Up to this point, Sheryar Durrani’s approach to manufacturing and selling motorcycle wheels has been an eighteen-month exercise in unconventionality. The initial design, which called for bonding a welded ring of forging-grade extruded magnesium around a thixomolded core, was radical. Some key manufacturing processes were untried and problematic. Correspondingly, manufacturing timetables were optimistic and advertising was premature. Durrani’s plan to fund the effort through early orders was controversial, nearly devastating to his reputation, and ultimately, untenable. He ended up abandoning his first design and refunding tens of thousands of dollars of unfulfilled orders. Normally, that would have been the end of the story.
But Durrani is an abnormally stubborn man; he learned a lot, and he persisted, applying his hard-won experience to the completion of his task. He conceived a ‘one-piece’ thixomolded wheel to eliminate the manufacturing steps of ring rolling, welding, and bonding. Now, he has successfully produced one-piece front and rear wheels, and is refining the tooling in order to meet the goal of becoming the first magnesium motorcycle wheels in the world to attain the stringent European TUV certification.
MCADX: Last time we talked, you had just produced your first run of one-piece wheels and were beginning the testing process. What can you tell us today about the wheels?
Sheryar Durrani: “We have made and molded hundreds of one piece wheels, front and rear. Through testing we have discovered that, while they’re fine for the track, and we could have been selling them a couple of months ago, we wouldn’t have been assured that they would be a ‘life of the bike’ wheel. We were not interested in putting out a product with a shelf life… that’s for milk, not motorcycle wheels."
MCADX: According to the DOT standards for motorcycle wheels…
Durrani: "They’re irrelevant."
MCADX : …OK, but by those standards, have these passed? Are they acceptable for sale in the states?
Durrani: "Completely. No question. These are legal to sell in the United States without issue. The bigger issue was our conscience. I don’t want to sound like a Disney soundtrack, but truly, we aren’t going to put out a product that won’t work (for the life of the bike.) I don’t care if it takes me ten years… (long pause) …It better not! I mean, if in ten years it doesn’t meet my standards, it’s still not going out."
MCADX: So the tests took place, and engendered some tooling changes as well as material changes, right?
Durrani: “We wanted to increase the strength and fatigue life of the wheel above and beyond what would be expected. We wanted to beat the standard rather than to just meet it. To compare apples to apples, one could say the very lightest racing wheels out there, in order to get certified to the TUV or JWL standard, would need a lot of additional structural strength from the long-term fatigue standpoint to be a ‘life of the bike’ wheel. You’re not necessarily going to get that long-term strength -at that weight - from magnesium. There’s a price to be paid for that lightness – where do you draw the line? We look forward to having the lightest metal wheels that will carry a ‘life of the bike’ standard. They will not be as light as some of the wheels out there, but they’ll be stronger and more fatigue resistant."
MCADX: Do all sport bike wheels sold as original equipment have the TUV standard?
Durrani: "Yes, they must have it. If you meet TUV, fatigue will not be an issue - it’s really overkill. The Japanese JWL certification is also a great standard. We are going for both simultaneously, so that makes it a double challenge. In Japan and in Europe, there is a much bigger market for motorcycle wheels and they take these standards much more seriously. We want to make sure we have wheels that can be sold on a global market." [BREAK=New Page]
MCADX: Are there any magnesium motorcycle wheels out there now that have been certified to the TUV standard?
Durrani: " No. It has never been done."
MCADX: Are there any mag wheels that have the JWL standard?
Durrani: "Not to my knowledge. We were under the impression there were, but have come to learn that was not true. We believed when we were designing these wheels that the best (magnesium) wheels out there could pass those standards, but the manufacturers might not have been willing to spend the 40 or 50 thousand dollars to get the actual certification because of the small number of wheels that get sold.
That was a flawed assumption on our part, because we believed the ‘gold standard’ magnesium wheels to be sufficient, so we designed our wheels to be about 20% stronger. Now, after testing, we have found that in order to pass TUV, we needed to be about 70% stronger.
We’re beefing up the material and stiffness in terms of handling, fatigue life and survivability through impact at the limit, at 100,000 miles. The standards require that failure mode has to be managed – If a wheel ever fails, there should be a slow leak over miles rather than a catastrophic, sudden air loss. Impact should always produce a bend, or permanent yield, instead of a break. These changes will add about a pound to each wheel."
The addition of financial and technical partnerships will allow Durrani to complete the testing and development necessary for the wheels to achieve a certification of an inarguable quality standard. At the same time, the assurances required to satisfy these new partners and investors – and their lawyers- have caused the company to become organized in a much more conventional manner as the prolonged steps of documenting the technology, financing, responsibilities, and ownership agreements between investing parties are completed.
Durrani says “no (further) tooling changes will be made until all parties have signed all agreements”, which means further delay in bringing the wheels to market. More importantly, it could also result in a higher level of customer confidence and satisfaction, if the effort to meet the Euro and Japanese standards successfully results in the lightest, certified ‘life of the bike’ wheel available.
MCADX : With all of these things you're going to change, how about pricing?
Durrani: " I’m not going to budge on that! We want to get a number of these wheels out there at this price to satisfy the first adopters, even if it means I keep taking it on the chin. I am determined that price point is optimum to get the average sport biker to want this product, and to enjoy it without the feeling he was raked over the coals for the price.
If I was overzealous in my predictions, or if I was arrogant, I’m eating humble pie for dinner, but the last thing we want to do is be like everybody else. "
Last edited by CBRVFR; 07-06-2008 at 08:10 PM.
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The Green wheels shown were powder coated as a test. While Kawasaki owners may feel them to be perfect 'as is' for any decor, I should point out that the production wheels will not have any coating on the hub threads, and will be beefed up in the spoke areas as detailed above.
Seems it would be in his best interest to start producing "Non-Lifetime" race only wheels like all the other manufacturers do. At least he could pull in some revenue, and get his company some kind of product out the door. Make the current light wheel put the disclamor on it and get it out the door for guys like me that could afford this price point for track only wheels.
He specifically told me he doesn't want to go that route. He wants to be known for producing wheels that can be used and would take it personally if even one person got hurt while using a single part his company produced.
For once you have tasted flight you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skywards, for there you have been and there you will long to return.
---Leonardo Da Vinci
There is an ad in "New Ideas" section of this month's Cycle World that would lead one to believe that wheels are shipping. However, when you look at the website, in the fine print is still talks about "pre-ordering" and something about 3-4 months.
Being shot out of a cannon will always be better than being squeezed out of a tube. That is why God made fast motorcycles, Bubba.... - Hunter S. Thompson
They look great. I wonder how much of a difference it would feel like.
Spend the extra $500 to get a proven quality rim that the owner has not taken peoples money and never delivered the product when they said they would and then when asked for a refund drug their feet doing so.
CORRECTION DAY:November 2, 2010 Leave no Incumbent behind!
I recently recieved Durrani spam in my personal email account regarding the recent production phase. I thought about it for a split second.... then deleted it.
They look great. I wonder how much of a difference it would feel like.
Not sure how much weight loss on a newer bike but on the RC it was a huge WOW! However he does not make them for your bike and I would recommend against being a guinea pig as Hammer points out some of the last set still have wounds.
"The state must declare the child to be the most precious treasure of the people. As long as the government is perceived as working for the benefit of the children, the people will happily endure almost any curtailment of liberty ..."-Mein Kampf
Those are pretty sweet. I like the white and blue Honda too. I'd have to say $1800+ is probably a rough way to save a few pounds. I'm not sure what my factory rims weigh, but I'm guessing not much more than 6 and 8 pounds for the two. Maybe a total weight savings of 5 lbs? If I were rich I might consider it, but I just can't see it.
Do sober what you said what you'd do drunk. That will teach you to keep your mouth shut. - Ernest Hemingway
Those are pretty sweet. I like the white and blue Honda too. I'd have to say $1800+ is probably a rough way to save a few pounds. I'm not sure what my factory rims weigh, but I'm guessing not much more than 6 and 8 pounds for the two. Maybe a total weight savings of 5 lbs? If I were rich I might consider it, but I just can't see it.
What he meant was:
I really really want a set of those uber cool wheels in the white and blue. But the wifey will not let me have them.
CORRECTION DAY:November 2, 2010 Leave no Incumbent behind!
For once you have tasted flight you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skywards, for there you have been and there you will long to return.
---Leonardo Da Vinci
"The state must declare the child to be the most precious treasure of the people. As long as the government is perceived as working for the benefit of the children, the people will happily endure almost any curtailment of liberty ..."-Mein Kampf
"The state must declare the child to be the most precious treasure of the people. As long as the government is perceived as working for the benefit of the children, the people will happily endure almost any curtailment of liberty ..."-Mein Kampf
Those are pretty sweet. I like the white and blue Honda too. I'd have to say $1800+ is probably a rough way to save a few pounds. I'm not sure what my factory rims weigh, but I'm guessing not much more than 6 and 8 pounds for the two. Maybe a total weight savings of 5 lbs? If I were rich I might consider it, but I just can't see it.
Hmm, isn't the issue your rotating mass rather than thinking of it like a 5 lb dumb-bell? That is, the effort (er, counter-steer) to get the bike to turn in is greatly reduced because of the lesser gyroscopic effect based on a lighter rotating mass? Also, acceleration should be greatly increased by having less mass to spin around. As well as deceleration under braking should be easier as it has less rotating mass.
(Remember be kind folks. Me no engineer, just a paper-pusher. In any event, that is my understanding about the benefit of lighter rims.)
Hmm, isn't the issue your rotating mass rather than thinking of it like a 5 lb dumb-bell? That is, the effort (er, counter-steer) to get the bike to turn in is greatly reduced because of the lesser gyroscopic effect based on a lighter rotating mass? Also, acceleration should be greatly increased by having less mass to spin around. As well as deceleration under braking should be easier as it has less rotating mass.
(Remember be kind folks. Me no engineer, just a paper-pusher. In any event, that is my understanding about the benefit of lighter rims.)
Basically that is correct. Bang for your buck for dynamic improvements for a bike, second only to correctly set up suspension if you ask me.
A lighter wheel (assuming the weight dispersion is roughly the same) is easier to start and stop. It also will have a lesser resistance to changing angle against the plane of rotation (the so called "gyroscopic effect") which like most things is a double edged sword: "easier to turn" is also easier to go unstable ie "headshake".
Last edited by luvtolean; 04-27-2009 at 10:45 AM.
Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in coveralls and looks like work.-Thomas Edison
And the Durrani's are as light as air........... oh wait they are air
"The state must declare the child to be the most precious treasure of the people. As long as the government is perceived as working for the benefit of the children, the people will happily endure almost any curtailment of liberty ..."-Mein Kampf
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Originally Posted by 08silvercbr
If I were rich I might consider it, but I just can't see it.
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