Carbon wheels have not been allowed in motorcycle racing in the UK for a number of years now. Fairly sure WSBK and MotoGP regulations also prohibit their use. Andy
I took your reference to ‘race bike’ literally I’m not aware of any UK track or track day organiser not allowing carbon or magnesium wheels. I ran Marchesini mag alloy wheels on my 853 and never got challenged. Andy
I've never ridden on carbon wheels before, but have had a couple of RSV4 Factory models (2010 and 2014) that come with lightweight wheels as stock. I do wonder what the 899 would ride like with lighter wheels.
The information I can find for 2021 through MSV and FIM homologation tables is the only BMW wheel homologated for racing is a forged aluminium. I’ll be watching BSB at Knock Hill over the weekend and will see if it is obvious or not but should be able to get a definitive answer middle of next week. Andy
@JamieW, done a bit more digging and found the FIM regulations which I’m sure will have influenced the BSB regs. Wheels from the homologation bike can be used BUT they have to be certified to JASO T 203-85 which is a Japanese Automotive standard. All after market wheels must be Aluminium alloy and wheels alloyed with Beryllium (>5%), Scandium (>2%) or Lithium (>1%) are prohibited unless they are on the homologated bike and meet the JASO standard. I’ll be interested to see what the factory BMW team in BSB use because there is a cost cap and carbon is not something you can easily do NDT on as they do on the aluminium wheels every so many kilometres. Also be interesting to see what the weight difference is between the OZ aluminium alloy race wheel which a lot of teams use and the BMW carbon wheel. Andy
@JamieW, https://www.msvracing.com/media/6215/g-5-26-bsb-v5.pdf. As I suspected very similar to the FIM SBK regulations but for BSB, paragraph 5.2.6.10.5 on page 15, “only wheels made from aluminium alloys are allowed”. Andy
If I ever need a researcher you're hired . Saw it in an interview a few months back. Been trying to find it to link it, but looks like they were wrong and subsequently so am I. I shall crawl back in my hole now. Enjoy knockhill.
When you are retired, like me, you have a little more time to dig a bit deeper. Google isn’t your friend if you cannot find the correct search phrase or word. As one or two on here will tell you, being an anorak, this is my bread and butter Andy
This might explain where the rumours came from. https://pressfrom.info/au/news/spor...rims-to-the-superbike-world-championship.html and again from pre season testing for this year Michael van der Mark got his first taste of the BMW S1000 RR machine as he took to the track for the first time with his new team, alongside Tom Sykes (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK team). The BMW team had a development plan that included a new engine and a new gearbox, different chassis stiffness, carbon wheels and the aerodynamic package from the M1000 RR; the package scheduled to come in after the team clarified some data. https://www.worldsbk.com/en/news/20...atelli+work+with+new+teams+for+the+first+time
Had a decent ride out on these wheels yesterday, one of our regular routes over the Yorkshire Dales, …I continue to be mega impressed with them and the difference they have made to the feel of the bike Almost having to re learn how to ride it as when I’m shutting off for corners, the engine braking slows the bike down in less distance so I noticed I was slowing a bit short of some corners, the bike feels a lot more eager to go…but I’ve really noticed a big difference in ride comfort, on the route yesterday where I know there are some bumpy sections I just didn’t seem to notice half of the bumps yesterday , felt like the road had been resurfaced ( which it hadn’t ) that’s the benefit of a lot less unsprung weight I suppose, made the bike a lot nicer to ride. Not a small investment but I’m dead pleased with the results, wish I’d put them on years ago !
….Who cares!!…always found the 899 pretty economical considering how I ride it, normally around mid forties to the gallon on a Sunday thrash, reserve light pings on at 110 - 120 miles A couple of years ago when we were on tour I can remember cruising down a motorway in Belgium somewhere, on a nice warm day at a steady 80 ish mph, it was showing 63 mpg on the dash computer, I know they’re not that accurate but it’ll only be a few mpg off. The benefits of a small frontal area and good aerodynamics I think
On my ride back from Manchester with some throw-over panniers on I got 165 miles out of a tank, with a wee bit left in it. Bike running carbon wheels & Termi’s so a bit lighter than stock.
