Motor cycle wheels and gas tanks

[John Q]

Has anyone ever machined a motorcycle wheel

or a motorcycle gas tank. I am interested in

how the industry does it. We have a local

company that wants to machine them. I have

machined a gas tank (3 and 4 axis) I can see

how you might machine a wheel with a lathe

and a mill. Thanks

[Brendan P]

As far as wheels go,some aftermarket Co's machine the complete wheel from scratch,and others just purchase 'wheel blanks' and machine a design into the face.

To machine a 1 pc. wheel,it is very costly in mtl.

let alone the design and machining time of the part.

 

To save on labor and machine times,many will create the 'rim' by spinning or forming it out of thin sheet alum. using 2 halves and then welding the inside circumference.

Then they will bolt the center and hub on.

(RC components has done this)

 

Others will use an alum. forging (which is cheaper than buying a pc. of 6061 billet) in which they may machine out the whole wheel as one pc.

 

IMO, a true billet wheel is made from a solid pc. of 6061 chunk of alum. which may need some stress relief heat treats put into it prior to finish product.

 

Also,there could be some DOT aprovals needed to sell them unless you can over-ride this with some kind of disclaimer.

 

At any rate,IMO there is a little bit of education needed before just jumping into making wheels.

 

Good luck,and BTW...

Do a search here on 'wheels' a lot has been covered in the past on the subject.

[John Q]

Thanks Brendan for all the information