Carbon Fiber Wheel Update

cliffa said:
To be honest from a safety perspective alone they are worth the investment. Inner tubes deflate very quickly when punctured, as I'm sure plenty of folks on here have experienced in the past.

An alloy tank must be quite a bit lighter than the plastic version ;);)
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Now there's a thought! If I'm lucky, maybe my tank will start to bulge, or split, or something. Then I'd have no choice but to get the aluminum one, right?

Ken
 
lcrken said:
So, a final number for the weight question. The bare front spoked wheel, with tube, weighs 11 lbs. 4.6 oz. The bare rear, with sprocket mount, weighs 20 lbs. 5.6 oz.

The final weight saving for swapping to the CF wheels is 21 lbs. 10.4 oz. That's a significant amount off the unsprung weight. That takes my bike from 507 lbs. with full tank, down to just under 486 lbs.
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Sounds like money well spent to me.
 
I’m going to weigh my Dominator and Commando now and see the difference. 507 is ridiculous.
 
Scott, you already had a couple of answers on this in the Atlas post...

500lbs (give or take) is ridiculous... but it’s what it’ll be mate !
 
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Ken, 20lbs of weight saving is huge.

Unsprung weight too!

I’m very keen to hear your thoughts on how it effects handling and feel in the canyons.

The local R1 pilots had better watch out now eh...?!
 
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lcrken said:
Now there's a thought! If I'm lucky, maybe my tank will start to bulge, or split, or something. Then I'd have no choice but to get the aluminum one, right?

Ken
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Well, you’d have no other choice, would you?
 
Fast Eddie said:
Scott, you already had a couple of answers on this in the Atlas post...

500lbs (give or take) is ridiculous... but it’s what it’ll be mate !
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I understand but I’m curious as to what the Dominator weighs compared to the Commando. The Dominator has to be slightly lighter. Plus I have aluminum tanks. The Dominator has single rear shock, the megaphones are lighter than the catless, short mufflers. I also believe Kens is a sport, which has no carbon fiber pieces and his is a two up. My commando is a SF and single seat.
He definitely reduced unsprung weight, but he also has regular fork tubes. I know that doesn’t effect gross weight, but it does add a bit to the unsprung weight.
But as mentioned already, these bikes are not rockets.
 
Voodooo said:
I understand but I’m curious as to what the Dominator weighs compared to the Commando. The Dominator has to be slightly lighter. Plus I have aluminum tanks. The Dominator has single rear shock, the megaphones are lighter than the catless, short mufflers. I also believe Kens is a sport, which has no carbon fiber pieces and his is a two up. My commando is a SF and single seat.
He definitely reduced unsprung weight, but he also has regular fork tubes. I know that doesn’t effect gross weight, but it does add a bit to the unsprung weight.
But as mentioned already, these bikes are not rockets.
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It’s too bad that the Norton factory site no longer publishes their imaginary weights for the Commando and Dominator. Using such values, and knowing the actual Commando weight is around 500 lbs., one would be able to interpolate the approx. actual Dominator weight.

I would suggest, finding someone with two bathroom scales, place both on a level surface, and roll your bike’s wheels up on them, and take your measurements from the scales - and be prepared to be shocked.

No more guess work.

That’s what I did.
 
Fast Eddie said:
Ken, 20lbs of weight saving is huge.

Unsprung weight too!

I’m very keen to hear your thoughts on how it effects handling and feel in the canyons.

The local R1 pilots had better watch out now eh...?!
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I'm looking forward to seeing what the difference is. But we've been having winds at 25 -35 mph, with gusts to 40 mph, and worse in the canyons, for the last few days. Definitely not riding weather. They are seasonal winds we get every year, called Santa Anna winds, but this is one of the worst years on record. At the moment we're also on fire watch, with warnings that the power company plans to cut power to prevent fires started by downed power lines. Better to be working on the bikes for now, and planning rides for later:(

I think most of the local R1 riders need have little fear. They still have at least twice my horsepower in a lighter bike. I had an R1 for a while, and they are quite amazing. But those 300 lb. guys on 900 lb. Harleys better watch out.

Ken
 
What I find amazing is that a nice used Japanese sport bike can be bought for so little money . At least in the USA.
 
My Harley XR1200 weighs 579 lbs gassed and ready to ride (cycle world test). The 961 feels light when I ride it by comparison. However , the HD is a good handling bike and can really be hustled along . Also , it has good fuel economy if driven at reasonable speeds. For example my last ride steady 70 mph freeway gave me 52.7 mpg (XR1200). This ones a keeper too.
 
TonyA said:
My Harley XR1200 weighs 579 lbs gassed and ready to ride (cycle world test). The 961 feels light when I ride it by comparison. However , the HD is a good handling bike and can really be hustled along . Also , it has good fuel economy if driven at reasonable speeds. For example my last ride steady 70 mph freeway gave me 52.7 mpg (XR1200). This ones a keeper too.
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I was also attracted to the XR1200 as a fun street bike, but as I sneak up on 80 years of age, I've discovered that I need to be careful about the weight of bikes I ride. Not for problems while riding, but for pushing them around in parking and moving scenarios. I've already dropped the 961 once, and that was enough. The Triumph Street Triple R I just bought weighs 100 lbs. less than a 961 Commando, and I can really tell the difference. But I'm a Norton guy through and through, and plan to keep the 961, along with my older Nortons, but I am lightening it as much as I can without changing it's basic nature.

Ken
 
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I really like the XR1200. It was their nicest bike since the XLCR. What a shame Harley dropped them both.

I hear that the XR suffers from fuel tank issues as well, is that true?

Cheers,

cliffa.
 
Voodooo said:
I understand but I’m curious as to what the Dominator weighs compared to the Commando. The Dominator has to be slightly lighter. Plus I have aluminum tanks. The Dominator has single rear shock, the megaphones are lighter than the catless, short mufflers. I also believe Kens is a sport, which has no carbon fiber pieces and his is a two up. My commando is a SF and single seat.
He definitely reduced unsprung weight, but he also has regular fork tubes. I know that doesn’t effect gross weight, but it does add a bit to the unsprung weight.
But as mentioned already, these bikes are not rockets.
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Just weighted my Dominator SS.

110kg front and rear = 220kg or 485lb. Scales were 20mm high, so there might be a negligible difference due to the slight difference in level. Plus I was holding the bike upright.

Did it again with 20mm boards to keep it level and used the side stand.
Front 23.7kg
Rear 41.9kg
Side stand 150.3kg
Total of 215.9kg or 475.9lb

Full tank of fuel, oil etc.

Call it 217kg or 480lb and you wouldn’t be far wrong. About right compared to the Commando I’d have thought.
 
iwilson said:
Just weighted my Dominator SS.

110kg front and rear = 220kg or 485lb. Scales were 20mm high, so there might be a negligible difference due to the slight difference in level. Plus I was holding the bike upright.

Did it again with 20mm boards to keep it level and used the side stand.
Front 23.7kg
Rear 41.9kg
Side stand 150.3kg
Total of 215.9kg or 475.9lb

Full tank of fuel, oil etc.

Call it 217kg or 480lb and you wouldn’t be far wrong. About right compared to the Commando I’d have thought.
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What I never noticed before until the other day is, when I parked my Dominator Naked and Commando SF right next to each other, the differences between the two bikes is more that I thought.
For example, it’s obvious the frame, swing arm, air box, rear mudguard, tail and seat are all different.
But so are the fork tubes. They are a couple inches shorter on the Dominator than the SF.
I didn’t realize they used different forks between the clip on (Dominator / cafe racer) and upright sport / SF Bikes.

Does your bike have megaphones or shorty mufflers / cat pipes?
Aluminum tank?
 
SS spec. so Ali tank. Baffled megaphones so maybe a couple of pounds more than stock megaphones. Minus the idle control system and air/oil separator I’ve removed plus scale error I think 480 is about right for a Dommie with megaphones.
 
cliffa said:
I really like the XR1200. It was their nicest bike since the XLCR. What a shame Harley dropped them both.

I hear that the XR suffers from fuel tank issues as well, is that true?

Cheers,

cliffa.
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The XR tanks are not painted. They have a plastic cover that bolts on over the tank with the decals. This bike is going on 10 years old and i think its the original tank. But I am new to them so I haven't read that.
 
lcrken said:
I was also attracted to the XR1200 as a fun street bike, but as I sneak up on 80 years of age, I've discovered that I need to be careful about the weight of bikes I ride. Not for problems while riding, but for pushing them around in parking and moving scenarios. I've already dropped the 961 once, and that was enough. The Triumph Street Triple R I just bought weighs 100 lbs. less than a 961 Commando, and I can really tell the difference. But I'm a Norton guy through and through, and plan to keep the 961, along with my older Nortons, but I am lightening it as much as I can without changing it's basic nature.

Ken
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I'm with you on " Light bikes for the aged" Ken.
We also like to add some BHP , which really makes it fun.
It surprises me when older riders opt for a huge, heavy Grampa bike like a Goldwing, 900 lb Dynaglide Ultra or a 700 lb Yamaha FJR 1300, etc. Then the inevitable happens, it falls over while fueling up or at slow motion in a parking lot. Then they give up riding.
I'm doing all I reasonably can to keep my strength up, the bike weights low, and my own weight low . Aside from flab being unhealthy and messing up power to weight ratios, extra flab works against you in tip over situations. The flab becomes part of the bike weight that is going down.



Glen
 
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