i would be afraid steel rims would affect how the bike rides myself . a bloke told me he heard from a reliable source his father who was well into it all and riding a very tricked out Kawasaki zx10R not bullshit like fake carbon fiber covers and anodised do da's but decent high end performance upgrades anyway he said on bikes of that level the biggest improvement that can be made to a bike like that is to fit racing wheels . so to me adding heavier steel rims would be a step in the wrong direction I am not sure how but it has to make a difference . I remember seeing a zed 650 featured in a magazine and it had boraneie ? alloy rims laced to the original hubs . it impressed me anyway the bike was well sorted . I actually don't like wire spoke wheel's myself I prefer tubeless alloys 3 spoke easier to clean but white Honda multi spoke alloys like on rc30's and early fireblades look the biz .
im of the opposite opinion nowadays,when they were £60 a rim i agreed but now theyre £200 a rim i dont lol.
far as handling goes,like i say all my old bikes were steel rims,i used to hate the fangled jap bikes with their alloy binlids,and not being a racer i never felt short of handling,that was always down to frame n shocks etc.
63yrs old now,handling doesnt come into it nowadays hehe,seeing n hearing n knowing where n why i going somewhere is the only important thing now
having seen the amount of crap that people strap to their bikes im not sure the "extra" weight of a wheel rim is going to make any difference at all,specially as most are well overweight oldies like me,none of us are going to be racing anywhere ever again,cept to the toilet perhaps.
was mainly asking to find out if anyone else had fitted steel rims and where they had it done,obviously building it myself is out of question,arthritus put paid to most of my spannering now.
am also unemployed now,laid off 6mths ago,so funds are getting tighter everyday,but im not selling my at even if i have to fit wooden wheels to her.hah.
thanks paul,will email later chap but still a bit too much for me i think,would still have to pay for lacing n new spokes n thats not cheap.
cheers all and enjoy the snow n remember to wash that roadsalt off
