I am a new member here great forum and very informative. Question concerning tire and wheel weight. First what advantage do you get with the aftermarket wheels I know the tire improvements. I have a new BF 650, yea I know should have gotten the 750 but this was cammo and staring at me. Not sure what the dimensions of the old prarrie wheels were but on the new one the rears are 12/7.5 and the fronts are 12/6, the fronts weigh 6.9 pounds and rears weigh 8 pounds. I don't see anything that offers much of a weight savings over the stock wheels. do the stock wheels fall apart easy or what, why would I go to say the new ITP type 6 wheel combined weight would be 30.4 pounds and my stocks are 29.8. I know there must be a good reason other than just looks to buy them.

 

Welcome and CONGRATS on the BF 650. My neighbor who has a Prairie would be so jealous to know about your BF 650...he wants one bad! No need to apologize for a BF650...that's a damned good machine and most people on this board would LOVE to have one, me included [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

Anyways, I have a BF750 and I went with the ITP aluminum C4 black rims and the ITP 589 tires. I went with the 26" kit for a lower cost and less wear and tear on my drivetrain. The Type 6 rims are also great...you really cant go wrong with anything from ITP, all of their stuff is darned solid. I wouldnt be overly concerned with weight. Remember you have a Kawi v-twin with a displacement of 650cc's. In other words, that motor will happily turn heavier wheels and tires all day long. I went with aluminum to save some weight.

See my pics, there are a couple photos of the black rims and 589's on the Brute.

Mike

 

Acceleration, suspension performance, and overall handling actually will be much better with lighter weight tires and wheels. I proved this to myself with my 2005 Team Green Prairie 700 by changing to lighter tires and wheels. I had 26" Holeshot ATRs and C-Series type 5 wheels on my Prairie, and I thought it had great power, handling, and suspension, for a utility ATV. Then I put on a set of ultra light weight 2 ply sand tires mounted on equally light aluminum T-9 wheels, that altogether weighed 55 lbs less for the set of four tires and wheels. The 55 lbs less unsprung weight resulted in much much better suspension performance over sand whoops and other large bumps/jumps. Handling was noticeably more brisk and precise, and acceleration seemed significantly improved as well. I had the chance to change back and forth between both sets of tires and wheels on our last weekend trip, and the difference was like night and day; really, no comparison. And as another way of measuring the improvement in performance by changing to light weight tires and wheels, ... the tire/wheel change made more of a difference in performance than a Diamond G snorkel, K&N air filter, Dyna CDI, and HMF Penland series exhaust combined together had made. The weight of the tires and wheels makes a BIG difference, but often times you can't feel the difference until you go to the lighter tires and wheels.

So when trying to select an aftermarket tire, pick one that is lighter weight and it will generally work better. All (and I mean ALL) aftermarket tires will work better than the stock tires, so they are definitely worth the change, just try to keep weight in mind when you are choosing. Aftermarket wheels are also worth the change because of their increased offset, which will really improve handling. The aftermarket wheels are also much stronger than the tissue paper thin stock wheels. I would definitely choose aluminum over steel, especially those steel simulated beadlock wheels (those puppies are HEAVY).

OL

 

mikey:

"I went with the 26" kit for a lower cost and less wear and tear on my drivetrain. The Type 6 rims are also great...you really cant go wrong with anything from ITP, all of their stuff is darned solid. I wouldnt be overly concerned with weight. Remember you have a Kawi v-twin with a displacement of 650cc's. In other words, that motor will happily turn heavier wheels and tires all day long."

I agree, completely!

By the way..........sweet lookin' Brutey.....those black C4's are smokin'!!

 

Congrats on the Brute. I like the stock rims cause they are lighter then any aftermarket wheel save the T9s. I don't know if you can get them in a twelve inch size though. My only complaint with the stock rims is that they are weak. I have bent mine numerous times with my stock dunflops on. As soon as I switched to the heavier and stronger 6ply Gators I have yet to bend them. Since they are aluminum I just straightned them with a block of wood and a hammer. Don't know if you could do the same with the ITPs. They are a little bit thicker. I will be running carlisle badland radials this summer on another set of stock rims when I am not going mud boggin.

 

Hey thanks for the input. I guess with the 650 the weight issue isn't that big of a deal. I know ya need new tires the stock ones are terrible. The wheel issue though has really kept me confused. If aftermarket wheels offer increased stregth then that is a good thing but if it is just looks then I am ok with the stock wheels and like you said the stock ones are light actually lighter than any of the aftermarket but they do look thin.

 

Hey Mike, thanks for the input. I live in Northern CA opposite side of the country from you. We don't have that much mud up here in the hills. On my last Quad I ran the big horns and they really hold up well. We have some nasty rocks here that are like razor blades. Stock tires are great if you are looking for some exercise and want to walk home. Most of the people I ride with here run the big horns since the lug pattern is fairly close and they have really strong side walls. I am going to try the 26" ones now with the 650 brute the wheels I am not sure about hate to see those pretty aluminum wheels have chunks missing.

 

We have a big rockpile here too...it's called Utah...I had ITP Delta steel wheels on my P400 and am thinking about getting a set for my P650. I have already put several dents in my aluminum P650 wheels in the short time I've had it. I think over the course of a good summer of driving around here, that they'll be toast. The Deltas are heavier, but they hold up MUCH better than the aluminum wheels.

By the way...where is a good place to get the Bighorns?

 

Utah most likely has allot of the same terrain as we have here in northern Ca brutal rocks. I have some friends that have the alumnium wheels on their quads and the rocks tear them up, well they make them look like you took a hammer to them. At least with the steele worst case is sand them and repaint. I buy my big horns from a place called Nebraska Tire on the internet even with postage they are way cheaper than most other places and they carry just about every brand on the market. I have tried allot of different tires over the years and found the big horns to be the most durable. After a day of riding on tires with soft rubber compound it looks like someone took out a knife and cut chunks out of them.

 

I totally forgot to check Nebraska Tire. I lived the first 42 years of my life in Nebraska and only moved to Utah 3 years ago. My oldest daughter lives pretty close to them and I can probably have her pick them up and save the freight for me.

I'm a little torn between the 26" Dirt Devils or the 26" Bighorns. I found a couple of pics here of P650s with 25" Bighorns and they looked to be at least as big if not bigger than the stock Dunlops. The 25" Dirt Devils are definitely shorter than the Dunlops. I'm wondering if 25" Bighorns would be approx. the same OD as the 26" Dirt Devils? If they are, I might just stay with 25" Bighorns.