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Rear wheel options for 650 Eurosport

950 views 7 replies 2 participants last post by  Sidecar Bob 
#1 ·
I’m working on a bitsa build and have a 650 Eurosport engine and modified frame with 4 bolt final drive. I picked up a GL 650 front and a 700 rear wheel with the engine but I am not sure on the smaller rear wheel. Other than a 650 Euro rear wheel is there any larger GL wheel that will be compatible with the drive as I do like the spikes of the GL?
 
#2 ·
I'm not sure what you mean by a "700 rear wheel"; Do you mean from a GL700 (= japan home market GL650)?

Assuming that's what you mean, if your wheel and final drive have the correct splines to mate it will work. The final drives all have the same gear ratio as do the 650 transmissions so you would end up with the same gearing as a GL650.

It isn't the diameter of the wheel that matters but the outer diameter of the tire. The CX650E has a 120/80-18 rear tire (theoretical diameter = 649mm) and the GL650 has a 130/90-16 (theoretical diameter = 640mm) so the GL wheel with tire is only about 1.5% smaller than the E wheel

Also, what does "the spikes of the GL" mean?
 
#3 ·
It should have read ‘spokes’ that I like on the GL700 wheel. The GL700 rear wheel drive mates to the 650 Euro final drive but what I meant to say was that I’m not keen on the 16 inch wheel for the scrambler build I‘m working on. Having done some online research, I’m planning to remove the GL700 rear wheel drive and bolt to a 500 Eurosport rear wheel so I have a compatible 18 inch rear and Euro front set up.
 
#4 ·
I wondered if you meant spokes but you never know.... ;-)

I'm not 100% sure but I think the Turbos have the same wheels as the CX-Es except for the colour.

BTW: Where did you find a GL700 wheel in the UK?
 
#6 ·
OK. For all intents & purposes you can consider it a GL650 wheel. As I mentioned before, GL700 is what Honda called the GL650 in the Japanese market only. The engine is actually 673cc and as I understand it, there were restrictions on how big a bike you could sell in Japan at the time (I believe this has changed since) so they called it a 700 there to sound bigger but a 650 everywhere else, possibly because insurance for a 650 costs less than for a 700 in some places or maybe so that the 673cc engine would have an advantage over true 650cc models competing with it.
 
#7 ·
I don’t disagree that it is fundamentally the same wheel but the GL700 has an inverted rear wheel drive that mates with the CX650E final drive rather than the CX500E or GL650 final drive. As shown with rear wheel drive part numbers below.

650E 42615MB0700
Gl700 42615MB0700
GL650 42610415000

This is why I bought it to mate to my 650E frame and final drive. However, I don’t like the 16 inch wheel so I’m going to swap the GL700 rear wheel drive into a 500E wheel. This will then give an an 18 inch mating wheel for the 650E frame and a boring GL650 wheel.
 
#8 ·
Oh, right. Most GL650s came with the 3 stud final drive but a few (and, it seems, the GL700 now that I think about it) have the 4 stud version that was also used on the CX650C and CX650E. And, of course, the 3 stud and 4 stud final drives have different final drives.

Another possibility just occurred to me: My CX650E based machine has a GL500 swingarm (bolted in like it was made for it), a CX500 final drive (identical to the GL500 FD except for the shock absorber stud), a mixture of CX500 and GL500 brake parts (both models are the same) and a 18" GL500 rear wheel (the main reason I chose the 18" wheel was availability of tires suitable for use in snow).
For you that would mean replacing everything from the swingarm back (as I had to do) but it would give you a normal Comstar 18" wheel (not the same as the cast wheel's spokes but closer than the boomerang style used on the Euros & Turbos).

Which reminds me of another consideration: The Eurosports have disc rear brakes but the GL500/650/700 have drum rear brakes. So even if you did like the 16" wheel you would have to convert to drum rear brake to make it work.

It sounds like the 500E wheel is the easiest option....
 
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