wheels / hubs

TwentyThreeMX

TwentyThreeMX

PR Founding Father
So whos used which aftermarket rim/hub combos? Im thinking of going 2 different routes... Just pick up nice a60 or did dirstar ST-X and lace up some heavy duty spokes and anodized nipples to my stock hubs.. Lace them myself and have someone true them for me. That will be the least expensive, but then I can't recoup any $ by selling off my stock wheels.

Or 2... new wheel/hub set. You can get a set from DNA or Warp 9 real cheap, roughly 500. But I just don't think I can see myself doing that. I hear mixed reviews on them. I think a lot of what you read is what people "hear" though. I know for a fact they are heavier than stock, and I can't see paying $500 to make my bike heavier, whether I'd notice it or not. (prob not). Then there are companies like TCR who makes awesome custom hubs that accept OEM bearings/seals which is cool, RAD MFG, similar to TCR, or Talon or Kite (factory KTM uses kite, and i think they are the best looking but most pricey for sure)

Any of those nicer options are all on either side of a grand, depending on which wheel you choose, either standard dirt star or the lx-s or sx-s or a60/regular excel.. and then tcr for example has 3 different styles of hubs that very in price.

What all have you used in the past??? What kinda experiences you've had? I've always ran stock wheels. Had a set powder coated once, they held up OK but not great. I probably will not go that route again.
 
so sick, hard to not want this!!!

KiteRear_Orange.jpg
 
I've bought two different sets before. My first set that I had on my 520 were Excel Pro Series wheels. Excel rims, Excel hubs, I don't remember what kind spokes they had but I remember the nipples were a spline drive. I had no issues with these wheels. I don't know if they were heavier or not. Got them because I broke my stock hub. Then when I had my Honda and blew apart the front wheel I purchased some wheels from White Bros. They were the same setup as my Excel wheel sets except they had Talon hubs. These wheels also served me well.
 
I bought a set of Excel wheels with Talon hubs, I think bulldog spokes and spline drive nipples from KSR wheel. (www.ksrwheels.net) I think they may have been running a special at the time, but I thought the price was very resonable. Got them complete with tires, just had to bolt on sprockets and rotors. It seems like they can do just about anything you want as far as combinations of components.
 
Stacy,

Since you are riding a KTM, let Ebay be your friend for extra wheels for sure! KTM has used the same rear wheel spacing / axle size since 1998, so there are tons of rear wheels out there for you to use. The front wheel axle size has been the same since 2003, so you have plenty to choose from there as well. I've purchased many wheel sets off of Ebay for KTM's and used stock, Excel Pro Wheels, Talon Hubs, and others..... the billet hubs are much stronger than stock and I used to have problems with stock hubs on my 525's as I'm a rear brake dragger that turns power on at the same time coming out of a turn. Holding one side of the hub with a disc brake while torquing the other side with the chain of the 525, 540, or 576cc engine was a lot for a hub to do..... so the billet hubs were much better.

Rear wheel rim width is smaller for 125's, 144's, and 200's so you have to be clear on what you are buying them off of, but go that route for wheels and save some money.

Check this auction out:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/KTM-125-144...es&vxp=mtr&hash=item53df8db5c7#ht_4235wt_1156
 
good call on that Robin. THose wheels would scare me thoug. I don't think I'm going to be comfortable with any wheel that doesnt say excel or DID on the side of it. Too many bad stories of other wheels not holding up.

I'll definitely keep an eye out on ebay.
 
Just had two sets done last winter. Kept all stock hubs/rims anodized rims black, and powdercoated hubs gold. (I will sandblast everything good next time, The stripping process used by the anodizer (Akron Anodizing) wasn't strong enought to clean out all the nic and scratches.)

Bought Moose Spokes and have not had any problems.

Kevin Armitage at Revolution Wheel got me all tru'ed and ready to go within a week.
 
thats hard to beat on 2 full wheels.. they look nice. im also thinking that a lot of what people say is from a couple years ago. I would only have to assume that they have improved over time... but who knows.

im still very skeptical, but 15 / 17 sx wont lie. my theory is that if you keep up with spokes on any wheel they should hold up pretty well. still not sure what to do. thanks for the input!!!
 
I bought my 450 with warp9 wheels already on it. Though the wheels were a year old, they had never seen any dirt. The previous owner dumped money into a brand new bike to only ride it in shoes around his yard for 10 minutes after he had it remaped. I had the bike for 2 weeks and busted a few spokes in the front wheel. I called warp9 and with no hastle at all I shipped my tweaked wheel to them that had maybe 5 hours on it and they shippde me a whole brand new assembly. I have been riding on the new wheel since mid augast and not a single problem. I was very impressed with the customer service to say the least as they could of easily told me to pound salt as I had no proof that I infact purchased the wheels.
 
Do you want these for the cool factor ? I've never obliterated a stock wheel setup with stock spokes. Did you smash up some wheels recently ??

Even your parts bikes are min Cameron !!
 
dubya is the only importer of the kite hubs that factory ktm uses. they are super expensive though, retail is 1375 for both complete wheels

cool factor yes - need them - yes. i planned on getting a set of wheels over winter.. but then i wrecked and broke myself and everything on the bike. so i wasnt going to get wheels as i needed the $ to get it back in one piece as it was. well turns out my front wheel got quite a wobble to it now. i think coming up short on that huge table to table at malvern didn't help it, but I could have sworn it wasnt that bad. I think somehow my wreck at nemx didn't help it. Its pretty wobbly now. There's not a big flat spot or anything, I'm pretty sure I'll be able to straigten it out well enough that it will still be useable by someone. But in the back of my head I really want new ones for the cool factor anyways.. so im just ignoring the fact that i can prob straighten it out, until I get new cool ones lol.

the stock wheels/hubs are light as it is. I can't see geting cheaper wheels like the DNA's that I know will add weight. If thats the case I should have got the stainless or aluminum exhaust, and not a carbon fiber one, cuz who cares at taht point.

so idk. im very indecisive. either way, something fancy looking will be on there by spring time. probably be the last new bike i buy for a while, might as well do it up nicely.
 
damn...i didn't realize those wheels from dubya were that expensive.. you could buy 2 sets of DNAs for that price. my opinion would be if it were me personally i don't think i would be riding on a wheel that i had to straighten out cuz you know its prolly just gona create a weak spot and bend right back after a few rough landings.... but you gotta do whatever it takes to get it back out in the track..

how much more do you think the DNAs weigh? i wouldn't think that it would be that much more then any other wheels..

have you ever heard of g-force wheels? rocky mtn has a set for like 450 i believe..not sure if they're any good or not though?
 
Why don't you just respoke the wheels you got? I doubt you're gonna be flatlanding so much that you're gonna trash the hubs and wheels. Maybe all you need are the heavy duty spokes and a powder coat job.
 
i have to think with wheels/hubs its a "get what you pay for" kinda thing. i dont even need to respoke what i have. i just have to adjust them and try to fix the wobble. time consuming is all. im not worried about trashing the hubs. I don't think ill powder coat wheels again. Changing tires eats them up quickly.
 
Stacy, you should look up lacing and tru'ing. Its very very easy. I've done all my wheels. From the KTM that I painted all up, to my KXF250. Every bike I've pulled them apart, i've re-assembled and trued in my basement with my axle clamped lightly in a vice. As far as bent rims go, just use a sharpie to find out where its out of line and pull it back. When I crushed my CR 250 wheels/hubs I did it with a dial indicator. It's not hard, i know your smart enough to accomplish the task. Just takes time and patience.
 
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