Alloy vs Wire-Spoked Motorcycle Wheels | Which Is Best?

Which is better? Cast alloy motorcycle wheels or wire-spoked wheels? Here are the differences.
📷 SOCIAL
Instagram- / chaos_causes_
TikTok- / chaoscauses
⚙ MY KIT
Insta360 One X3- bit.ly/Insta360-X3-Chaos
Jacket- bit.ly/JacketHusky
Jeans- bit.ly/JeansPandoMoto
Gloves- bit.ly/GlovesOnyx
📧 BUSINESS INQUIRIES- [e-mail]

[@mboyer3124]

The way you edit so visually really improves your videos. Keep up the good work!

[@yoshuavillar]

Totally agree with you, I appreciate how Chaos' editing and story telling have improved for more entertaining content

[@athiftsabit1208]

Yeah, as someone who followed him since the early days i really feel his edit improves a lot

[@TheTwinPost]

I've got spoke rims which come as standard on my Interceptor650 but got them converted to tubeless because of the constant fear of punctures during a long distance ride + the tedious effort required to fix them. The spokes feel alot more cushier over bad patches of road & they do justice to the retro look of the bike which is an added bonus.

[@harshalshetty9865]

Just make sure you redo them every two years. I've got a gt650 aswell

[@Anyacod7720]

Tubeless on spoked or alloy wheels?

[@CharlesHuse]

I am looking at the Scram 411. I wish it came with alloys.

[@JP-xd6fm]

The new interceptor comes with alloy wheels and it looks bad on that bike, spokes are better imo. I got a Husqvarna vitpilen 401 with spokes and they are tubeless from factory

[@x-man5056]

@@Anyacod7720 Yes.

[@CorsairMaverick]

I've always seen spoked wheels as sexier and way more elegant and beautiful, giving also a more aggressive look than the numb alloy wheels. I think this comes from me always seeing spoked wheels on my dad's bikes since I was a child. I must say that your argument about how alloy wheels perform better on the road, made me reconsider them a bit, but then, If I end up buying a mid adventure bike, wouldn't be nice to have that 20% option to go offroad with spoked wheels? :)

[@akali6858]

Nah bro, bikes are supposed to take us almost everywhere, unless you're a race track racer. So spokes for the win. 😆

[@ManuVyas-social]

Spoke wheels are not just more beautiful, but more characterful too. Thankfully technology has not made them obsolete and they still have a use and I am happy to see them rolling around.

[@danangretno99]

Rust on the spoke thats just the enemy of spoke wheels

[@mandrakejake]

You can get stainless spokes and nipples 🙂

[@TheRealSykx]

@@mandrakejake stainless will still rust if they're not properly cleaned and maintained or exposed to corrosive chemicals. Only a thin layer of chromium oxide protects the steel from corrosion.

[@mandrakejake]

@@TheRealSykxdoes your cutlery go rusty? It depends what grade. 316 is very corrosion resistant, 421 isn't but it is stronger.

[@Tamer374]

@@mandrakejake 316 still can rust, its just stain"LESS"

[@mad082sss]

Aluminium oxidises and corrodes if exposed to certain chemicals and the finish is scratched (sometimes the finish doesn't need to be damaged, depending on what the finish is). Neither are perfect, but each are worthwhile

[@gloamingoddish2878]

Great work as always. Love this kind of video edit reminds me of old youtube finding detail reporting a topic and giving information in 5 - 10 min

[@ArcticJeff]

Agreed. Both have their place - mag for the street, spoke for dirt bikes, dual sports, (some) ADV bikes. BTW, if I was looking for an ADV bike, I'd only buy one with spoke wheels (as they come in both flavours of wheel type).

[@rickconstant6106]

My 78 Bonneville T140V came with spokes and chrome rims, my 80 GS550L came with cast alloys. They both do the job and they both look good.

[@nelocinco3836]

Beautiful explanation, thank you very much Chaos Causes!

[@thizzfox]

The one HUGE elephant in the room you left out is "Trueing" (Not sure if im spelling it right) The spoked wheels is a nightmare. It isnt as simple as just tightening up loose spokes youre essentially changing the roundness of the wheel in that area with more or less spoke tension.

[@Kraken9911]

On the other hand Balancing an alloy wheel is super easy

[@r.i.p2464]

Never had to do anything on mine. I have 4 bikes with spoke rims and 3 of those bikes are 20+ years old. One bike had 150k+ miles and the other two had 20k+. I never did any adjustments except balancing when changing tires.

[@Orakwan]

​@@r.i.p2464then you might be surprised to notice your spokes are way out of balance and discover what new handling your bike will have after you have them balanced

[@r.i.p2464]

@@Orakwan everytime i change tires they put it on a machine that checks the wheel balance and they always check out fine. Handling is superb too which doesn't matter because i barely push my cruisers hard on corners. I know you're not gonna believe me but it is what it is. Oh! and registering a vehicle here in my country is very strict. They put the vehicle in a Rolling dyno to check out the wheel balance too. If you fail that, they won't renew your bike/car's registration. I failed one time on my anniversary fatboy with an imbalanced front wheel which has an alloy rim. It has something to do with my tires and not the rim but my point is that the machine they used is quite strict in its parameters. If they detect a small shaky, bouncy or wobblyness your vehicle will fail and you can't renew registration until you sort it out.

[@Orakwan]

@@r.i.p2464 what you mentioned is called weight balancing, it doesn't affect the wheel roundness and tension that all spoked wheels need. Just try to have it done and you will see what you missed. Sure, it will run without, and maybe you won't notice any difference. But then why care about any maintenance at all. It will run even without changing the oil.

[@CasualRiders]

I've got cast aluminium on my '06 bandit 1200. I've taken them off-road too, and they still held up alright.

[@moteroargentino7944]

After having to deal with punctured tubes, water and dirt getting in the rim, constant cleaning and alignment for quite some time, I switched to tubeless alloy wheels and never looked back. True, they might break on a very bad day, but until then I'd enjoy all the benefits and practicality they offer. Plus to be fair, to this day no wheel has failed me (and I did hit some nasty pot holes). Even on a tourer I'd prefer alloy, since you spend most of your time over the asphalt anyways. Only if I wanted to go full rally mode and punish the hell out of my bike in remote areas I would pick spokes.

[@leon.690sm9]

my ktm has tubeless spoked wheels stock lol

[@EliteRock]

I can still remember Yamaha switching to cast wheels on the RD (RZ in the US) series with the 'D' iteration (c. 1979?). They were nearly 2lbs a piece heavier than the spoked steel-rim ones. The public was convinced they were "better" (functionally and presumably aesthetically) but actually they were just cheaper and in fact arguably inferior - unsprung mass on such light bikes is a serious consideration. Now that cast are actually on a par or lighter I'd prefer them on any bike with more than about 80hp, but otherwise a set of alloy rim / stainless-spoke wheels can't be beaten for looks.

[@doublecomm4185]

i have a supermoto on alloy wheels and they're doing great for what the bike is for however i would love a pair of spoked ones just for the looks

[@marcbrasse747]

When I wasyoung cast wheels where just coming into vogue. So to me they still look like the future. Furthermore there is a lot more freedom in design. Throughout the years there where some really great designs. So I almost always prefer alloy wheels. An example of that is that my favorite team bike for quite some years was the square case Ducati 900 SS in blue silver livery with golden alloys. It was however never produced that way. The first alloy wheeled 900SS’ where black with gold.

[@_Mcariend24]

Love your vids man! ❤ Wish you could upload more frequently ❤️🥰

[@Kim_Miller]

My Tiger 900 GT Pro has allow wheels (the Rally dirt version has spokes) and my Svartpilen 401 has black spokes. Both are road bikes but the Svart is called an "Urban Explorer" by Husky and they went for an old timey scrambler look, it also has chunky Pirelli Scorpion Rally STR tyres. The spoke wheels look nicer to me but I've had bikes since the 1960s and most were spoke wheels.

[@GreaseAndGravel]

Dude, I realised now you're in SA! Awesome channel and great editing! I have a long way to go. Cheers from Limpopo

[@mmorlan1481]

Excellent Vid as usual. I have a 2020 VSTROM 650XT with spoked wheels. Looks great to start but quite frankly , impossible to clean well (I ride a lot). Yes they my be good for off road jumping, but neither the rest of the bike, or my personal skeletal structure will cope well with anything more that a sprightly hop.

[@nuur2825]

2014 Vstrom 1000 here. Done a decent amount of adv riding but mostly gravel and dirt with a modest amount of actually harsh terrain. The alloys on it have held up perfectly so far. So I think for most people wire spokes are just for pushing the bikes more than they actually ever will.

[@space6307]

Keep up the good work!

[@coleroyce]

Have an RnineT with spokes. I love the look of spokes. Although I’m jealous of the brand new RnineT ones with tubeless spokes!

[@adam346]

while it does depend on application, you can quite easily use both on either surface pending you are not pushing them particularly hard... this is a case of min-maxing and expectations more than anything. The CB500x, 390 Adventure and other smaller ADV bikes use alloy wheels and do just fine, just don't expect to be carving up trails like your dirt-bike friends. You can easily use larger ADV bikes with spoked wheels and carve up twisty roads but they will generally not be as nimble as a sports bike anyway, regardless of whether they have spokes or alloys.

[@direproud7824]

I'm with suzuki ts 185 a wire spoked wheel, having good performance on corner, off road and with a beauty too.

[@michaelvachon1334]

Thanks for covering this. I have multiple bikes with a mix of spoke/cast wheels among them. Some bikes, like my '99 Valkyrie Interstate would never be able to have spoke wheels simply because of the bike's weight. One of the bikes, a 2014 Honda CB1100 DLX has cast wheels, which is not in keeping with it's retro-bike look. Honda did see fit to switch back to spoke wheels on later CB1100 models (perhaps after being called out on this?) As noted by your vid, both wheels have their benefits. Over time, I've learned how to rebuild/repair spoked wheels, and find it to be an enjoyable challenge each time I do one. Ride safe all!

[@johncunningham4820]

Lacing them up is fairly straightforward . Getting them to run True is the Tricky bit .

[@michaelvachon1334]

@@johncunningham4820 I actually enjoy lacing AND truing bike rims. I have a few videos related to this on YT.

[@Richaag]

Being an old guy, the days of jumping and off roading are long behind me. While I’m thankful I can still ride, I’m limited to street bikes and preferably ones with a neutral riding position. So I’m currently on a 2022 Versys 1000. I’ve had to bid farewell to my wire wheel days.

[@gyrosdungeon3630]

Nice video! Will there ever be another dirtbike video?

[@timtouchstone6139]

It might sound strange but one reason I love the spoked wheels on my GS is I enjoy maintaining them. Spoked wheels are an engineering marvel and now the newer ones can even be tubeless! Cast wheels are great but require little care/maintenance.

[@Squadie.]

i would love to see a video from you making a spoked wheel tubeless^^

[@dave9309]

I have an old school Yamaha MT-03, it's a Supermoto design using the XT660 engine and transmission, so it already has some of the off-road credentials, and given the Supermoto aesthetic I was surprised that Yamaha fitted it with alloy wheels. And sadly you can't just swap them out for XT660's spoke'd wheels due to the double front caliper setup compared to the XT's single disc. Depending how long I keep it I may make some conversions to give it a scrambler makeover and see if I can get some custom spoke'd wheels.

[@johnlaw5762]

I have an R Nine T and spokes on retro or modern retros just look the business to me. That said, I have polished the spokes with a shoelace and metal polish before which is…”challenging”. To put it politely

[@vengefulbird6918]

Ive got a 1975 honda xl250 and a 2002 bmw f650gs dakar both on spoked wheels with the same tires

[@QuickJoe]

I got spoked tubeless tires on the Honda X ADV 750, awesome spoked wheels. Have a look and you will see why they are special.

[@peterbigblock]

My Triumph Speed 3 has alloy wheels of course. But I really want a dual sport or ADV, which will have spoked wheels. I love the look of the latter on the right bike.

[@punchbuggyyellow7097]

I have 2 Suzuki 250 Bandits from the 90's with fugly 3 spoke alloys, an ER-6F from the 00's with an interesting 6 spoke alloy pattern and a Yamaha Scorpio from the 00's with 18" wire spoke wheels. Side on the Scorpio wheels win hands down in the looks department, but are let down at an angle by running skinny tyres. Fortunately, I've got a set of fatter tyres ready to fix that problem.

[@joeljeffcoat6241]

I have a 1986 Honda 450 Nighthawk that has cast wheels and a 1989 Honda NX 650 with wire wheels. They follow the purposes described, but I guess Honda was an early adopter of cast wheels.

[@Pokkarix]

Babe, chaos causes dropped a new video!

[@chipmunkshavenuts]

This is timely. I built a miniGP race bike using Honda Grom wheels. It worked so well, I’n building another with a custom Mupo suspension. The forks want a larger axle. I could work around that, I could have custom wheels made … maybe, or I could machine my own hubs and lace rims to them. Hmmmmm.

[@72Trainer]

I owned a Ducati Hypermotard were the asymmetrical alloy wheels were very sexy, but in general wire-spoked > all .

[@bradcarrington9889]

1976 Yamaha S750D came stock with alloy wheels. On a rode bike, I prefer alloy. No spokes to adjust. Much easier to clean.

[@ajitpanda3190]

I have a KTM Duke 390, with stock alloy wheels. But i fancy a spoked tubeless wheel set.

[@TheSpectre223]

I've got cast wheels on my Honda Magna, and spokes on my outgoing Bonneville. The casts suit the Magna, are period correct in its style as a retro rather than a classic, and I'm very much looking forward to the easier maintenance. However, I have seen pictures of Magnas on spokes and they look sick, so I'm not against swapping over later down the line.

[@1sttimegunowner]

Bro the spoked wheels on magnas look so sick!!! Been debating on getting them for mine

[@stiffpants]

​@@1sttimegunowner get spokes for sure. The Magna is a sick classic shape. Have you got the v30 or v45?

[@1sttimegunowner]

@@stiffpants i have a 98 v750 not dure if its the 45 or not

[@vipervidsgamingplus5723]

Suzuki made mag wheels for the GS550 back in 1980. Until it was stolen, I had one. All parts original including the mag wheels.

[@AmgK.]

I got spokes on my bike! I love the way they look and function my only fear is getting a puncture on the tube while I’m out in the middle of no where!😭

[@VishalJN]

I'd surely go for spoke wheel than a alloy wheel. But given the amount of work you need to put in to clean them i rather have a alloy wheel. Also fixing a puncher is much harder in spoke wheels..

[@x-man5056]

It is a bit tedious to clean spoke wheels. Hire a kid to clean them. The trick is to just keep them clean. Plus once a year with chrome polish.

[@1panic0]

My Benelli BN302 has aluminum wheels, my Benelli TnT125 also, but i have been thinking to change the 125's wheels to spoke wheels just because i want it to look weird with them and also because some spoke wheels have very nice colors.

[@canul3801]

since mine a classic bike. its spoke for sure. since i like tubeless. little of customising surely help my journey. for an experienced mechanic. spoke surely a win since you can change rims size and width with low budget. and its hella pretty. but for mine. since classic bike frame is heavy. i am looking toward alloy rims since it can help reduce some deadweight.

[@johannkwanlaw]

I have the 2019 Vitpilen 701 instead of the 2020 Vitpilen 701, which comes with alloys instead of spokes in the 2020. I prefer my alloys for my kind of riding.

[@kianschmeling3893]

On my motorcycle it has spokes and I definitely prefer the tiers with spokes.

[@darius0lupus]

What id like to know is would you do spoked or alloy if you at most hit firetrails?

[@NoGlockTrucker]

My shadow phantom has spoked wheels. I wish I could find some alloys for it.

[@1683clifton]

Damn, now I got fear of breaking my alloy rims effing around in the dirt. You did that Lol And as always, I was entertained

[@legion3100]

I have 1973 honda CD 50 cc bike with Spock wheel. I can't imagine any bike this old with Alloy wheels. But at the same time tube is a big issue for me . Often gets leak by road debris.

[@JamesDickson-vs5of]

Looking to fit spoked wheels to 750 zephyr, for the z look , this would be compatible?

[@Plo890]

Tubeless tires, get a flat on a trip, put in a plug and keep on going. I love retro, but I also like to get where I am going as well as getting back home. My adventure bike has spokes with tubeless tires. Until you ride on a trip or if you are interested in riding, ask someone you trust.

[@TheOmniscientAtheist]

My Speedfight2 has alloys (because it's a scooter) but I love the look of spoked better.

[@mth32871]

Both of my bikes, a KLR 650 and a DR-Z400SM, both have spoked wheels, which I actually prefer to the alloy wheels of my first bike, a Vulcan 900. While they both have their place, I happen to like the old school utilitarian simplicity of a spoked wheel, and while I may never lace up a wheel, it's nice to know that I could at least replace a spoke on my own if I needed to. Now of course alloy wheels can look great, absolutely, but given the choice, I will go with spoked every time.

[@x-man5056]

Sometimes you can't just install a new spoke with out loosening all of them. If you notice they put all the spokes in the hub before lacing into into the rim. I've had both type rims too but I like the spoke look better also. Old school cool.

[@cheny6489]

Hi Chaos Causes, which spoked wheels are tubeless, for Husqvarna 401 ?

[@edwindelfin6793]

Wire spokes weight mostly in the hub,in the middle part of the assembly. Does that have and effect on performance?

[@julian23561]

Spoked for adventuring and dual sport, alloy wheel for dank wheelies and squid stuff.

[@jirafisher1911]

Wire spoke hold hub and rim by tension that mean the impact absorb by rim around before transfer to shaft.

[@crabbykronos7647]

Spokes look better but the tubeless spokes on the new Harley endro style is the best wheel ive seen

[@phil4986]

Alloy rims are way easier to live with if you are not jumping your bike anywhere. I am glad you showed the spoke cleaning nightmare. Just get comfortable. Cleaning your spoked rims is going to take a few hours. And then you put on the wax, yea.

[@Chris80]

I bought the Moto Guzzi v7 850 Special instead of Stone because of its spoke wheels.

[@BoycottChinaa]

Tubeless on a 2002 bmw adventure w spokes was first bike and still have it with two sets of rims that swap in minutes.. great until very steep muddy hill, all else it's perfect

[@simonyoung4572]

Yeah, prefer the look of the spoked wheels on my Retro Moto Guzi, but yes I hate cleaning them. But I have friends who have cracked alloys on their sport bikes hitting and unexpected pot holes.

[@m.i1343]

surprised u didn't mention the balancing of the spoked wheel.

[@BinoDK]

Spoked, on my 790 adventure just standard.

[@ryanwoods5836]

My motorcycle's 55 year old spoke wheels have what I like to call a "light patina" 😅

[@Cardin_AL_Sinn]

What are your thoughts on hubless ?

[@adisteelsulawesi5184]

Edukasi Yang mantap bro.. 👍 Sy menyukai vidio anda, pembahasan tentang velg racing dan velg jarijari..salam dari 🇮🇩Indonesia 🙏👍

[@provo1337]

0:54 what a knee slapper

[@j.r.arnolli9734]

My, 1992, RS100 has spoked wheels, because I prefer the looks.

[@user-qr7ee2cp4y]

Kind love the look of spokes but would stick with the alloy due to less maintenance.

[@TobiasRieperGER]

My past bikes had spoke wheels. Only the last 2 had alloy wheels. You forgot an important part, spokes need service. Every spring i tipped every spoke with a tool to hear the sound. If they are all the same, no problem. If there is one with another sound, i had to tighten it with a special wrench, till the sound is fitting with all the others. You do this without load on the bike and tyre in the air. So you need a kickstand or something similar.

[@ZH2.]

So your supermoto is tubeless?

[@simplepictures499]

I have both, rear is cast oem harley rim, front is fat spoke mammoth wheel 😂

[@nocapfacts9330]

Spokes just look like an art.

[@iannzako6386]

I've spoked wheels because i have a trail bike. I have a preference for spoked wheels, i find it more esthetic than alloy. However i'm agree, it's very long to obtein a clean result.😂

[@daveo9844]

I like spoked wheels. Just wish I was good at truing them 😩🍻

[@HairyMTB]

Harley cast wheels are made from Freedom Alloy .... come on man, get with the program :P

[@ChaosCauses]

Haha sorry I missed that one. I was just impressed that Harley has discovered round wheels!

[@HairyMTB]

@@ChaosCauses 🤣

[@oliverstaudinger5003]

GASGAS 700 SM and spokes from the Husky

[@John_Ridley]

Hardly even an exaggeration on cleaning time. The spokes on my VStrom got really bad and I've so far spent about 6 hours with shoelaces and metal polish to get them up to barely acceptably clean. I still need to spend at least another 2 or 3 hours on them.

[@bikesboardsbeats]

Ducati 848… alloys… triumph scrambler …. Spokes because as you very rightly pointed out, they have some give in them

[@emrankabirsubarno9761]

The alloy wheel in my bike which is i used since almost 3 years but spoke wheel better than Alloy for it's flexibility and long life i think.

[@ioandragulescu6063]

well I liked spokes until I recently saw that I have a small wobble on my back wheel .... on a 90% street bike (V Strom). I'm shallow I guess :))

[@You_Are_Forgeven]

I have a tenere 660 2008 and it has thick spok wheels

[@bobu32]

ah thought you were gonna swap the MT wheels to spokes haha

[@subhajitparia3251]

I don't have bike 😂 still watching your videos👍👍

[@jonathantatler]

My spoked wheels are great but for one thing..... Apprilia decided to use bare metal spoke nipple's! Stainless spokes, alloy rim and rusty nipples, great 😮

[@flippy6553]

I love white walls tires and spoked rims..... on someone else's motorcycle 😂

[@robertorios8267]

im traying to figure out how much expensive a wire-spoked wheel can get if it is constructed with titanium wires and a carbonfiber rim ( and tubless tires)

[@nallaswaroop1870]

Whata about Tubeless spoke wheels.....???

[@lukecrowster1231]

I’m gonna go with spokes😅 but I’m biased I’m converting my ktm 530 to Supermoto just need to get spacers machined

[@deepjyotiofficial6242]

1:06 Rd350 ❤

[@VisnitchiRaul]

Which is more aerodynamic?

[@vernonspady555]

I had alloy wheels on a 1981 BMW R65. Just fine until very high speed, when they really acted like gyros, making change of direction tricky. Spokes don't do that as much. Forty years later, alloy wheels are lighter.

[@ZackGoFast]

Cast on my cb650. Carbon on my r6. Spoke on my cr250r.

[@FlyingFun.]

Spoked wheels are nice but a bit fiddly to maintain, spokes go loose and rattle and are hard to clean so for a road bike my preference is alloy.

[@r.i.p2464]

I have 4 bikes with spokes. Three bikes are 20+ years old and none of them had loose spokes. My "used to be" daily bike had 150k+ miles on her but i never once did any adjustments. Nothing loose, no rattles. My other 20 year old bikes had 20k miles. Same thing! I never had to do anything besides washing them. Three of those bikes are heavy ass cruisers btw and they all have been used off road. Oh and i live in a country with too many pot holes. I once ran over a deep pothole and my after market spoke rim's edge got slightly deformed but the spokes are fine.

[@FlyingFun.]

@@r.i.p2464 that's good to know, I guess it depends on quality, I had a virago that spokes went loose after tire was replaced but wasn't hard to nip them back up. Heard a few stories about Harley Davidson spoke problems..

[@r.i.p2464]

@@FlyingFun. the bikes i was talking about are harleys. 1 evo, two twin cams. My fourth spoke bike is a 2021 interceptor 650 but that bike is new so i cannot use that as an example. Oh and i forgot about my yamaha 4 stroke dirt bike that i sold to my cousin. As far as i know, that bike is still being used in his farm completely stock. I'll ask him about the condition of his spokes.

[@mangomanthe1st981]

Rninet... I'm gonna update to the tubeless conversation soon..

[@houjous5131]

for the last 40 or 50 years, then talks about the 80's. Man do I feel old.