Butter soft Hawk rims and food for thought

[Ariel Red Hunter]

Originally Posted by OneLeggedRider

Besides the swingarm the rims are the Hawk's biggest weakness (TT250 included). Every week someone folds up another front rim on the fb groups and TXpowersports is out of stock till atleast September. A fella just relaced his to a Tusk rim but I don't know much about that company or the quality. When my turn comes I'll probably use an aluminum Honda rim.

But this got me to thinking (scary I know) wouldn't TBR7 rims have to be stronger? I mean if it's the same width, same thickness, just smaller in diameter with shorter spokes, it would have to be stronger. Right? And it would be pretty much bolt on if you had the correct spacers, maybe a sprocket for the rear rim. And I just seen Kenda is making Trakmasters in those sizes (at a higher price than the standard sizes) so you could keep your aggressive knobbies.

Has anyone else considered this or have any thoughts on the matter?

Wouldn't it be even better if they were 14" or 12" rims, right? One of the charms of the Hawk is the decent size wheels that come on the bike. Get a spoke wrench and keep ALL of the spokes equal, and snug. I use middle "C" on the piano as my benchmark. The rim is not that strong to be able to resist dings from hitting rocks at high speed. The spokes are where the strength in a wire wheel comes from. That's why you've got to stay after them the first 500-1000 miles. Don't over tighten them, thinking that way you can get by with only checking the spokes once in a while. Negatory, won't work. Do it the right way from the get-go. Don't forget, those spoke nipples have to bed in to the rim from day one. That's why your spokes come loose. There is no real short cut solution to this. Well, not if you don't want to spend hundreds of dollars...ARH