Forged vs cast wheel

From the beginning of my Hyper ownership I was not a fan of the SP chicken feet marchesini wheels. My bike isn't an SP but I intended on swapping out wheels to forged wheels when I came across a deal. Well, that deal popped up on the design I really wanted. The deal included Ducabike left and right nuts. The coolest part about these wheels is that they are 4.6lbs lighter than my old cast wheels. They also match one of my dry clutch covers. Noone makes a chicken foot shape dry clutch cover to match the newer Marchesini wheel, probably because the bike never came with a dry clutch. I had to weigh them in different ways with 3 different scales to be sure my measurements were correct. The OEM cast wheel was too heavy to register on small scale so I was only able to use 2 scales for that one. I used the small scale that I usually weight small stuff on,used a hanging digital fish scale and used the bathroom scale minus my weight. The measurements were almost exactly the same each time. These measurements were taken with the valve stems in. What is very interesting to me is that OZ Piega forged wheels advertise their rear 5.5in wheel @ 8.35lbs. Searching weight of other aftermarket wheels in the same dimensions(small axle, 17x5.5), this wheel is on par with the weight of most aftermarket forged options. Did the 1100s/evo SP come from the factory with such a light wheel or did this come off of something else(oem or aftermarket).

A couple things that to note that I wasn't expecting, the Marchesini doesn't seem to be painted or powder coated. It feels more like a hard anodizing and wipes off very easily. Between tire bead landing, the area where the bead of the tire rests while mounting/dismounting a tire has a smaller radius. It might not seem like anything worth noting but if you do tire changes at home using normal tire changing hand tools this makes it FAR easier to mount/dismount a tire.
OEM cast wheel - 12.2lb
Marchesini forged wheel - 7.56lb

Something to note that I'm sure won't make much difference due to where the weight is, the Ducabike wheel nuts are half the weight of the OEM.
OEM right - 136g/.298lb
Ducabike right - 70g/.154lb

Now to sell my old cast wheel to help fund a 48tooth clutch basket

kuksul08 said:

I noticed that on my SP's marchesinis as well, the paint would wipe off easily. Whenever I was cleaning them I could see the color coming up on the rag. These wheels are very soft and fragile but sure are light!

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I might have miss communicated. The Marchesini seem to be anodized and the color seems to be more than paint. Almost like a non stick pan coating. Things like grease and what not wipe right off while the color reamins.

nickwst4 said:

You'd better hope you don't hit any pot-holes with those wheels!

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I have read in numerous places that the opposite is true. I have seen the cast wheel being references as 'soft as bread'. We will soon find out, there are on my daily driver.

BadToTheBown said:

I've had the very same itch, very interested in forged wheels (light) but don't like the chicken feet either...I had a Marchesini rear wheel off a 1098 and the larger axle it requires BUT then I'm looking at 195/200 tire, etc. to change over on a motor I do not intend to hotrod, so I don't need more tire which would also offset the handling advantage for extra grip I don't need that would mean slower turn-in, so to me these look pretty attractive, especially if they're in gold...that said, these stock cast wheels are probably 50% lighter than my cast BMW wheels which are annealed so they bend on pole holes instead of breaking...so are the forged Marchesini wheels annealed? Sounds like you think they're soft but I would have expected them to be tempered (makes them tougher but once past their plastic range, they break). Also, do you know if the stock wheels are annealed? And finally, what models have the Marchesini wheels if I go shopping?

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I'm going to have to reread what I wrote. I ment to say that the Marchesini wheel has a super tough finish , something stronger that paint or powder coat. Almost like they have a hard anodized surface(which is extremely strong) it reminds me of the coating they use on non stick pans. The Marchesini feels light, ridged and strong. The OEM cast wheel is either painted or powder coated and have a far softer finish than the Marchesini. It is definitely pain or PC on the OEM cast wheel.

This Marchesini was offered on the Hypermotard S and SP EVO. They had 2 versions of the Marchesini wheel. This one had the smooth face, the other has a textured structured feature to the face. I don't know much about the other version. The wheel specs you will be looking for is a 5.5 X 17 with small axle but I seen a few guys make axle spacer/bushings that allow for the large axle wheel on the small axle bike but then you run into the 6in weight and performance issue that you mentioned earlier. They also made this exact wheel for the 1098s (and I think 1198s) but they are large axle and 6in.

I see where I messed up. I said "wipes off very easily". What I meant was that grease and grime wipe off very easily not the coating. The coating is very durable on the Marchesini

Duongtohm939 said:

the forged will be harder than the cast wheel. Am i correct?


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Correct. Forged will be harder than cast. So these forged Marcesini wheels are lighter, stronger and more ridged than the cast wheel. Seems like a win win win all the way around to me

Rdesi said:

Off topic, but what do you have on there for exhaust? Want to go with similar setup and position

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That is the Spark.it high mount 3/4 system. Silenziatore GDU1805 per ducati HYPERMOTARD 821 (13-15)

Tron said:

I'm not sure if the 998 wheels are forged or cast, but another member on this forum posted a 998 rear wheel on his hyper. I quite like it. The chicken feet design has never really appealed to me. If the front 998 fits, I may start looking for a set...

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I believe they made that style in forged aluminum as well as magnesium. That would be a great upgrade