Date: Fri, 26 Jun
From: Geoff Swann
When I do a wheel I tighten the spokes so they SOUND right. Listen to the sound of a tight spoke before you strip a wheel and aim for the same note. Some will sound higher and some lower and this will depend upon how tight they are to true the wheel.
Spokes that go "THUNK" are loose. Tap them with the spoke spanner. See if you can play Jingle Bells, it amuses the kids. You can tune them in G Major if you try. Remember to slacken the opposite side/and/or/end a bit. Thread the new spokes in the same order they came off. Make notes or spend a couple of hours in trial and error...
Make a jig so you can spin the wheel and check for run out and roundness. I use an old spoke on some wood. Use a proper spoke tool, anything else is useless. Don't take both wheels to bits at the same time, keep one for reference. Spokes can vary in the same wheel by very small amounts, if they are in the wrong place you will have to start all over again.( I have done it!) Grind of any protruding bits, they make punctures. Use a new rubber band. Use you favourite sealant at the nipple to rim join, it stops water getting in.
As already mentioned, grease the nipples, sorry, threads... Be aware that hubs can be offset to one side. (Lots of different spokes). When it all goes wrong take it to a wheel builder.
Happy fly eating,
Geoff Swann
Date: Wed, 1 Jul 1998 23:13:16 -0400 (EDT)
From: Steven R. Schoner
Well folks, I finally got my wheels all laced, the spokes tightened, and the wheels trued. As per advice from Geoff, they pluck with a musical note, not high pitched, but a definite ring.
Now the good news-- I also solved a problem that I have heard mentioned here before. That is the tendency for the front end to shake and judder if one lets go of the handlebars. Numerous ideas were posited as to the source of this problem which seems to affect many of our old bikes. In my case it was loose spokes on both front and back wheels. I think the rear wheel has more influence in this than one might think. I wonder if loose spokes there causes the transmission of power from the engine to be more pulsating than would be otherwise. Power is applied to the rear wheel at 180 deg of engine rotation. Though the flywheel and wheel itself buffers some of this, I imagine that lose spoke could cause some kind of harmonic that affects the front end.
Well, since tightening, and straightening the wheels, the problem vanished.
Front end got the jutters? Try tightening the spokes on both wheels.
Bet that will solve it.
--
Steven R. Schoner (Meteorite Man and Seeker).
___________________________________________________________________________
Compared to the Infinite we know next to nothing. What good we
do with
the little we do know is the key to wisdom.
-
Date: Wed, 1 Jul 1998 23:55:26 -0400 (EDT)
From: Peter Aslan
A word of caution on loose wheel spokes and Handling problems.
While it is true that your handling will suffer if your motorcycle is running on Wheels with lose spokes, Done assume that all handling problems are caused by lose spokes.
In my experience, Tyres, wheel alignment and offset are all important factors. As the E-Mail above suggests the wheel was rebuilt, (probably using a new Tyre), and therefore removed and replaced on the bike, (if it were a read wheel, the alignment would have changed, and the offset may have changed), all these factors may have come into play.
BTW, the whole issue to tapping spokes and using the tone produced as a measure of tension and therefore tightness, reminds me of the Wheel Tapers they used to have for the Steam Engines. A Bloke would be paid to go around tapping the wheels of all locomotives and coaches. If the wheel was cracked or chipped, the taper could tell by the ringing sound produced.
Peter Aslan, (aka Captain Norton) Louden Quill Award
40.3 Chrome Plated Spokes Warning
Date: Mon, 03 Aug 1998 09:52:12 -0500
From: Colin Sharpe
Kim Jade wrote:
> I am in the process of restoring a 1961 Dominator and have taken
the wheels
> apart for various reasons. I had thought that I had noted all the
relevant
> info prior to removing the spokes i.e. pattern, important dimensions,
> photographs taken however only upon commencement of reassembly have
I
> noticed there are two different types of spokes, not in length but
in the
> length of the "hooks" .
>
> Now that both wheels are apart and the spokes from each mixed up
by the
> chrome plater, I am not sure whether one type is for the rear and
one for
> the front or each wheel takes half of each type. Anyone with some
> knowledge on the subject??
>
> Regards Neil Green
Hate to say this, but from experience, plating spokes is not a good idea! I did it once on a Commando, and I can assure you that riding with broken spokes is very interesting! I was told that plating causes hydrogen embrittlement, which is what caused the spokes to break. I ended up having the wheels rebuilt with new spokes, the galvanised kind, just like Norton's used to use.
Walridge does new spokes at a reasonable price.
English.
Date: Thu, 06 Aug 1998 08:24:02 +1000
From: Jordan Princic
Ben & Linda wrote:
>Kim should apply this knowledge to a new set of spokes. He has
ruined his-
>a chrome plated spoke is a seriously weakened spoke. An expensive
mistake.
>The chromed ones should all be sawed in half or buried to ensure that
they
>can never be used.
There's another good reason to avoid chromed spokes - they often peel the plating off after some time, and you can never get them looking as good again. This didn't stop some makers using chromed spokes though, Harley & Triumph for example. Chrome or nickel-plated parts subject to stress should be treated
to avoid "hydrogen embrittlement", a simple procedure - heat parts in oven for two hours at 220 degrees centigrade.
Jordan