dt 125 wheels

[jpderv]

hi folks may be a strange question i dont know but ive been thinking about changing the wheels on my dt the ones that are on it look a bit tired and spindly just wondering if theres any wheels off any other model of bike fit the dt maybe some mag wheels would be a bit different or some wider spoked wheels.
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1st bike= skyjet 125 2nd bike= suzuki ts 50 x 3rd bike= peugeot speedfight 2 100cc 4th bike= suzuki katana 50cc 5th bike honda cg125 6th bike = yamaha dt125 r 7th bike honda rebel 125cc 8th bike hartford vr 125cc current bike = honda mtx 125

[Paddy Blake]

You would need to say what year/model DT you have.

[Teflon-Mike]

I cant remember what the rim widths are, but fairly sure that Yamaha selected them to mount 4.00x18 rear tyre and 2.75x21 front.
And those sizes have been pretty much carried over from the very early twin shock bikes that actually predate the DT badge through all the DT's since, bar the motard version, with 17" rims front and back.
They selected those sizes very carefuly and with good reason.
They are the size of standard 'control' tyres for competition trial bikes under FIM regs.....
they work very well, and going wider, probably wont offer any performance benefits
meanwhile, as an extremely common 'standard' the choice, availability & PRICE of tyres in those sizes is very very good....

Old addage... before asking why NOT, first ask Why SO...

And the reason is that those sizes are a very well tried, tested and proven 'optimum'.... choosing anything different is as likely to have as many dissadvantages as advantages.

As for the rims themselves..... Stock Yamaha rims are pretty robust.

They are a compromise between weight, strength and cost, as ever, but a pretty good one.

Rebuilding the wheels with alternative rims, the rebuilding is often the more significant cost, and its little extra, building one or two wheels to select more expensive components, say a stronger MX rim, or lighter trials rim, and perhaps longer lasting stainless spokes.... becouse unlike Yamaha you are only making one pair of wheels and the extra £20 or so isn't significant when spending £200 to have a pair of wheels rebuilt..... as it is when you are trying to make a profit, and making 2 million of the things, that extra £20 of component cost, that wouldn't justify a £20 increase in sticker price would be a loss of £20 million.....

Personally.... rebuilding DT wheels, and at some point, I intend to.... my DT being an antique one with steel rims.... I'll be having them rebuilt, probably with stronger grade but lighter than steel alloy rims.... but as its a £200 job... not one I'm in any hurry to do... and they will be stock, rim widths for 4.00x18 rear tyre, 2.75x21 front, to take Trials control tyres...

There being no benefit to going to a wider rim, especially with knoblies for the road.... more to be gained from going to a more road orientated tread patern tyre, or a sticker compound block tread.

For pure road work, going the whole hog, then you are talking motarding it, and going to 17" rims..... lacing them to DT hubs is doable, but again, still a £200 job......

More doable, would be to use standard DT motard rims, or as others did, before that bikes launch, mod to fit TZR125 wheels.....

Benefiots for the road, are MAINLY provided by the tread patern and compound of a 17" sports tyre over a knobly, and very LITTLE to do with the tyre size.... and TBH for a 100Kg, 17bhp road bike, anything much over a 3.25" or 90/ section tyre is probably 'over tyring'

Lore that suggests that fatter tyres are better, doesn't always work, and the wider tyres go, the greater the geometry changes at different angles of lean and sttitude due suspension movement etc become, while rolling resistance also tends to increase, while 'grip' doesn't increase in proportion to width.....

Benefit of extra contact patch deminished by it carrying less weight, and the size of the patch not offering the same amount of 'bite' into the surface, particularly on wetter slimier surfaces where the extra area means any fluid between road and rubber has further to travel to get out the way and provide good contact between road and rubber, and theres less pressure forcing it out of the way.

On a lightweight bike, a narrower tyre can work a lot better than a fat one. Its narrower section offers less rolling resistance, which is good for both economy and speed, and quite significant on a lower powered, light weight machine, while the smaller changes in geometry as the tyre is inclined to teh surface through leaning, or on road cambers or iregulatrites often means more predictable, progressive and 'stable' handling.

I REALLY am not a fan of over sized tyres... especially on a lightweight bike.

Ultimately, on a DT theres hundreds of possibilities,and options, and permutations, some depending on model, I think basically whether drum or disc braked....

But before making big change just for the sake of it with some 'idea' based on the fact that its possible, and what the rims look like asthetically, with little real understanding of what the rims and the tyres on them are doing... unlikely to achieve much real, useful gain.. very likely to make more problems and impose limitations needlessly...

As said, before asking why NOT... ask why SO...

Find a real problem that needs a solution, don't go looking for problem to fit with a suggested or 'solution'....
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