Custom 15" rear wheel by Harry Tarzian for GL1100

Looking forward to seeing some pictures when you get 'er back.

Here is attached a photo of my 15" 1980 goldwing rear wheel. IT says EML stamped on the Rim. It now has a new 135 R 15" firestone tire ($60.00). It lookes squished, almost flat, under the weight of the bike with a Terraplane SC mounted. Perhaps I should have bought the Michlin tire ($170.00).
What tire are you running?
I hope I am attaching a photo that is...
Richard B.

Hey knockser. EML rim looks interesting. Looks like custom adaptor rings that EML made (or had made for them), as they aren't individual segments as comes on a Comstar wheel. How about a few pics of your rig?

Yea Knockser, how about some pictures of your rig. Is it an EML?

Oh, I missed the question about the tire size. 145R15 Firestone. My sidecar is a California Sidecar Friendship 1, should be mounted in a week or two. I'll send a picture as soon as it's together.

Here are some pictures of the wheel installed. The bike is in the shop at C. Stanley Motorsports

id have used the 145 for sure - its a higher load tire and two inches taller

the 500r16 im running now is so far the best tire ive had on any of my rigs going back to the late 70's

to

I like that rim GrayBeard! Is it the case that if I have to ask the price that I can't afford it?

I supplied my old wheel for the center section, he did the wheel, new bearings and tire for $1200. DMC charges $1294 for a BMW wheel which is basically a Centerline drilled for the BMW lugs. Also, he's the only one on the planet doing these for GL1100's. I feel like i got a real deal, and it's beautiful.

A bit rich for me, but I do know of some 1100 owners that would like to go to the Darkside with a car tire. Do you think Harry would mind if I shared his contact info with them?

Greybeard - 11/26/2011 7:41 AM

I supplied my old wheel for the center section, he did the wheel, new bearings and tire for $1200. DMC charges $1294 for a BMW wheel which is basically a Centerline drilled for the BMW lugs. Also, he's the only one on the planet doing these for GL1100's. I feel like i got a real deal, and it's beautiful.

First off the wheel we do is not a Centerline, not that the brand matters. Secondly the wheel is not drilled. Third, we CNC a piece of billet aluminum to make several different adapters for the BMW bikes. At this time we do not make wheels for the early Goldwings. When we did they were a completely different wheel than the ones used on the BMW's.
Frankly, that is a very well done wheel. What I don't get is why you feel the need to try and put down someone else's product, particularly when you obviously don't know much about it.

Picture of one we used to make for the GL1500 when there was more call for them. We cast and machined a new center section and bolted on a spun aluminum rim.

Barry

I see no reason to knock a product you know nothing about. The DMC wheels for the BMW application consists of an adapter that on one side depending on the aplication has the brake rotor and ABS tone ring bolted to. The other side is a standard off the shelf wheel. We have 3 different wheels we offer depending on the look the person is after. There are many advantages to going this way. First, should you ever damage a rim, replacing the wheel is a lot less money, so much so that if you want to have a second wheel with a different tire on it, say a studed snow tire it is not all that expensive to set up the second wheel as all you have to do to change the wheel is unbolt the wheel and bolt on the new wheel it is quite easy. With the stock BMW wheel depending on aplication you may have to unbolt the brake calipar and change the rotor and ABS tone ring. This allows us to also run the same wheel on the sidecar which is great if you are on a trip and see that the tread is getting a bit thin on the rear wheel, you can interchange it with the sidecars wheel or even carry a spare that will fit both the bike and the sidecar. The adapter set up works great on single side swing arm bikes and the way we build the wheel it is a great value.
Some thing people have to remember when it comes to pricing things. I think most people will agree that employers should provide living wages to their employee's as well as medical and dental insurance, they also want to know that the shops building products are fully insured. Our employee's are supporting familys with thier wages, they have medical, dental and vision insurance. We carry liability insurance. This all costs money that has to come from some where. There will always be one man shops some where making parts part time more as a hobby then as a buisness that can do things for less money. I have no idea if the person who built your wheel falls into this catagory or not, it does not matter. This is how we started out. I built every thing out of my garage at home while having a full time job. At that time I could sell things for less however, I was also very limited as to what we could build. No CNC equipment, only a small milling machine and a single lathe. As we grew we added equipment that allows us to build things I could only dream of when starting out. We set our prices where they need to be to cover all of our costs and take care of our employee's.
Jay G
DMC sidecars
www.dmcsidecars.com
866-638-1793

The 500r16 im managing now is so far the best fatigue ive had on any of my stations going again to the later Seventies

Maruti Swift

jaydmc - 12/8/2011 10:57 AM

I see no reason to knock a product you know nothing about. The DMC wheels for the BMW application consists of an adapter that on one side depending on the aplication has the brake rotor and ABS tone ring bolted to. The other side is a standard off the shelf wheel. We have 3 different wheels we offer depending on the look the person is after. There are many advantages to going this way. First, should you ever damage a rim, replacing the wheel is a lot less money, so much so that if you want to have a second wheel with a different tire on it, say a studed snow tire it is not all that expensive to set up the second wheel as all you have to do to change the wheel is unbolt the wheel and bolt on the new wheel it is quite easy. With the stock BMW wheel depending on aplication you may have to unbolt the brake calipar and change the rotor and ABS tone ring. This allows us to also run the same wheel on the sidecar which is great if you are on a trip and see that the tread is getting a bit thin on the rear wheel, you can interchange it with the sidecars wheel or even carry a spare that will fit both the bike and the sidecar. The adapter set up works great on single side swing arm bikes and the way we build the wheel it is a great value.
Some thing people have to remember when it comes to pricing things. I think most people will agree that employers should provide living wages to their employee's as well as medical and dental insurance, they also want to know that the shops building products are fully insured. Our employee's are supporting familys with thier wages, they have medical, dental and vision insurance. We carry liability insurance. This all costs money that has to come from some where. There will always be one man shops some where making parts part time more as a hobby then as a buisness that can do things for less money. I have no idea if the person who built your wheel falls into this catagory or not, it does not matter. This is how we started out. I built every thing out of my garage at home while having a full time job. At that time I could sell things for less however, I was also very limited as to what we could build. No CNC equipment, only a small milling machine and a single lathe. As we grew we added equipment that allows us to build things I could only dream of when starting out. We set our prices where they need to be to cover all of our costs and take care of our employee's.
Jay G
DMC sidecars
www.dmcsidecars.com
866-638-1793

I have read your reply over and over, at first trying to decide if it was my intention to "knock" your product. After reading my post and yours, I think you are correct in saying that I compared your product to the wheel that was made for me in an unfavorable light. Also, I don't know much about your wheel except for what I could determine from picture I saw online of one of your rear wheels. I said it looked like a Centerline wheel that was drilled for the BMW mount, but according to your post it's not a Centerline wheel that has been drilled but an off the shelf wheel that bolts to an adapter and that the adapter is what you make for $1295, not a wheel at all.

I agree with you that being able to swap the rear wheel on the tug with the side car wheel would be a great advantage on the road, but would only help those of us that were able to afford a tug with a single sided swing arm. If I could afford a late model BMW, I wouldn't be worrying about how cheap a second wheel with a snow tire on it was and I wouldn't be messing around with a $1500 30 year old Gold Wing.

In reading this forum I learned that the old 4 cylinder Gold Wings made fairly good tugs, that a decent, used side car runs in the $1800-2000 range, and that there are a few names out there that are synonymous with vast experience and quality workmanship. Most of them are on this site offering good, free advice to those of us trying to get into this sport.

With what I learned from this site, I found the aforementioned Gold Wing for a tug, an 80's CSC Friendship 1 installed by Claude Stanley for $2500 and of course the custom wheel by Harrry Tarzian for $1200. Although both of these guys are involved in the side car hobby, to refer to either of these individuals as hobbyists borders on being an insult. Claude's experience as a builder/fabricator/engineer is well known in the sidecar world and Harry's trade is as a pre CNC master machinist. He took measurements and made blue prints to make the wheel for my bike.

I was blown away that something like that could be made without a CNC machine. I'm sure both Claude and Harry did the jobs they did for me to make money but I also believe they did the jobs they did because of their enthusiasm for the sport. Your emphasis on insurance, wages and health care makes me believe your business model may be a little different.