Astralite wheels were constructed using 5251 aluminium alloy from selected ingots with magnesium content kept below 2% and tempered to H16 (three quarter hard using strain hardening) specification.
Rim halfs were spinned, which increased material strength further, whilst using a wax coating - then anodised immediately afterwards.
Made by Tony Dawson of Dawson Harmsworth Ltd, Astralite wheels were used on Hejira and Hesketh, among others.
Production began in 1977 and by 1989 sales had grown to 1500 wheels annually. The following decade brought financial difficulty and production ceased in 1992.
Tony Dawson also built FTW and Scitsu Motorcycles.
Production restarted in 2012 under RennStar Ltd and were advertised as being available in the following sizes:
18" Astralite Wheels
2.5" x 18"
3.5" x 18"
4.0" x 18"
17" Astralite Wheels
3.5" x 17"
5.0" x 17"
5.5" x 17"
They are for models including TZ250/350 up to 1981, TZ500, TZ750, RG500, GSXR and P&M F1
rennstar.com remained online until 2016 or 2017, but the site was unchanged since 2012. In 2013 they also advertised on astralitewheels.com
Their address was given as 10 Smithy Moor Lane, Stocksbridge, Sheffield.
Sources: Graces Guide; rennstar.com
29-Jan-24
lentz_gatlin at hotmaildotcom
Astralite Wheels
Hi,
Are Astralite wheels still available and if so do you have contact information?
Thanks, Lentz
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