Behind the Bike
So, I thought I’d share the backstory of the bike I’m perched on. It started as a lockdown purchase and has become my experimental project.
Halfway through, it started looking like a café racer. Then, with the addition of dirt bike suspension, it was soon clear it was a street tracker. Since the standard setup in the wheel department for a street tracker is 19″ rims front and back, this gave me a challenge I duly accepted.
After quite a bit of back and forth with spoke gauge, length, and angle, I finally crafted a custom front wheel. The back wheel was pretty straightforward, as the swingarm and wheel were from a Suzuki RM 125, which is 19″ as standard.
The rear swingarm was then shortened to give it a more compact look, transforming the once Yamaha RXS 100 into something very different.
I chose matte black SM Pro rims, which look very smart with a stainless steel spoke setup. The hubs are standard, but I’m toying with the idea of ‘Cerakote’ finishing them.
One thing this project has shown me is that custom or new standard wheels really make any bike stand out from the crowd. Isn’t that the one thing most of us strive for?
Rory
Spoke Wheel Works
