Moto Lita Steering Wheel

[Paul4223]

Although I spent many, many hours restoring the original steering wheel in my car, and it looks great, (photo attached) lately I've become enamored of the jazzier-looking Moto Lita, with Tiger emblem, horn and telescopic functionality.

Does anyone have a Moto Lita on their car? 15" or 14"? Care to comment?

Thanks.
Paul

 

[michael-king]

Have a leather 14" with slots on the tiger, 13" with holes on the alpine SII and 14" with holes on the sIV.. love them all.. good feel with the leather and thicker rim.. if i was going to have wood id stay stock..

 

[65beam]

wheel

I have two cars with 14" wood moto lita wheels. they are the wheels with the rivets. they're sturdy and are a good fit for a guy my size. they do not present a problem with turning the car in a tight circle. i'll be using a 15" wheel on the RHD Harrington we're building.

 

[cadreamn67]

I have a Motolita wheel and the adapter to keep the telescoping feature but have not yet installed it.

Candidly, I do not think the wooden one with the rivets that I bought it is that much thicker than the stock wheel. Also, I think there is a bit of a trick on how you actually install it to keep the telescoping function. And I am not sure it can be moved "on the fly" like the stock one. May involve a small bit of disassembly and a little wrenching.

Michael, if you have any experience to share with us in the install and adjustability, please do!

For now my plan is just to put a nice lace-on thick black leather cover on the the stock wheel to get the extra thickness that would make for a more comfortable grip. Keeps the stock adjustability and original horn ring. But the lace stitching does look like it may get tedious after a while, and the Motolita is a handsome wheel...

Gene

 

[65beam]

wheel

the wheels I have are heavier than a standard wheel. the circumference of the rim is 3 ". we were at the Carlisle import festival last week and saw quite a variety of wheels for sale by various vendors. adjustability is something I have never used but one time on my cars. the wheel is set where I want it and I lock the column using a little trick shown to me by a local shop. easily reversible in two minutes. unless the original horn ring is set close to the contact ring and you use the horn the chance of the ring breaking is very high. that's not a problem with the after market wheel with the horn in the center cap. another plus for the moto lita.

 

[Paul4223]

Thanks for all the replies and good info.

Horn functionality is more important to me than telescoping.
A thicker and smaller diameter wheel which is more stylish, could win my heart. As long as it's wood.

I'm liking 14" diameter so it sounds as if Moto-Lita is my best bet, eh?

 

[hottigr]

This Grant steering wheel is wood and plenty thick- don't know if they still make them, though: