Wheel replacement for 82 GS 850

[ram]

Hi,

While doing safety, it was found that both my wheels had cracks in them. The mechanic told me that it should be replaced, however he said he would get a confirmation from MTO on that. My question is which all wheels would fit my 82 ? Should I find a direct replacement from another 850 or does others work too?

[Dogma]

The 1100G wheels should be a direct replacement. Watch out for differences in the rear wheel diameter if the wheel came off a GL model. I think the '82+ GL rears were an inch smaller than G wheels. Earlier model shafties (1000 and 850) had some differences in the rear brake components, so you would need the disc, and maybe the caliper bracket and spacer. Earlier years also have a different spoke pattern, so you probably want to stay with '82+ anyway.

How many miles are on your bike? The spline mounted on the rear wheel tends to wear out somewhere before 40,000 or sooner, depending on usage. Inspection is difficult to impossible while the spline is installed on the wheel, so pull the spline from any replacement wheel you get to see if it has any life in it. Bwringer has a few excellent posts on this topic. A search should turn them up.

[Nessism]

I've never heard of a GS wheel being cracked, other than maybe because of crash damage. Are you sure they are cracked? I'd ask to see for yourself, and then take some macro photos and post them up here.

[ram]

I will post the photos.. The bike has 45K Kms on it and I am not sure how there was the crack. I am also going to search the local salvage to find if they have direct fits from an 850.

[DanTheMan]

Unless the frame is wider in the rear on the '82 850, an 1100 rear wheel won't fit. I have two 1100s, an '80 and '81 850, and I can put an 850 rear on the 1100 (with spacers), but you can't go the other direction.

[Dogma]

Unless the frame is wider in the rear on the '82 850, an 1100 rear wheel won't fit. I have two 1100s, an '80 and '81 850, and I can put an 850 rear on the 1100 (with spacers), but you can't go the other direction.

Yeah, something is different on the later shafties. The '83 850GL I parted out had a wheel that was different from both of my '80 bikes. Just about everything on the brake side was different.