When will the V85 TT get Cast Wheels??

[lucky phil]

I'm with the King of the Fleecing ( )

Even if you seal em, you still have to check spoke tightness and potentially might need to true them eventually, you still might want to clean them (PIA).

Thing is I don't even prefer the look of the spokes.

So I would need a STRONG reason to settle for a bike that had one.

YMMV and all that, it's just a taste thing not a wrong or right thing.

Two questions. Do modern spoke wheels still need a tube? I also would be amazed if a modern spoke wheel still needs regular spoke tensioning, is this the actual case.
I'd just assumed both of these things would have been totally covered by now with better design and materials.

Ciao

[mobiker]

Two questions. Do modern spoke wheels still need a tube? I also would be amazed if a modern spoke wheel still needs regular spoke tensioning, is this the actual case.
I'd just assumed both of these things would have been totally covered by now with better design and materials.

Ciao

Some spoked wheels do not require tubes, but most of them still do. 

[Solorider73]

Not counting true dirt bike riding because flats happen more often, I've only had two flats in my road riding over 25 years.  One was on a Triumph Sprint ST in ~2005 the other was my new MG V85TT ADV a few months ago.  Two flats in 25 years, I'll take my chances with tubes or tubeless. 

I agree that if you are only riding asphalt or primarily clear fire roads, tubeless tires are the way to go.  Way easier to fix in a pinch.  However if you really ride off-road tubes are superior to tubeless.  I've been on two rides where bike rims hit rocks and bent the bead.  On a tubeless tire, there is no fix without a hammer or way to bend the rim.  With a tube you can ride on with a bent rim. 

I replaced a Suzuki DR650 with my MG V85TT ADV.  I didn't expect to ride the V85TT on anything but easy forrest service roads.  However, it has been on two off-road trips since I purchased it in Sept 2020.  I took it to Telico Plains TN and followed some 250 dual sports in areas where I probably didn't belong on a 500+ lb motorcycle.  The V85TT handled everything I threw at it which means it has way more capability than me.

As far as the 2021 V85TT is concerned, if it gets more low end without sacrificing top end capability and vibration then count me in.  If it sacrifices top end, then I'm not interested.  I think the current version splits the off-road and on-road capability pretty well.  I can ride it at 90 mph all day with very little vibration and can pass any car on the road. 

[Knuckle Dragger]

Of what use are cast wheels on a "tutto terrano" bike?

[twowheeladdict]

Of what use are cast wheels on a "tutto terrano" bike?

For someone that wants a comfortable bike with no pretense of being an “off-roader”.

Kawasaki Versys 650 and 1000.
Suzuki V-stroms before the latest “adventure “ iterations
Some of the Triumph Tiger models came with cast wheels

[Kev m]

Two questions. Do modern spoke wheels still need a tube? I also would be amazed if a modern spoke wheel still needs regular spoke tensioning, is this the actual case.
I'd just assumed both of these things would have been totally covered by now with better design and materials.

Ciao

I guess you would need to define "modern." Obviously there ARE modern designs that preclude the use of tubes, but by observation I would say the vast majority of spoked wheels on the market even today still use tubes.

And again, I would have to define the term "regular" with regards to spoke tensioning, but all of the motorcycle manuals I've been writing (largely for dirt, moto-cross etc) bikes that have spoke wheels list checking tightness (as well as axial and radial runouts) as part of routine maintenance. Now since I don't regularly service any of these I can't say if that is just typical OEM CYA regarding possible needed maintenance or if some of the spokes are regularly found to be loose. I tend to think it's the former, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't ever check it or that you might not wind up having to true a wheel.

To be clear, I think tubeless is a huge step forward for the TT, but I still don't want spokes tubeless or not. But that's a personal preference.

[tetarabra]

Cast wheels are very rigid and fine with high power and high speed .
Spoke wheels don't like high power, lateral bending and torsion. But are fine with frontal shocks. It is a non deformable but sligthly flexible structure convenient for off road bikes.

By the way (not my bike)   

[lucky phil]

I guess you would need to define "modern." Obviously there ARE modern designs that preclude the use of tubes, but by observation I would say the vast majority of spoked wheels on the market even today still use tubes.

And again, I would have to define the term "regular" with regards to spoke tensioning, but all of the motorcycle manuals I've been writing (largely for dirt, moto-cross etc) bikes that have spoke wheels list checking tightness (as well as axial and radial runouts) as part of routine maintenance. Now since I don't regularly service any of these I can't say if that is just typical OEM CYA regarding possible needed maintenance or if some of the spokes are regularly found to be loose. I tend to think it's the former, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't ever check it or that you might not wind up having to true a wheel.

To be clear, I think tubeless is a huge step forward for the TT, but I still don't want spokes tubeless or not. But that's a personal preference.

I guess I should have been more specific. I can see how a motorcross bike or a genuine off road/enduro bike getting hammered off jumps and rough tracks etc going for maximum lightness would still need all the old spoke wheel maintenance and tubed tyres.
What I was thinking was for modern road and adventure bikes. I know BMW rims have been tubeless for years but I would have imagined that a bike like a Grisso SE with spoked wheels would have had some form of alternative rim sealing by now to use tubeless tyres. I also would have assumed that on say an SE that unless you put it through some extreme conditions that it probably wasn't really designed for that spoke tightening would be pretty much a thing of the past. Spoke checking sure just like a cast wheel where you check for cracking periodically but I would have thought spoke tensioning would have been over engineered out by now in this minimal maintenance world. Anyone with a large spoke wheeled bike enlighten me? I havent had a spoke wheeled bike in 30 years and those were almost 20 years then.

Ciao

[mobiker]

I guess I should have been more specific. I can see how a motorcross bike or a genuine off road/enduro bike getting hammered off jumps and rough tracks etc going for maximum lightness would still need all the old spoke wheel maintenance and tubed tyres.
What I was thinking was for modern road and adventure bikes. I know BMW rims have been tubeless for years but I would have imagined that a bike like a Grisso SE with spoked wheels would have had some form of alternative rim sealing by now to use tubeless tyres. I also would have assumed that on say an SE that unless you put it through some extreme conditions that it probably wasn't really designed for that spoke tightening would be pretty much a thing of the past. Spoke checking sure just like a cast wheel where you check for cracking periodically but I would have thought spoke tensioning would have been over engineered out by now in this minimal maintenance world. Anyone with a large spoke wheeled bike enlighten me? I havent had a spoke wheeled bike in 30 years and those were almost 20 years then.

Ciao

You need to quit making assumptions 
Spoked wheels on many BMW's required tubes up until a couple of years ago. The F/G series and the R9T for example. I don't know which ones, if any, currently do.
I have not had to retension the spokes on my old BMW. For a mostly road bike I wouldn't worry about that as a regular maintenance item.  Regarding tubes, you need to research any bike you're considering that has spoked rims, otherwise you may get a surprise at the first tire change or first flat.

[Kev m]

I guess I should have been more specific. I can see how a motorcross bike or a genuine off road/enduro bike getting hammered off jumps and rough tracks etc going for maximum lightness would still need all the old spoke wheel maintenance and tubed tyres.
What I was thinking was for modern road and adventure bikes. I know BMW rims have been tubeless for years but I would have imagined that a bike like a Grisso SE with spoked wheels would have had some form of alternative rim sealing by now to use tubeless tyres. I also would have assumed that on say an SE that unless you put it through some extreme conditions that it probably wasn't really designed for that spoke tightening would be pretty much a thing of the past. Spoke checking sure just like a cast wheel where you check for cracking periodically but I would have thought spoke tensioning would have been over engineered out by now in this minimal maintenance world. Anyone with a large spoke wheeled bike enlighten me? I havent had a spoke wheeled bike in 30 years and those were almost 20 years then.

Ciao

Understood and you're probably not wrong about tightening being a rarity on a road bike.

See MOb on the rest. Most are still unsealed and tubed.

[rocker59]

Good news for 2021  V85TT

Take a close look at these new wheels.

[Lovey]

I realise that this thread is now over 2 years old, please don't shoot me  .
I've been searching, but I don't seem to have found an answer to the question posed in this thread.  Does anyone know if it might happen, or have the MG HQ devoted everything to the new Stelvio?  Failing a genuine set of cast/alloy wheels for the V85, are any particular aftermarket ones compatible?  Sorry if that was a dumb question, but I haven't been able to find the answer yet.
Thanks for looking,
Steve

[twowheeladdict]

I realise that this thread is now over 2 years old, please don't shoot me  .
I've been searching, but I don't seem to have found an answer to the question posed in this thread.  Does anyone know if it might happen, or have the MG HQ devoted everything to the new Stelvio?  Failing a genuine set of cast/alloy wheels for the V85, are any particular aftermarket ones compatible?  Sorry if that was a dumb question, but I haven't been able to find the answer yet.
Thanks for looking,
Steve

The V85TT wheels are now tubeless so no need for fuller cast wheels. 

[Speedfrog]

I think what Lovey is asking, and this is the same question posed by the op in the title of this thread, is whether MG will ever make a V85 TT with cast wheels, like Triumph has done with the Tiger GT.
Or whether there are aftermarket cast wheels adaptable to the V85 TT.

And to clarify a point raised by Lucky Phil over 2 years ago, the Griso SE spoked wheels are and have always been tubeless by ways of sealing o-rings at the nipples which have been reported to leak on rare occasions and had to be replaced. But I’ve never heard of them having had to be re-trued or tensioned.

[Huzo]

Color only.  Not the other mods that make the bike look strange.

Which particular mods do you suggest, make the bike look “strange…”?

[Lovey]

I think what Lovey is asking, and this is the same question posed by the op in the title of this thread, is whether MG will ever make a V85 TT with cast wheels, like Triumph has done with the Tiger GT.
Or whether there are aftermarket cast wheels adaptable to the V85 TT.

Exactly. I like the seating position of the V85, bit I don't plan to go off road on it, so no need for spokes. I also don't like the look of spoked wheels not the thought of cleaning them 😭.

[twowheeladdict]

Exactly. I like the seating position of the V85, bit I don't plan to go off road on it, so no need for spokes. I also don't like the look of spoked wheels not the thought of cleaning them 😭.

Since this thread is old I figured you didn’t want the tube wheels that came on the V85TT. Now that they are tubeless without the possibility of leaking I figured they would serve the purpose you desired. Didn’t know it was a “look” issue.

I doubt they will come out with a model with cast wheels when they can just sell you a V100.

You could make some inquiries as to whether the V9 or V7 850 wheels would work.

[twowheeladdict]

Which particular mods do you suggest, make the bike look “strange…”?

That post was 2 1/2 years ago. I bought the Guardia D’Onore so obviously my taste had changed.

[Huzo]

That post was 2 1/2 years ago. I bought the Guardia D’Onore so obviously my taste had changed.

Ok, that’s fair enough.
Mine changed too, after I took all the stuff off my V85 that I didn’t like…

[Lovey]

Since this thread is old I figured you didn’t want the tube wheels that came on the V85TT. Now that they are tubeless without the possibility of leaking I figured they would serve the purpose you desired. Didn’t know it was a “look” issue.

Yes, I am that shallow, it is about the looks. As mentioned by another poster, the Triumph Tiger and the BMW GS have a version that comes with alloy/cast wheels, which would suit my needs better than spokes.

I doubt they will come out with a model with cast wheels when they can just sell you a V100.

I didn't think that the factory would bother speccing the V85 up with options when the new Stelvio is around the corner.

You could make some inquiries as to whether the V9 or V7 850 wheels would work.

I was hoping that someone may have already done something similar to this, hence my 'late to the party' question.
Thanks for looking,
Steve

[Huzo]

Putting spoke wheels on a cast wheel bike, is always about the hubs, especially the rear one.
Most anything else can be made to fit and laced up, but getting that rear drive to fit will not be easy.

[twowheeladdict]

Yes, I am that shallow, it is about the looks. As mentioned by another poster, the Triumph Tiger and the BMW GS have a version that comes with alloy/cast wheels, which would suit my needs better than spokes.
I didn't think that the factory would bother speccing the V85 up with options when the new Stelvio is around the corner.
I was hoping that someone may have already done something similar to this, hence my 'late to the party' question.
Thanks for looking,
Steve

If the Stelvio is a hit, and the EU keeps tightening their chokehold on the industry, the V85TT may go away.