Bst Carbon Fiber Wheels For Vfr 1200

[attachment=34828:1200 BST wheel set.bmp]

See attachment of image of the new BST wheels for the VFR 1200. I contacted BST in South Africa 3 months ago about their interest in making carbon fiber wheels for the VFR 1200. I got a e-mail with this attachment from Brock Davidson (Brocks Performance) the US distributor for BST wheels and a personal friend today.  We do not have details on wheel weight yet but typically in the size and load ratings for these wheels they will be be 40 to 60 percent lighter than the stock VFR 1200 wheels. Wheel sizes are front 3.5 X 17, rear 6 X 17.

The top image is of the VFR 1200 wheels. The bottom image is a close up of the beautiful carbon fiber finish on what is obviously not a VFR 1200 rear wheel.

good lord those are yummy. Can't imagine what kind of $$ they'd cost.

In the neighborhood of $3000 I expect. I see quite a few sets on Ducati 1199's at the Ducati shop that does dyno tuning for me. They look even better in person than in the pictures. I have ridden several bikes with stock wheels and then with the BST CF wheels. The difference in how a bike changes direction is really noticeable with the significantly lower gyroscopic effect the light wheels have when turning.  

Never did own a set and probably never will have the buckaroos for it.  I did read up on carbon fiber wheels and that while they appreciate the reduction in rotational inertia, the CF wheels weren't as rigid as they should, which introduced some road feel vagueness and handling quirks.  No idea if that's true or if it only applied to certain CF wheels.

I will say that light does make right for wheels.  I've had forged wheel on an '08 RSVR Factory and also the forged PVMs on the '13 S3R.  Having ridden the same bikes with heavier cast wheels, the differences are remarkable.  I would say for everyday riding, I appreciate the S3R's forged PVMs probably more than the Ohlins NIX30 and TTX36.

I rode a V-Max with with BST CF wheels and the difference was startling. 

Starling good or startling bad?

When I switched from stock to Marvic Magnesium wheels on my RC51, the ability to change direction got WAY easier.

Starling good or startling bad?

Good, the bike turned & handled like it was had lost 50 pounds. Brock has a simple demonstration of the difference lighter wheels have on handling he does at dealer shows. He has a stock ZX14 front wheel and a ZX14 CF BST front wheel mounted on  2 foot pieces of hollow tubing with a hand-grip on each end of both setups. He has you hold the stock wheel setup in front of you and spins the stock wheel and then tells you to turn the the spinning wheel on its axis. He then has you do the same test with the BST CF wheel. The difference in effort to turn the lighter CF wheel is quite noticeable.  Nothing new here, significantly lighter wheels will have the same effect on any motorcycle.  

Aren't they (BST) making these wheels for the new VFR1200 based Ariel bike as well?

Aren't they (BST) making these wheels for the new VFR1200 based Ariel bike as well?

 You would be correct as per  Ariel press release:

"Wheels are five and seven spoke alloy with the option of BST full carbon fibre and aluminium lightweight wheels made specifically for the Ace. The carbon wheels show a 50% weight saving over the alloy wheels and centralise weight due to the lighter rim, resulting in improved performance and handling."

[image: ariel-ace-bespoke-motorcycle-15.jpg]

richy170, Yes. :smile2:

at a price........   :goofy:

I have carbon Dymag CA5's on my RC51 which were fitted as a replacement for PVM forged rims, which weren't exactly heavy either. 
The difference was noticable within a few metres of riding. It's much easier to change direction and the bike feels a lot lighter. 

Aside from steering benefits, carbon wheels will also enable the bike to accelerate and brake better and the suspension to work better due to less centripetal force and unsprung mass.

If you're into power wheelies the carbon wheels also help with that too!

If you remember playing with small gyroscopes as I did when a kid, you'll know motorcycle wheels essentially act like two gyroscopes too, so the greater the rotating mass, the less they want to change direction, especially the faster they're spinning. Incidentally, this would also be another reason bike racers want narrow track brakes, since they also reduce rotational mass... 

I'd say the carbon wheels for me have made the greatest performance difference of all the modifications on the RC51 and that includes Ohlins forks & other suspension tuning plus a lot of other lightening work, brakes, etc.

If people like their VFR1200's enough, do consider these new BST wheels. You'll be amazed at the difference. Not only that, but they'd always be worth a lot. So when you sell the bike, you can sell the wheels seperately and get much of the outlay back. 

[url=http://smg.photobucket.com/user/Miguel-Newera/media/VTR%20SP2/DSC_1668_zpsee288134.jpg.html][image: DSC_1668_zpsee288134.jpg][/URL]

^

I

I

THAT

is hot! :-)

Anybody weighed the stock front and rear rims on a VFR 1200 (without tires or in the case of the front no tire or brake discs)??? In Brock's e-mail to me he said they didn't have a set to weigh on their certified scale yet but based on sizes and load rating he thought the rear would be around 8.4 pounds and the front 7.15 pounds.

Mohawk has BSTs on his 5th gen, (drool) --  :cool:

Aren't they (BST) making these wheels for the new VFR1200 based Ariel bike as well?

 You would be correct as per  Ariel press release:

"Wheels are five and seven spoke alloy with the option of BST full carbon fibre and aluminium lightweight wheels made specifically for the Ace. The carbon wheels show a 50% weight saving over the alloy wheels and centralise weight due to the lighter rim, resulting in improved performance and handling."

[image: ariel-ace-bespoke-motorcycle-15.jpg]

Wow - I didnt realize that BST did a lug bolt design on one of their wheels.  - I didnt know if it could be done!  I was wondering if the single center nut style was the only way to pull it off. 

:cool:

That's not a bad price. Speak to Larry at PDQ, he may be cheaper still. 

Do you know if this is only for the 5 stud 1200 VFR pattern, or to fit the new 4 stud VFR 800 too?

These are waay cool for the track, but are they really strong enough for day-to-day riding? How would they deal with potholes, railroad tracks, curbs, wayward chunks of whatever?

Are they really safe under real world conditions? Just curious.

They'll be fine for day-to-day riding. More than strong enough. There's a lot of videos on Youtube but here's one with TUV testing. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NSPFLYcljgI

Anybody weighed the stock front and rear rims on a VFR 1200 (without tires or in the case of the front no tire or brake discs)??? In Brock's e-mail to me he said they didn't have a set to weigh on their certified scale yet but based on sizes and load rating he thought the rear would be around 8.4 pounds and the front 7.15 pounds.

Carbon is usually a little bit lighter than magnesium, so I think those estimates on standard wheel weights will be off by quite a lot.

Last time I checked, IIRC Dymag's carbon wheels were 2.2kg front & 2.9kg (Incl. rear sprocket). That's 4.84lb front & 6.38lb rear.  

Dymag says their carbon wheels are typically around 40% lighter than OEM... 

They also recently announced they'll be making wheels for the VFR1200, so now there's even more choice. 

Not only are carbon fiber wheel lighter overall, their weight/mass is typically concentrated at the hub, where the CF is fused with (aluminum?) alloy hubs.  In contrast, the majority of the weight/mass on an alloy wheel is in the rim section.  1kg of mass in the hub will build far less rotating inertia than if that same 1kg is on the rim.  This is the main claim of fame for CF wheels.  That, and the fact that they loop drop-dead gorgeous on a bike.

Here's a good comparison of wheel weights (GSX-R wheels are probably lighter than VFR wheels).

[image: DymagCA5-vsBSTcompetition.jpg]

The price i was quoted was by Larry at PDQ1. When he fits them i will get him to way the stock wheels and the Dymag ones and then post the results. Should be around mid August.

The price i was quoted was by Larry at PDQ1. When he fits them i will get him to way the stock wheels and the Dymag ones and then post the results. Should be around mid August.

So, any news here?