Bonneville America Forums Forums Technical Forums Accessories Wire spokes vs. Mags

After seeing so many vintage bikes and the classic Triumphs at this year's bike show, it made me want to swap my mags for wire rims. Of course, the cost of doing so is almost 1/3 of what I paid for my used bike in the first place.

Are these things really better than what I already have? Or am I just conditioned to be dissatisfied with what I have now?

So I guess I will stick with my mags, keep the VISA low and focus on the road ahead.

The spokes look good on the America. There is also a difference in tires. The tires on the mags are tubeless where the tires on the spokes are tubed. Meaning you will have to do tires too. I have been lucky enough to have both sets so could switch back and forth.

If I had to choose just one set it would be spokes. They look really good on the America.

You have to ask yourself: how hard are spokes to keep clean and nice? Would I rather be riding?

They look the best IMO but they are the devil to keep nice.

+1 on oldroadie........

I love spokes for the look but it takes a lot more work to maintain them. Spokes can break too, spoked wheels can become out of true too requiring truing.You need tubes in them and with a flat you can't plug it to get home. I wanted spokes when I bought my bike but not anymore even though I like the look.

I've got both between all our bikes, and never felt or experienced any higher cost with either one.

Spokes (chrome) and rims(again, chrome) wipe clean very easily. Cleaning alloy seems to me to be much harder. (time consuming)

Spokes can be easily and inexpensively trued, alloy is more cost effective to just replace if bent. I've done both recently.

BUT, as stated in ALL of the replies above, CHROME IS JUST BAD_ASS FOR WHEELS!!!

cleaning spokes takes way longer than wiping down a mag and spokes are trouble free for quite a while but will fail with fatigue, spokes will start to break eventually. I have had spokes on all my bikes over the last 40 years of riding.

No doubt!

But I'm really not referring to just "wiping them down", I'm referring to the compounding, polishing, sealing that bright, shiny alloy to keep it "bright, shiny alloy".

Now if your alloy ain't shiny, or your the kind that just doesn't see the difference between Shiny, and clean, no worries.

When we've hit obstacles with spokes/rim (and we have), we replace some spokes and re true, with the alloy, we replaced.

But to revisit two facts;

SO FAR, EVERYONE SAID THEY LIKE SPOKES BEST!

And I said I noticed no big differences! They exist, but it's t1t for tat.

"Real" motorsickles have wire spoke wheels...

I ride with spoke wheels and love them. Cleaning is not that big a deal... I just go at them with soap and water and a bottle washer. I prefer the look of spokes vs alloy. Now, with that said, I see alloy (and therefore tubeless) being a huge advantage over spoke wheels with tubes when it comes to roadside puncture repair. With tubeless a quick repair to a minor puncture is possible. With tubes that's not the case and the wheel must come off to repair any kind of puncture.

Spokes. That is all.

My bike is basic black. I'm not a chrome gadget guy. I bought the BA because the price was right and I could jump on it and ride it anywhere and it wouldn't make me stick out as the HD wanna-be. No bags, luggage rack, windshield, or chrome footers. Stock except for a small backrest for my daughter who loves to go on rides with me, "I wanna go fast pops."

So as I continue to keep it black and plain (Amish motorcycle?) I am thinking black spoke rims would be sick though. But the tubeless mags made black with a rattle can might have the same result without impacting my wallet. Love the discussion here fellas!

You can't always get what you want. But if you try sometimes, you just might find. You get what you need.

black mag wheels look ok...even I like them

+1 Grzegorz

Better peace of mind being 3000 miles from home on mags than on spokes. But spokes are simply hands down the choice for beauty.

I totally agree on the look, spokes look great.

Tubeless - often have lower unsprung weight, easier to repair road side.

Wire spokes - Much better looking, especially on a marque as noble as Triumph.


There are methods to turn spoke wheels into tubeless, but I have no experience with that. Don't see why it couldn't work though?

I prefer spokes to mags but purchased the chrome mags for the very reason Keith stated. I've had flats twice with spokes, once in the middle of nowhere 60 kilometers from home with no cell coverage. A tubless tire could have been fixed or even run with the nail in it. I always carry a CO2 patch repair kit on my ride.