[motorcyclistonline] - Gale Speed Type-R Wheels, Alpinestars Alloy Jacket And Sarge B

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Gale Speed Type-R Wheels, Alpinestars Alloy Jacket And Sarge Bike Rack - MC Tested

Gale Speed Type-R WheelsThere's no shortage of adjectives waiting to describe Kawasaki's ZX-14 hyper-bike, but with a hefty-boy wet weight of 563 pounds, "light" or any of its synonyms are not among the choices. To lighten up my personal ZX-14, I started by shaving some unsprung weight with a set of Gale Speed Type-R forged-aluminum racing wheels. Because forging results in a denser metallic structure than casting, the Japanese-made Gale Speed wheels feature much thinner walls than the stocGale Speed Type-R Wheels
There's no shortage of adjectives waiting to describe Kawasaki's ZX-14 hyper-bike, but with a hefty-boy wet weight of 563 pounds, "light" or any of its synonyms are not among the choices. To lighten up my personal ZX-14, I started by shaving some unsprung weight with a set of Gale Speed Type-R forged-aluminum racing wheels. Because forging results in a denser metallic structure than casting, the Japanese-made Gale Speed wheels feature much thinner walls than the stock Kawasaki wheels while saving weight and maintaining strength. And the Type-Rs are light: The rear wheel (with cush-drive) weighed-in at just 14.7 pounds and the front 9 lbs., compared to 19.5/12.1 lbs. for the stockers. An elegant cush-drive mechanism incorporated into the rear wheel relies on six full-size rubbers (to adequately isolate driveline lash) in a radically pared-down housing that further minimizes the material used. Another weight-saving feature is the partial hub. One common problem with forged wheels is the density of the material makes bigger parts (the hub, for example) weigh more than they need to for a given strength. Thus only the outer hub flange of the Gale Speed wheel is part of the main forging; the inner hub/bearing carrier is a separate (and much lighter) machined-aluminum piece that bolts into place to keep the hub weight as low as possible. Intelligent stuff. Everything about the Gale Speed wheels is top-line, as you would expect for wheels of this price: All wheel spacers are made from aircraft-grade 7075 alloy, the sealed bearings are name-brand Koyos and each wheel set comes complete with a hard-anodized 7075 AFAM rear sprocket (you specify the tooth count). Even the included valve stems (polished stainless) are bling, and the manufacturing tolerances are spot-on-all the holes for the rotors and sprocket line right up, and the wheels slide right into the swingarm and fork with no trouble, a perfect fit. We selected gold-a new color from Gale Speed-and it looks great against the ZX-14's factory Candy Thunder Blue paint. Other available colors include bronze (very close to the factory Kawasaki wheel color), gunmetal, pearl white, black metallic or polished-aluminum finishes. Best of all, you don't have to call Japan to get your own-Gale Speed wheels are now available in the U.S. through Tucker Rocky, so your local dealer should have no problem getting you a set for your sportbike.


Photo Gallery: Gale Speed Type-R Wheels, Alpinestars Alloy Jacket And Sarge Bike Rack - MC Tested - Motorcyclist Magazine


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