Help identify these rims

[Charlie G]

Rob,

You are the envy of us all. Your lady is the patron saint of GS owners.
I understand the hording thing.

cg

[azr]

bccap Got any pics of the bike inside the Camry ?

ha,ha,ha,ha....not this time thanks to Trevor

Rob,

You are the envy of us all. Your lady is the patron saint of GS owners.
I understand the hording thing.

cg

I hear that Charlie. To tell the truth we do a lot of 'discussing' when it comes to buying bikes and parts bikes, lol. But this time all she said was 'have a good time', I must have finally broke her, lol. And who knows about the hording thing, maybe I can do my own reality show one day , that or "GS pickers"

[bix49]

Rims

I'm pretty sure those are Morris Mag wheels. I believe Kawasaki contracted with Morris for the wheels on their LTD style bikes in the '70s and I think their KZs in the '80s. The wheels Kawasaki used on their bikes were aluminum but Morris was pretty famous for it's magnesium wheels. They were used on a lot of race bikes back then. I think they can still be bought in either aluminum or magnesium
Bix

[azr]

I'm pretty sure those are Morris Mag wheels. I believe Kawasaki contracted with Morris for the wheels on their LTD style bikes in the '70s and I think their KZs in the '80s. The wheels Kawasaki used on their bikes were aluminum but Morris was pretty famous for it's magnesium wheels. They were used on a lot of race bikes back then. I think they can still be bought in either aluminum or magnesium
Bix

If they are indeed Morris mags, the website that 'eddie21' put a link to shows the front as $1400 and the rear as $1700. That just doesn't sound right for a set of mags but what do I know. The rims are definately Magnesium as I weighed them against my other known Magnesium rims and they are the same......I think I had better bring all these rims inside..

[Charlie G]

If they are indeed Morris mags, the website that 'eddie21' put a link to shows the front as $1400 and the rear as $1700. That just doesn't sound right for a set of mags but what do I know. The rims are definately Magnesium as I weighed them against my other known Magnesium rims and they are the same......I think I had better bring all these rims inside..

Consider a safe storage facility in far the State of Jefferson?

[bix49]

Rims

http://www.mulemotorcycles.net/index.html

Check out this web site. Mr Pollock frequently uses the Morris/Kawasaki wheels in his customs and builds some very cool bikes. There's also an article on him and his bikes in July's Motorcyclist Magazine.
Bix

[azr]

Well I finally got the tires of the rims. I was really hoping there would be some sort of manufactures markings on them but nothing. They are definitely magnesium, the weight difference is amazing between the stock mags. Crappy thing is the rear tire had an old school 150/70/18, so I was thinking I could get a new 150 but after measuring the rear tire is only 2.75" wide and the front 19 is only 2.15". I looked at Avon roadriders and I 'might' be able to squeeze a 130 on there but it would be a different aspect than the front tire (130/70/18), most likely I would have to stick to the usual 120/90/18. The front tire would be the typical 100/90/19. I'm actually a bit disappointed that I can't put a wider tire on but the rims are nice never the less.



I'm going to blast the old gold off them and paint them black I believe. I'm just not a fan of the gold. Any thoughts on painting magnesium?

[trevor]

[GregT]

If they're Morris as it appears, and magnesium, be careful..

Blast with new freah clean glass bead - any contamination from previous use of the bead can start corrosion on the magnesium.

Coating - ideally they should be chromate primed, again for corrosion protection. I have a set of Dymags here which were powder coated and have suffered from tyre machines lifting the powder around the bead. I'm now in a awkward position as removing the powdercoat in a bath will dissolve the magnesium too !! Blasting is dangerous also as the metal is very soft.

So my recommendation is Bead blast lightly, spray a chromate primer and then use a good 2 pack finish coat. Clear over the top and if you have access to a low temp bake oven, use it.

[azr]

Well it looks as though these are Morris Magnesim rims for sure. Morris has put up some vintage photos and they match the Suzuki ones to a T.



Now that I know their history I think I'm going to have to keep the colour gold after all. Hey anyone have an idea what a set of these is worth? Of course ebay is of no help because there aren't any of these around.

[azr]

If they're Morris as it appears, and magnesium, be careful..

Blast with new freah clean glass bead - any contamination from previous use of the bead can start corrosion on the magnesium.

Coating - ideally they should be chromate primed, again for corrosion protection. I have a set of Dymags here which were powder coated and have suffered from tyre machines lifting the powder around the bead. I'm now in a awkward position as removing the powdercoat in a bath will dissolve the magnesium too !! Blasting is dangerous also as the metal is very soft.

So my recommendation is Bead blast lightly, spray a chromate primer and then use a good 2 pack finish coat. Clear over the top and if you have access to a low temp bake oven, use it.

Very helpful information, thanks. Any thoughts on value?

[GregT]

Very helpful information, thanks. Any thoughts on value?

They're highly desirable for those building replicas of period racebikes...When early Keihin CR's (which are not as usable as later versions ) can be listed on ebay for $US2000 upwards....your guess is as good as anyone's.

[azr]

They're highly desirable for those building replicas of period racebikes...When early Keihin CR's (which are not as usable as later versions ) can be listed on ebay for $US2000 upwards....your guess is as good as anyone's.

Well I guess that makes them ebay material then. I cant see myself with rims worth that on one of my bikes. Thanks again for the input.

[eddie21]

I can picture those rims on the 78... beautiful!!!

[ozman]

They're highly desirable for those building replicas of period racebikes...When early Keihin CR's (which are not as usable as later versions ) can be listed on ebay for $US2000 upwards....your guess is as good as anyone's.

the only guy ive seen listing early CR's for 2000 plus is that keihin fcr guy and all those sets have been there forever.....

i bought a set for 650 usd NOT FROM HIM !

ozman