Gen 5 carbon wheels

Nellybus said:

Well they recon pound for pound it's the best performance upgrade you can do, spending 2k on a full system and wsb air filter is only gonna give me a couple of bhp but they recon the wheels can give you a couple of seconds a lap, that's why I'm asking.

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I have BST’s on my 2014 10R.

I’ve seen some pretty impressive back to back lap times comparing stock to aftermarket (lighter) wheels. The thing to remember is that you are only lightening the wheels, not the rotors, or tires. The ZX wheels are not boat anchors, so the weight loss will not be as dramatic as it would be on say, a ZX14. On my bike, I’m very confident the wheels alone have made the bike significantly quicker around a specific loop, though to be fair, my still sticky stock BT016’s got replaced too with Pirelli rosso corsas. Still, the front lifts about 500 rpm’s sooner and the bike is easier to transition side to side and getting on the power is a little easier as well. This mod is expensive; BST’s are minimum $3k from Brocks and a few hundred higher if you opt for the stronger / heavier front wheel, the “R” spec. Heavier is relative, i don’t think it’s even a pound, but it is advertised to be significantly stronger. In addition to this, you will need to either swap the wheels yourself or have a shop do it. If the latter, count on a couple hundred labor.

I had mine shipped to my local shop directly, and picked up tires at the same time. I had the local Duc mechanic handle the wheel/tire install figuring he’s used to dealing with the Marchesinis that come on some Ducs and there is nary a single scuff from the tire install. I caught some of the tire install, and he was being very cautious as I would expect. Be sure any mechanic that touches your wheels is aware of the proper way to seat tires on C/F wheels and be wary if they do not warranty the install / work.
My bike had around 2200 miles when I swapped the wheels, so my rotors and pads got swapped over to the new wheels.

I don’t go around looking for objects to run over or pot holes to traverse, but where I am the roads are not brilliant and there seems to be a perpetual state of construction to feed the chronic overcrowding. I’ve struck a few holes that made me cringe, 1 of which was jarring enough to make me take a hard look when I got home. No visible damage, no indications of impact and no loss of air in weeks hence. If you keep your tires inflated properly, you’ll have to try hard to damage them. It’s not impossible, and I am sure it can be done, and there are stories of them coming undone on the internet - the internet being the gold standard for truth and all. But there’s also videos illustrating just how strong the C/F wheels are. I don’t know of others and wasn’t able to dig up solid info on magnesium wheel makers, but at least BST warrants their wheels for 2 years.

I have had aluminum, magnesium and carbon fiber aftermarket wheels and they have all been a very worthwhile mod. I managed to not bollix the aluminum or magnesium wheels. So far I’d say the carbon fiber wheels have been a great mod to the bike that really improves the way the bike responds.

HTH