that properly...

[Auspanglish]

I stand half corrected (although it would appear my note has been purged)...

I had stated that the 4th gen requires notches in the mating surface of the rim and this is true... but it would appear the 3rd gen rim has notches that serve the purpose (I thought it did not) and thus does not require machining, albeit the 5th/6th gen rim does not have said notches and does require machining.

3rd gen 8-spoker mating surface:

http://img811.imageshack.us/img811/2251/67142973.jpg

All clear now??

[skymon]

Auspanol, is that 8-spoke definitely off a 3rd gen? My 8-spoker mating surface looks slightly different that the one you showed . I don't know what year mine came off of (bought it second hand of course). Think there were different castings for different years?

[Dutchy]

3rd gen 1993 rim (marking inside one of the spokes)

Pre cleaning ;-)

[Dutchy]

An 8 spoker of a 1993, freshly powdercoated with a 180 PR2 weighs 11.7 kilo.

An OEM 4th gen wheel (1997) with a 170 PR2 weighs 11.9 kilo

[Mohawk]

You could always do this :)

http://www.vfrdiscussion.com/forum/index.php?app=core&module=search&do=search&fromMainBar=1

[apexandy]

An 8 spoker of a 1993, freshly powdercoated with a 180 PR2 weighs 11.7 kilo.

An OEM 4th gen wheel (1997) with a 170 PR2 weighs 11.9 kilo

Wait a minute Dutchy... you're saying the 8 spoker with the wider tire actually measured lighter??? Those tires and wheels is the exactly the same switch I did to my project and i thought it was the one thing that was making my bike heavier. Interesting...

[Dutchy]

I have put both on a scales so yes, the 8 spoker (blasted and powdercoated) is lighter. so unless OEM paint weighs a ton...... :-0

[The Phantom]

^ Tyres can vary in weight by a fair amount.

But it's interesting that the wheel with the physically smaller tyre weighed the most! (both tyres PR2).

I guess Honda over-engineered the 4th Gen wheel.

[BusyLittleShop]

I am wondering what the better solution would be:

1. use a spacer between my Gen 6 rear wheel and my Gen 3 SSA hub interface

2. Dremel the Gen 6 rear wheel mating surface to clear the exposed bolts coming out of the gen 3 hub

The short of it is that I want to swap rear wheels between my Gen 3 and Gen 6. The 8-spoker '93 wheel works great on the 2004. but, the reverse is not true. I would rather not hack up the 5-spoker rear wheel, however.

Suggestions?

I'd counter sink the hub and run the bolts on the other side...

[rc4six]

I've always loved the 8-spoke wheels since the RC, NR, NSR ... etc etc. It simply gave those Hondas a factory race look. It's the center-lock mounting that's icing on the cake. Many have done the conversion. Since I decided to keep the great all-around 6th gen VFR as my main steed, I decided to ice my cake and eat it too.

Here's the standard car-like 4-bolt mount 8-spoke wheel

Here's my center-lock conversion

BTW . . . here's my Hawk GT with the 8-spoke / center-lock conversion

Edited July 1, 2014 by rc4six

[Ultimatevfr]

Wow, nice

[MadScientist]

That hawk is really well done. If you ever feel like parting ways with it, hit me up on PM.

[Switchblade]

Still goin ! Good lookin Hawk ...

[rc4six]

Edited July 1, 2014 by rc4six

[Switchblade]

Great bike again ..

[MotormikeVFR]

That's the nicest Hawk I've ever seen. You'd have people standing in line if you ever decide to sell it. Most Hawks are pretty ratty by now. Your example makes me want to buy one and throw money at it!