A forum for owners of Yamaha TTR250 trail and enduro bikes!

nwrider · Veteran Member

Supermoto Conversion (Very Easy!) - alternative wheels - motard

KGB · Member

RE: wheels

domski1 · Senior Member

Are the purple / blue wheels on the older ttr the same fitting disc and wheel as the ones on my 05 ttr? I have been thinking about getting a second pair of wheels.

Cubber · Super Guru

I certainly hope the back wheel does, Adam.
I've got one for my 2000 TTR and I'm sure it fits.
The front will fit fit - but the speedo drive may need looking at. The purple wheeled speedo is a digital thingy whereas my 2000 is a cable drive.
Martyn

domski1 · Senior Member

Cubber wrote:
I certainly hope the back wheel does, Adam.
I've got one for my 2000 TTR and I'm sure it fits.
The front will fit fit - but the speedo drive may need looking at. The purple wheeled speedo is a digital thingy whereas my 2000 is a cable drive.
Martyn

Thanks martyn, I have seen a old ttr spares or repairs quite near me so I might keep an eye on it!

Punka Walla · Member

Supermoto Conversion (Very Easy!) - alternative wheels

domski1 · Senior Member

RE: Supermoto Conversion (Very Easy!)

Punka Walla · Member

I paid £180 on Ebay for the two wheels - the front one was BRAND NEW (RRP £320), complete with brake disc, for £80! I was lucky enough to get the two tyres donated by a friend, as they weren't good enough for his CCM R30! I spent a further £40 having the brake-caliper mounting plate and spacers made, but I recovered about £85 by selling the TTR wheels to domski1! I bought a new UFO front mudguard for £15 and recovered another few quid by selling the rear tyre which came on the DTX rim. The overall cost was about £140 .... so I am well-happy!

The tyres are Continental Escapes: 120/90-17 on the front and 140/70-17 on the rear. If anything, the front one is just a fraction too wide, as there is very little clearance between the forks. You may have noticed I've had to lift the gaiters out of the way! The rear tyre is just fine, but don't go too much wider than that! Actually, you could probably just about squeeze in a 150 wide, but it would be pretty close to the chain.

I have no idea about the gearing, other than it is unchanged from the ratio on the bike, as it was supplied to me (I used the same TTR rear sprocket on the DTX wheel). What I can tell you is that the effect of reducing the diameter of the rear wheel has been to gear the bike down by approximately 3%. Therefore, if you wanted to maintain the same gear ratio, you could go one or two teeth less on the rear sprocket. I didn't bother. As a result, the bike is slightly more responsive, but has a lower top-speed, as you might expect. The fuel economy seems to be unchanged, at about 24 kmpl (after correcting the figure to take account of the smaller wheel).

All in all, this was £140 very well spent. I'll be mainly using the bike on the road and it's made a BIG difference to the handling around bends. If feels much safer .... probably because it is safer! (especially in the wet!)

-- Edited by Punka Walla on Sunday 4th of September 2011 06:32:25 PM

Logi · Veteran Member

Nice job smile

Been fancying doing something similar, i like that idea better than getting my spare set of wheels respoked & new rims(much cheaper biggrin ) Do yu have a note of the spacer sizes you made up?

Punka Walla · Member

Front Wheel Spacers

22 O/D x 15 I/D x 10.0mm Long (Left / Brake Disc Side).

22 O/D x 15 I/D x 36.0mm Long (Right Side).

Brake Caliper Spacers (two required)

20 O/D x 10 I/D x 5mm Thick.

These fit between the fork leg and the replacement brake caliper mounting plate. You will also need two slightly longer bolts to mount this new plate. The size of the replacements is M10 x 1.25 (Metric Fine) x 45mm long.

-- Edited by Punka Walla on Sunday 4th of September 2011 12:26:27 PM

fwtian · Veteran Member

guys anyone know from which else bikes i can fit the wheels? Is it posible to fit bigger wheels? like 3,5 front and 4,25 or 4,5 rear?

Punka Walla · Member

Wider rims would certainly fit and I did indeed consider 3.5" front and 4.25" rear. However, I don't think there is anything "off-the-shelf" that would maybe bolt straight on, with the exception of perhaps Excel rims from an XT660X.

Other than that, you always have the option of having some 36-hole rims spoked onto a set of standard TTR hubs. That was going to be my original plan .... until I worked out the cost! If you want to go down that route, I got a quote from Central Wheel Components for £250 per wheel, plus another £40 for each hub to be epoxy coated.

http://www.central-wheel.co.uk/

So that's £580, plus tyres, PLUS the cost of a spare set of hubs if you don't want to cannibalise your standard wheels.

I guess the biggest advantage of doing it that way is they would bolt straight on!

(By the way, it's a waste of time contacting Talon for the hubs, as they don't do them for the TTR.)

-- Edited by Punka Walla on Sunday 11th of September 2011 09:34:38 AM

fwtian · Veteran Member

i am not looking for new cause they are too expensive.Also i have 4 ttr hubs :D. My plan was to keep tha same hubs and buy used wheels so i can take the rims. If i understand good ttr hubs have 36 hole right? so i must seek for used wheels with 36 holes...?!?

Punka Walla · Member

Correct. You wil find that most "standard" wheels have 36 spokes - especially Japanese ones .... but it's always worth checking to be sure, as some don't!

(If you buy the wheels on Ebay, you can normally count the spokes in the photo, if it's clear enough!)

fwtian · Veteran Member

punka you said that the dt125x rear wheel fitted as it was? you think the front wheel will fit also??

Punka Walla · Member

There is a very good chance that a DTX wheel will fit straight between the fork legs with no modifications whatsoever. Even if that is not the case, the important thing is the spindle / axle diameter. As long as it's 15mm, you can centre the wheel with just two correctly sized spacers.

Either way, you will still have to reposition the brake caliper - as I'm fairly sure that the disc is quite a bit larger on the DTX. Alternatively, it may be even easier to fit a larger caliper off a totally different bike, to give you slightly more stopping power. Both options would no doubt require a new caliper mounting plate.

Are you by any chance looking at this one?:-

yamaha dt125 dtx supermoto excel wheel front

(I considered this before I bought the XTX one!)

fwtian · Veteran Member

no no im not going to buy from ebay!i know a guy who search for enduro wheels for his dtx so i am thinking of buying his 17" wheels... But i want them only if they fit with not many modifications...

Punka Walla · Member

Just ask him to check the front axle size .... If it's 15mm, it's an easy job!

Good luck!

fwtian · Veteran Member

guyzz if the front rim is 3,5 and the rear 3,5 also is there any problem? Is it good? or worse?

Punka Walla · Member

It's all about balance.

The "optimum" wheel rim widths are determined by many factors, including the weight of the bike + rider, plus the position of the overall centre of gravity. Ultimately, the front wheel is narrower because the front tyre is narrower and that is normally because the weight distribution is towards the rear of the bike, so a larger rear tyre is needed to get the same pressure on the road at both ends.

If you put a relatively narrow tyre at the rear (where most of the weight is), then the bike will feel "light" at the front (i.e. it will tend to understeer - to use F1 terminology).

To try and visualise this, imagine how the bike might handle if you had a giant "ball-barrow" wheel fitted at the front! Basically, you would get zero grip and cornering would be almost impossible.

Having said all of this, if you put a much narrower tyre on the front, with a wider one on the same-sized rim at the rear, then that "ball-barrow" effect will of course be much reduced.

fwtian · Veteran Member

**** i bought the rims now. The front tyre is 120/70/17 and the rear 130/70/17 but it looks much bigger.... so i must put a bigger rear?? what size should i put to balance with the front?

Punka Walla · Member

It all depends how hard you are going to try and push your bike through corners! If, like me, you take it easy (!), then it really doesn't matter - You'll be fine with what you've got - espeially if they LOOK ok!

fwtian · Veteran Member

Supermoto Conversion (Very Easy!) - alternative wheels

fwtian · Veteran Member

i forgot to tell that the rims are from a kawasaki klx 250 and at monday im going to take out the hubs and put mine so i can install the rimms :D

Punka Walla · Member

Supermoto Conversion (Very Easy!)

fwtian · Veteran Member

i have big plans for this bike :D front fender of course,rear fender,socks,front light, exhaust :D

i hope on tuesday the wheels will be ready so i can post a photo!

fwtian · Veteran Member

Supermoto Conversion (Very Easy!) - alternative wheels

fwtian · Veteran Member

RE: Supermoto Conversion (Very Easy!)

fwtian · Veteran Member

Thanks! Punka yes change the seat cover! The first thing i did when i bought the bike was to paint the frame and change the cover!!! The bike looks much much better!

Punka Walla · Member

Luckily, mine already had the black frame (epoxy-coated) when I bought it - Someone else clearly had much more sense than Yamaha ever did! The present seat cover almost makes me puke every time I look at it!

Actually, I'm waiting to find a Raid tank and seat, before tarting the bike up a bit. I would like the extra range the bigger tank gives, but I've also been told the Raid seat is more comfortable.

I must admit, your alloy rims suit the bike much better than my black ones. I might go down that route myself at some point in the future.

fwtian · Veteran Member

i had the same problem when i was looking at the purple rims!!!i was a bit ashamed to move with the bike :P

The raid seat looks more confortable indeed.But personally i dont like the raid tank. Basically i dont like even my tank...i have plans to fit some radiator shrouds with some way!!

I was looking for black rims but i couldnt wait and i bought these! The black looks great also dont try to paint them because the paint wont last long.You must go to a shop that they paint with specific paint for alouminium..Its expensive... Except if you want us to trade them :P

fwtian · Veteran Member

Guyz the TTR measures the bikes speed from the front sprocket right?The speedometer must work as accurate as it was with the enduro wheels?

Punka Walla · Member

No, the speedometer reading is affected by the diameter of the rear wheel (which is geared to the front sprocket, of course).

To illustrate this argument, consider a hypothetical bike having a rear wheel the size of a 10p piece: With the small wheel rotating at the same speed as the normal enduro wheel, both bikes would register the same speed as each other, yet the "10p" bike would be barely moving. Hence, it is easy to see that the more you reduce the rear wheel diameter, the more the speedometer over-reads.

As I stated further up this page, you can eliminate this effect by fitting a rear sprocket which is slightly smaller by the same degree as the new wheel (approximately 3% for a Supermoto wheel and tyre). This equates to somewhere between one and two teeth reduction on the rear sprocket, so take your pick.

As also stated above .... I couldn't be arsed!

bozz · Veteran Member

Punka Walla,

I note in your original post that you might have had some spare caliper brackets made up. Do you have one for sale I could buy.

I have the blue tank model and am looking at getting supermoto wheels so I can interchange.

I do a lot of trail riding, but also use the TTR for commuting so the ability to change wheels is appealing.

There are plenty of Xr125r wheels on ebay(I've been quoted £75 for a wheel including disc), but not many dt125x rears.

Bozz

Valkman · Member

Hi Matt,

What size wheels are on your TTR?

Matt G · Veteran Member

Hi Valkman,

They are both 18 inch wheels. It is a Pirelli Sport Demon. I have two sets of rims. The other set have 100% dirt tyres. The front rim was built up from a local company.

Matt

TTRfan · Super Guru

I think that a black seat cover and black gaiters can make a lot of difference to the white TTRs. It's a lot of work to change the colour of the frame and the wheels though. I quite like the purple rims anyway wink

Here is one of my refurbs from last year on that theme:

Brian

mww916 · Veteran Member

Matt - I gather the rear is just a standard TTR rim. Who did the front 18in. rim for you as it looks great. Do you swap discs each time, or have you a complete set of both dirt and road setups.

pedrosan · Senior Member

Really like the black frame, black details and black seat. I have just got a black rear sprocket and painted the side stand black, and am thinking it could be the start of a theme throughout the bike smile

Really glad you got the purple rims changed as well.

Matt G · Veteran Member

Hi Mww916.

That is correct. I brought 2 spare wheels all made up so I just have to swap the wheels over after work on a Friday night and go trail riding over the weekend. I have 100% dirt tyres on the other wheels. The rear rim is standard with a Pirelli Sport Demon on the back. The front rim was made up at http://www.spoked-wheels-brisbane.com.au/ in Brisbane. It has a Bridgestone Battlax BT-45 that is starting to scallop so I will change that soon to a Pirelli as well. At 100km/h the bike is very smooth on the road and I only have 13mm left to go and the chicken strips will be gone for good. I think Brian's bike looks very smart.

crazychef · Newbie

supermoto ttr250

domski1 · Senior Member

What's the point of a Supermoto ??

BM Steve · Guru

OK, A question for Supermoto owners, I saw a WR250 today that had been Supermoto'd and it got me thinking what is the point of it ??

Please shine some light here thanks

This is what I think:

They are dirt bikes, not road bikes, why not just buy a road bike ?
They are too tall
Brakes are crap compared to road bikes
No fairings or windshields
Dim Single headlights
Suspension not suited to road conditions
Narrow seats not suited to long trips

Now any Supermoto owners please chip in here and let me know why you would want to do it

Cheers
BMSteve

smile smile

barra8 · Guru

BM Steve wrote:
OK, A question for Supermoto owners, I saw a WR250 today that had been Supermoto'd and it got me thinking what is the point of it ??
Please shine some light here thanks
This is what I think:
They are dirt bikes, not road bikes, why not just buy a road bike ?
They are too tall
Brakes are crap compared to road bikes
No fairings or windshields
Dim Single headlights
Suspension not suited to road conditions
Narrow seats not suited to long trips
Now any Supermoto owners please chip in here and let me know why you would want to do it

Cheers
BMSteve

I'm with ya there Steve smile What a waste of a good dirt bike that's what i think biggrin

Not sure why anyone would do this but i guess the advantages would be.

Better handling?

Reduced road noise

Not having to replace tires as much

Because they think it looks good but really it only makes it look cr#p biggrin

Who knows confuse confuse confuse confuse biggrin

............................................

Jarrah.

Cubber · Super Guru

The best answer I've come across is:-

"Think of them as a jeep, ground clearance and all, that handles like a Corvette."

I discovered this HERE after putting the thread title into Google.

Although I can appreciate a Supermoto I think I fall into the category of those who think, "What's the point?". confuse

I have ample bikes for my enjoyment of all aspects of motorcycling and don't think I want another bike that replaces a Jeep with a Corvette.

Martyn

barra8 · Guru

I think you mean http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0teLUBsMMw0

.........................

Jarrah.

TDVT · Senior Member

Include me among those who don't get them either. I've had been away from motorcycles until I bought my TTR & didn't know what a "supermoto" was until I googled it. I have to think it's a generational thing & has to do more with appearances than anything else. I can see where they'd be some fun but a street bike is SO much better suited for the road supermotos seem like a novelty to me.

I think about the generational thing looking for riding gear as nearly everything is so overladen with advertising graphics (for the manufacturer) that it a real chore to find something plain. BUT... I would guess it appeals to the masses & that's why there's so much of it.

The same people actually pay REAL money for the energy-drink graphics packages for their bikes.

In the meantime I am happily in the minority.

BM Steve · Guru

domski1 wrote:
http://youtu.be/0teLUBsMMw0

Just watched this video, I have a wr250x which is ideal for commuting to work, good on fuel, handles well on the road, high up road position for seeing past cars and most importantly FUN! I would not do as in the video link by the way, that's perhaps the darker side of supermoto???

-- Edited by domski1 on Tuesday 9th of October 2012 06:22:54 PM

Now I get it, it's not a replacement for a road bike, it's a bike that does things a road bike hasn't a hope in hell of doing

as long as you aren't interestred in the things a road bike does best.

So I'm not of the opinion "Whats the point" confuse any more, It's the fun factor in them.

If I lived in the city this would be my fun factor I think.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=kRwXAkjC850&feature=endscreen

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9YR33GxvaGc

biggrin biggrin

mww916 · Veteran Member

A good question. If you havent tried road tyres on the standard rims, try it before going through the expense and hassle of 17" rims. I am now couriering in Sydney on the TTR - Bridgestone Battlax 21" 90/90 and 18" 110/90 road tyres have just replaced the D606's These handle just fine for mine, and I am cornering so far over that I am having a heap of fun. However - and I would like some advice - twice a year I will be dirt riding..... What tyres should I swap over to? The D606's for all round dirt riding? What is everyone else on?

BM Steve · Guru

I run 606's front and rear, a good all rounder, smooth ride due to closely spaced knobs

Note, they are not motocross tyres

The front will wash out if you get to agressive in sandy stuff

The rear seems pretty well planted

I'm happy with them

biggrin