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It's easy to tell the standard Brembo wheels from OZ wheels, but a recent discussion between TN and F9 has made me wonder how you can tell the Forged OZ wheels from the lower spec cast OZ wheels that Aprilia fitted to some models.

The discussion was:

TwinNut wrote:First on the menu are what I originally thought were OZ Mille wheels. I bought them from eBay and was told they were Mille wheels (b*****ds!!!!) but which I've found out since are actually original Aprilia wheels from a Tuono. They're not cast OZ's but are Aprilia-made licensed versions. I understand they weigh slightly less than standard Falco wheels but look mega, as you can see.

Falco9 wrote: They are not made by Aprilia but are cast OZ's. Aprilia buy these in for the std RSVR & Tuono but fit the forged ones only to the "Factory" versions.

TwinNut wrote:Are you totally sure? They don't have 'OZ' stamped within the recess below the spokes which I understood was the deciding factor. Feck, if they are OZ's then great but I still need all the wedge I can get so need to clear everything.

Now I too have a set of OZ wheels that I picked up from ebay ... but are they the forged ones?

My set do have "OZ" cast/stamped into them - is this how we tell them apart or is there another way?
I guess we could tell by weight if anyone happens to know how much they weigh.
(Thinks... I'll weigh mine and post up later - any chance you could weigh yours TN?)

There again if anyone knows how to tell them apart, please enlighten us.

If your wheels have OZ cast into them it will be a sure fire bet that they are OZ. I have seen aprilia wheels with APRILIA cast into them and they were identical to the OZ. Also have a look in the two stroke section at the RS125 that I brought my daughter. It too has OZ wheels(lookalike) but I can assure you they are not OZ.

yes!

OZ wheels will have a little OZ sticker on them between the spokes.

Nooj wrote:OZ wheels will have a little OZ sticker on them between the spokes.

Mine don't have a sticker but the do have 'OZ' stamped or cast into them - so I know they are OZ. Maybe they did have a sticker but it's gone AWOL.

..... soooo ..... are we saying that all that are stamped 'OZ' are forged and the cast look-alikes aren't OZ but aprilia?


BTW, for the record, my OZ wheels (without tyres) weigh:

• Front: 3.5kg
  Rear: 5.4kg

D-Rider wrote:

Nooj wrote:OZ wheels will have a little OZ sticker on them between the spokes.

Mine don't have a sticker but the do have 'OZ' stamped or cast into them - so I know they are OZ. Maybe they did have a sticker but it's gone AWOL.

..... soooo ..... are we saying that all that are stamped 'OZ' are forged and the cast look-alikes aren't OZ but aprilia?


BTW, for the record, my OZ wheels (without tyres) weigh:

• Front: 3.5kg
  Rear: 5.4kg

Interesting........ My OZ's are definately OZ's but have Aprilia cast into them. As I mentioned to TN (and I might be wrong but this is from a very good Aprilia contact) Aprilia do not have their own wheel manufacturing facility, both Brembo(just down the road @ Bergamo) and OZ have always supplied wheels to them, but the "forged" OZ's are always stamped whereas the cast OZ's are not
Mine are the "cast" OZ's as fitted std to the Tuono and weight (coz I've got them off at the mo) courtesy of my beloved's scales
Front 4.5kg
Rear 7.0kg (huge weight saving for forged over cast in the rear wheel eh??)


F9

Even if they turn out to be not OZ's they still look the dogs (well IMHO they do!)_

So it sounds as though I do have the forged ones - Wey Hey!

Not bad for about 150 notes ..... although the front one does need some work and I want to powder coat them.

now just imagine andy.... how much weight would you gain from changing to lighter exhausts as well as the wheels....

The exhaust was procured more tha a year ago Pete .... but you can't fit a Mile exhaust without fitting the Mille swinger .... and that's still work in progress.

Probably there's another area for significant weight saving .... but that "component" is currently typing this post up

D-Rider wrote:So it sounds as though I do have the forged ones - Wey Hey!

Not bad for about 150 notes ..... although the front one does need some work and I want to powder coat them.

........and fit them

D-Rider wrote:The exhaust was procured more tha a year ago Pete .... but you can't fit a Mile exhaust without fitting the Mille swinger .... and that's still work in progress.

Probably there's another area for significant weight saving .... but that "component" is currently typing this post up

and don't the mille swingers weigh more than standard ones ?

how about we have a week end meet at your place andy... reckon we could fettle it all to scrumptiousness moddedness in a few hours.... now about that homebrew.... tis thirsty work fettling you know.....

Fausto wrote:

D-Rider wrote:The exhaust was procured more tha a year ago Pete .... but you can't fit a Mile exhaust without fitting the Mille swinger .... and that's still work in progress.

Probably there's another area for significant weight saving .... but that "component" is currently typing this post up

and don't the mille swingers weigh more than standard ones ?

To be honest, I'm not sure.
From what I remember hearing, there's not too much in it and the majority of the weight is nearer the pivot for the Mille arm - so no negative effect. The benefits of reducing wheel mass are not just reducing unsprung mass but also in reducing gyroscopic inertia. So much for the theory - I guess it's how it feels in practice that counts .... and I can't comment on that yet

Aladinsaneuk wrote:how about we have a week end meet at your place andy... reckon we could fettle it all to scrumptiousness moddedness in a few hours.... now about that homebrew.... tis thirsty work fettling you know.....

Love the idea Pete - although I've not made any homebrew in years - maybe I should revive the brewer's art!

Also, the delay is not putting it all together, it's the preparation - stripping the swinger down for powder coating, getting the dink filled, getting the hairline crack in the front wheel fixed (there's somewhere fairly near that's meant to be good with this sort of thing), getting swinger and wheels powder coated, modifying the oil tank to clear the exhaust .....

The trouble is that these things can't easily be blitzed in one go.
If I can ever find time to take some leave from work I'll crack on with it.

suggest buying a spare oil tank to sort - then it could all be done in one hit....

he says with bits of falco all over the place as he completes a few more mods... and my son is finding his mattress a little lumpy with some of the custom bits I have hidden from the wife.....