Best/lightest aftermarket wheels for roadracing?

Looking to get a lighter set of wheels for my 2005 636. Bike primarily runs canyon roads but will probly see some trackdays as well. Wanting to lighten bike up as much as possible but im not for sure which wheels the racers on this forum are having the best luck with nowadays. So any opinions on whats the latest and greatest wheels to have would be appreciated as il probly purchase a set in the next week or two.

 

Shervin.

OH! Im sorry. I didn't realize this was the new racer forum. (but I had to keep my suggestion up there...just cuz. )

I'm bettin' you're gonna hear Marchesini more than anything else. There may be better alternatives but aftermarket wheels of any kind will be pricey...and, just an FYI, they'll take you out of SuperStock classes if you plan to race. Superbike classes they're okay.

 

Doesn't sound like you're racing. Just riding with the occasional track day. In that case, you could go carbon fiber. I have a set of BST's on my 1299S. These aren't legal in any race club that I'm aware of however. Also, they probably cost as much as the bike is worth.

 

I wouldn't trust Carbon on the street. Shock loading with all the street's imperfections? I've bent aftermarket wheels on the highway minding my own business.
It can be bad enough on a track to cause Carbon to fail. Don't know the brand but one incident in particular has been documented.

 

This is a tired, 10 year old argument.

 

I'm not limiting it to Carbon wheels. ANY aftermarket wheel of lighter construction is more susceptible to damage than stock wheels when subjected to the worst the street has to offer.

 

BSTs are trustworthy if you are the original purchaser! About $3500 all in for set.

 

That's not bad when you consider the price of forged magnesium.

My opinion about carbon or other "light" wheels still stands.
I've bent four rims, two each of both stock and aftermarket, by hittin' stuff and not going down - curb, brick, another bike and a frost-heaved like section of concrete highway. Only once was that on the track, inside righthand curb leading to the roller coaster at VIR, and that was with an OEM wheel. The concrete section snuck up on me at night, doin' about 70mph. That hit was quite severe and I'm confident in my opinion that a carbon wheel would not have survived w/o losing air due to cracking, if not outright failing, and creating a worse situation.
If it's just me that feels that way, I'm okay with that... Just sayin' it won't be me subjecting a $1500 wheel to conditions that could be the demise of $15000 worth of equipment, plus whatever happens to me. With other material-ed wheels, you've still compromised, what, a $1000 wheel?
As they say, YMMV.

 

BMW and Ducati feel that they're strong enough to be used as OEM wheels on their premier models. I'm cool with that.

 

Im not opposed to spending the money for carbon fiber wheels if they r tough enough to handle mountain roads like deals gap US129 and the snake US421 as i frequent these roads with occasional track day at like putnam park. My 636 is my favorite sportbike even though i own several others i will never sell this bike so i want a good set of wheels. I like the carozeria vtrack as the weights they list r very light but if carbon fiber BST wheels r ALOT lighter and still durable then i wouldnt mind going that route. Keep opinions coming though i need all the info i can get to make a sound decision.

 

The 2005-2006 636 is just my favorite sportbike. I just love the body lines of the bike and ive already spent a ton of money on it with penski suspension, gpr stabilizer, upgraded brakes racecut transmision, stm slipper and had gmd computrack adjust suspension for my weight. I dont ride sportbikes as much anymore as i usually ride my supermotos which is where i spend the majority of my bike building budget as i love the super lightweight bikes. But my love for my old 636 has got me wanting to lighten her up as much as i can. And id love more track time but i live in northeast KY and the nearest tracks r atleast 4hours away, but there r good curvy roads 10min away that my friends and i ride every week which is why i ride mostly mountain roads.

 

And you think lighter wheels will make you faster? On roads that have speed limits?

 

Another reason i still love my old 636 is like i said lightweight bikes r my favorite and for some reason sportbikes have gotten heavier over the years. My 636 is about as light as it gets by sportbike standards. The new 636 weighs over 20lbs more than mine. And my buddies new BMW s1000rr weighs 43lbs more than my bike. Ive done endless searches when i was considering purchasing a new sportbike a while back but i dont really care so much about the horsepower as i do the bike being lightweight and easy to throw around in the corners which is why i thought lighter wheels and a lighter battery and maybe a solo tail section would make my already light bike even easier to throw into the curves. I know it will never handle like my supermotos but i figure every little bit helps.

 

I question whether the "lighter" wheels offered by OEMs are the same ones if purchased from the wheel MFG.

I'm still of the opinion that aftermarket wheels are a risk on the street, only as it has to do with hittin' stuff. Shit happens. Risk assessments vary from owner to owner. I just happen to be one that thinks wheels on the street should not be pared down to race weight.
The aftermarket wheel I bent on the street was available in a race weight. I can only imagine what would have happened if I had those...total blowout at the least. There's no distinction these days between race weight or not, just material. Racing, you'd think you'd go for the lightest build. Taking that to the street? Not me, I want to get home in one piece.

 

My 1000 has magnesium Marchesinis on it, and I can feel a noticeable difference in side to side transitions and general direction changes when immediately comparing to the stockers. Over time you tend to acclimate to it and not think about so much.

With that said, my 600 with stock wheels still feels like it changes direction faster, I'm sure due to the less reciprocating mass in the engine. I mean if you want to sink $3-4K on a set of wheels on a bike that is worth about that same amount knock yourself out. I got the wheels on my 1000 2 years after I bought the bike brand new. I wouldn't sink the money into it now 12 years later.

 

The 1299 Superleggera comes with BST's. I have no clue what the Beamer uses.

 

They definitely don't look like typical BST weave or spoke configuration. I wonder if they're made in house?

 

I can tell you from the finishing on the inside of that wheel, that it's not a BST.

 

I guess I'll be the devils advocate. If you truly love a certain bike, who gives a shit if it's a worthy investment or not. You know whats a piss poor decision? Spending the amount of money that we do on motorcycles. Ain't none of this shit makes any fuckin' sense, but we sure love doing it.

You lose your ass buying a new motorcycle. You lose your ass building a race bike from a street bike. You lose your ass paying to have a motor built. Buying wheels worth as much as the bike doesn't make any damn sense either, but if you want to do it, do it.

Should you probably not spend that money and put it towards track days, schools, and racing? Yeah, you should. But if you have no desire to chase a championship or that other stuff, go for it.