Here is the unsaid aspect of cast wheels. For normal adventure type off-road use, of course yes they will indeed be chipped by stone damage. However so will the spoked wheels and just as badly. However, the cast wheels can easily be repaired by any good alloy wheel refurbisher for a very reasonable cost they look like new again. However, the only way you can make your wire wheels look like new is to strip them right down, repair the rim, the totally rebuild them. I talk from experience here. Last month I took my brand new 690 out in my woods and within 200 metres the rims were scarred up by small stone chips right down to the bare alloy under the black anodising. chips that I can never properly repair without a strip down. Everyone goes on about wire wheels being more practical than alloys,but outside of competition use are they really? Those of us who check spoke tension are constantly adjusting them so....think about cast wheels again, are they really such a bad choice for an pure adventure bike v a genuine enduro/trials/rally competition bike? I say this because I was just about to push the trigger on a 2024 V85TT with the wire wheels and then I saw a video by Big Rock Moto on the new BMW1300 in which he had decided to go with the alloy wheel option and it made me think again, especially as the Strada is by far the best looking of the bunch, at least in silver in my view.
Thank you for your in depth post, I am in your side of the camp. I believe for 95% of the time, cast wheels are fine. Unless you are doing hardcore adv , I don’t see many situations where you just have to have spoked wheels and you already touched on the mx aspect and easy replacement.
Since you don’t use the bike for travel and have three bikes, you have it easy. Lucky bastard 😜😋 No need for expensive satnav, no luggage rack & bags / tankbag or cases, no crashbars, the footpegs are fine since you don’t stand on them, bark-busters aren’t important in this use also. I’ve exchanged the mirrors on mine to protect the mounts - those look brittle and expensive. My biggest problem has been and still is the wind protection, that’s important during travel. I finally have the turbulence acceptable but not enjoyable on highways. Like you would, i’ve exchanged the exhaust, for a zard with one of the two db-killers removed and that gives a nice rumble without getting loud. Also gave it a sixhundred euro tune on the dyno, that hardly did anything. Shouldn’t have bothered with the stock headers. I mounted a Triplek 9 Pro tablet with DMD2 on it above the clocks and a controller on the handlebars. That is a great setup. Would i have gotten the turbulence under total control, this would have been my dream bike. Well, except for the basic suspension that’s ‘just fine’ on the street but nothing more than that and certainly not great.
Haha, yes I am “just” after pure riding enjoyment with this one without any fluff so to speak. I am sure I may get some flak for this but If I could only have 1 bike, I would take a very hard look at the 1300 GS. Concerning your wind protection, it seems MG went the same way like BMW with secondary deflectors below the main one. I would look if you can retro fit them. Cheers
Hey Fella, I was thinking exactly the same bike, some similar changes. Didn't think about the IMU. Much prefer the 24 model. Unfortunately it'll be too expensive as a first big bike for me in the UK. Maybe a used 750gs then trade in a couple of years after i get bored of chain maintenance🤞😂
@@ThatGermanFella ah. Got it. The vid was looking at the golden eagle (?) on the tank. Maybe it was the lighting. Love the eagle, but it did look orangish 😂
