Performance Machine Revolution Wheels
Performance Machine Revolution Wheels
CW EVALUATION
Mass minimized
ONE OF THE FEW COMPLAINTS LEVELED against the Honda RC51 when it debuted in 2000 was its 460-pound dry weight. Designed to win AMA and World Superbike championships, the bike was overbuilt in preparation for engine upgrades and fitment of sticky slick racing tires, making it a prime candidate for a diet. And one of the best ways to cut weight on any motorcycle is to reduce rotating, unsprung mass by installing lighter wheels.
Performance Machine’s Revolution wheels combine hewn-from-billet 6061aluminum hubs with forged rims and spokes. Said to weigh less than the castaluminum wheels that come standard on many current sportbikes, the Revolutions meet European TUV and Japanese JASO standards and are advertised as being tough enough to survive on the street, where potholes and broken pavement are commonplace. A lightweight, PM-designed cushdrive and an aluminum rear sprocket are included.
Sans cushdrive and brake rotors, the 3.50 x 17-inch front and a 6.00 x 17inch rear Revolutions weighed a combined 2.2 pounds less than the samesize stock wheels from our ’01 RC51, with the biggest difference-1.2 poundscoming at the rear.
The Revolutions mounted easily and the split-spoke design garnered lots of positive comments. In use, the PM-configured RC51 transitioned from side to side more easily and the 999cc V-Twin engine spun up more quickly. Between Turns 4 and 5 on the Classic Course at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, for example, the stock RC51 would rev to just below redline in second gear prior to reaching the braking point. After we swapped wheels, the engine touched the rev limiter, verifying the reduction in rotating mass and its associated performance gains.
DETAILS
Performance Machine, Inc. 6892 Marlin Circle La Palma, CA 90623 714/523-3000 www.performancemachine.com Price $1990
AiJps A Available polished or black-anodized A Fitment for most late-model sportbikes
owns i' High per-pound-lost cost Always tripping over take-off wheels
Show and go, what a concept!
