Morris Rims

[vanzen]

My mistake.
6.5 - 7.5mm is a wheel offset spec.

[Chuey]

Um, the easiest solution would be to find and run stock wheels. We now know at least some of what's not so good about Morris wheels; what makes them so compelling?

Nobody said it's better. Nobody said it's easy.

It's different. It may have some qualities one is looking for. For some, the challenge is a really fun thing. Some may want Morris mags because they feel it will honor their old dead cat by that name. Maybe he had Morris mags on his BMX bike when he was a kid. (They did make BMX cast wheels.)

I had thought they were really light. They're not. Only a tiny bit lighter than the Lesters and a lot more work to adapt.

If we wanted easy, we'd buy R1100Ss.

Chuey

[Major Softie]

And the Magnesium wheels really are light.

Asking why someone would want these old, obsolete, motorcycle oddities is a difficult question to comprehend on this forum.

[Dazza62]

Looking into fitting the Morris rims as they look good (different) and I got them fairly cheap (so I thought) as had a badly buckled rear snowflake rim on the bike that needed replacing. But the offset has me concerned for sure and I don't think it's going to be worth the sorting out required. So might look into getting a pair of Lester rims or just get a replacement snow flake and be done with it.
I will weigh the Morris and the Lester and see if there's much difference between them.
Cheers

[khittner1]

Why ask "why?". There are some things on a motorcycle that, as a humble non-techy, I prefer to be able to assume are good/adequate to their complex tasks, and wheels that spin in correct relationship to each other are among them. I don't reverently bow to everything that comes from the hand of BMW as the only way things can or should be done, but most of what they've made works pretty well, and when it hasn't (like w/early snowflakes) the organization is robust enough to recognize problems and respond with effective solutions. Tastes vary, and slavish conformity to OE stockness is not required. "Better & cheaper" is a well-known and sometimes well-regarded airhead virtue, but motorcycle wheel fitment wouldn't be where I'd go to demonstrate creative adaptation.

[chasbmw]

Spoked wheels are a whole lot lighter than snowflakes

[vanzen]

Yes, a spoked wheel (vs 1st gen cast wheel)
will be lighter - less unsprung mass.
This will be a desirable road-handling trait,
but judging the performance of a wheel
based upon this single characteristic
Is both simplistic & naive.
Varied & complex forces act upon a mc wheel.
The sum-total of a wheel's responses to ALL of these forces
defines it's road- handling performance.
There are valid reasons as to why
spoked wheels are no longer fitted onto performance road motorcycles.
A cast wheel (vs spoked wheel)
has very real & tangible road-handling benefits.

[chasbmw]

Vanzen,

The problem with snowflake wheels is that they are 1st generation cast wheels, and as such are very much heavier than the cast wheels you might find today. BMW spoked wheels are pretty good and in my experiance of battering them over various third world countrie's roads, they seem to hold their shape very well and don't break spokes unless very provoked.

My 1982 bike with snowflakes, feels much heavier than my 90/6, the 90/6 is more agile to ride, there does not seem to be a differance in stability, both bikes are fitted with 3.25 & 4.00 Michelin pilot actives

[vanzen]

Yes, spoked wheels would be my choice for "3rd world countries", too.
Obviously, where one rides & how one rides will be determining factors.

Riding predominantly on paved roads,
as is my reality,
the performance of an mc's wheels in those circumstances
serve to define both the needs & the rules of the game 4 me.

And still,
the lesser unsprung mass in no way guarantees better handling performance.

[ME 109]

As an abuser of snowflakes, may I say that they perform exceptionally well in covering just about all terrains for years and years.
Many people put motorcycling under a microscope and refine things to the enth degree and have the best of this and that.
They are the most fun to leave in a cloud of dust.