1150 wheel fitment question

[poppou]

I've got a 97 R850R, no ABS, with the OEM 3-spoke wheels. I'm trying to find out if the 5-spoke alloy wheels from an R1150 series bike (again without ABS) will bolt on to my bike. If not a bolt-on, is it a *near* bolt-on? Has anyone had any experience with this swap?
I like the 5-spoke 1150 wheels, never was fond of the 3-spokes. Help a brother out, por favor.
Thanks in advance.
-Poppou

[CRazyCam]

Personally, I don't know the answer, but, IIRC, if you do a search on wheels, with an author of omg1010, you'll probably find what you are looking for.

regards,CrazyCam

[poppou]

Thanks, man, for the reply.
I did as you said and found a whole lot of headers for posts, some of which even had actual posts to read when you clicked on the links. But no joy on answering my question, as such.
I did find a photo of an earlier R1100R with the 5-spoke wheels, so I'll continue to research and hope that someone else will post with a definitive answer.
Cheers.
-Poppou

[MarkShelley]

I have 1150 alloys on my 1100GS and they were a straight fit I think. Your 850 has similar, but shorter forks so I think it will be straight forward.

[CRazyCam]

I had a look myself, and found, in a thread called "Photos of my R1100R", Oliver (omg1010) comments as follows:-

The K1200RS (the flying brick and not the new 4-cylinder!) rear wheel (5") fits the r1100r without any modification! Just plug-on! The front wheel is a different story. You need the wheel of the R1150R (not the one off a Rockster!), the ABS ring of the old R1100S, and new disc rotors dia 305 mm (either the rotors of the old R1100S or some aftermarket rotors - I took those available from Lucas) and the speedo drive of the R1150R. You also need to buy the appropriate fasteners from your dealer as this is special grade steel. Don't buy ordinary screws at your local toolshop! The the left disc-rotor fitting on the wheel 3.9 mm need to be milled away. This is because the ABS ring of the old R1100S (cast metal) is thicker than the ABS-ring of the R1150R (metal sheet). Next mount the disc rotors/ABS ring (loctite!) onto the wheel and your front wheel with the speedo drive to your front fork and you're done ... If you have a non-ABS oilhead it is a different story and more difficult ...

Given your R850R isn't ABS, I realise it doesn't directly help you, but it would appear not to be a simple bolt on job.

regards,CrazyCam

[poppou]

Wow. That's something to consider...quite a lot, actually.
When I switched over to BMW from Harley in '96 things were pretty simple. Airheads were as interchangeable, parts-wise, as Harley Big Twins, and K-whiners nearly so within its limited 11-year range of that time.
But BMW seems to have made a point of separating/defining/delineating models with as little commonality as they could possibly achieve.
Given the above, plus the fact that I like to customize things a bit more than paint jobs and overpriced "must-have" farkles pimped in the ON, I believe I'm about to (or have just now) hit the wall on this bike.
I love it, it's a great little ride, but I really don't need a project that is going to be adversarial by nature. I'm too old and on too limited a time budget. I paid my dues learning the ins and outs of another brand, I feel no inclination to do it all over again.
Methinks it's probably time to sell Katya.
Thanks to all for the info and helping me make up my mind, or what's left of it.
Grazzi,
Poppou

[CRazyCam]

Hi Poppou.

Sorry if my last post made you unhappy.

I'm in a similar position to you, maybe.

I'm getting on in years, next month I turn 66.

Strangely enough, my review of my current bikes left me deciding to stick with my R850R.

Yeah, it has 137 thousand kms on the odometer, and yeah, it hasn't got ferocious performance, but it is such a nice bike to ride.

I can ride twisties and enjoy it. OK, the Gixxers leave me for dead, but I still enjoy my ride.

I can carry my full size, reasonable wife on the back, and I am not limited to carrying 12 year old school girls, like, for instance, the Gixxers.

I can ride off for a week's trip, carrying said wife, and luggage, and cover 600 or 700 kilometre per day, quite comfortably.

I can even ride the BMW to the bottle-shop (liquor store?) and get a useful amount of beer back home.

Don't give up on the R850R unless you are really sure of what you want to get is really better.

regards,CrazyCam

[Bruce H]

I put the rear wheel from an 2002 RT on my wife's 1999 R1100R, direct fit, no modifications. The RT has a 17" rim and the original 1100R was an 18" rim. Better tire buy/cost is why I did it.

[jmckeown]

I too am curious about this for the from tire. Would love to throw a front off of a r1100s/r1150r, etc
Honestly I'd love to find a 3spoke to throw on. I'd like to get away from the cross-spoke 18" front

[captaincable]

Hi Poppou
I ride a 97 R850 and have had similar thoughts but the bike is still growing on me after a couple of years, I wish it had more power although as CrazyCam said it does everything I need ,I am not a big fan of the three spokes, although they are easy to maintain. At over 54k the engine purrs like its new , added new Hagon shocks at around a $1000 but could not justify $1800+ for Ohlins on a bike I got for $2500 and even then thought about that hard but am glad I did. The bike can sit for weeks during nasty weather (well nasty for our neck of the woods) and always starts right up.
The bike has never been a garage Queen but has always been serviced properly by myself ( with CycleRobs help ) and I remain in contact with P.O. and am sure it was always maintained and have records showing this.
Have one son second year college other son senior in H.S. so economics play a part as well.Having said all of that I really do like the bike overall and find it to be very versatile and reliable.
Ride Safe
Mike
P.S. I even hauled two bales of straw on the back of the bike last year which my neighbor commented " you really are Appalachcian American"