Build Thread...Special to Cafe Bike

[member28833]

. A side benefit is that the 18" tires are more widely available from what I can tell.

Looking forward to seeing that !

 

[MaxPete]

Looking forward to seeing that !

Me too - I haven't spoked and trued a wheel in more than 40 years......

 

[member28833]

I’m gonna try it the easy way first and then break out the RCN language.

You Got This !

 

[MaxPete]

Thanks Randy - I will give it a go and I do know some folks who can bail me out if I muff it.

Just gotta get back from the ding-danged business trip I'm on right now.

Oooops - the meeting is re-starting.

 

[Raymond]

MaxPete said: ↑
I’m gonna try it the easy way first and then break out the RCN language. They are pretty cattywompus as the saying goes....

I will utilize the "threaded rod and block of wood method" advocated by Messers 5Twins, Jim and TwoMany prior to commencing the use of the type of foul language that is customarily heard within the ranks of the Royal Canadian Navy and the military of other colonial nations.

The indicators (i.e. turn signals) located at the forward end of the motorcycle are quite badly out of alignment at the present time....

Howzzat?

You got it to a T. Or going by the picture, to a Tea. Absolutely perfect, old chap! Bing-bong!

 

[MaxPete]

 

[MaxPete]

Well folks, another couple of steps forward with the Three Chicks Build today:

Lucille: my CVMG buddy finished the polishing on her LH engine case cover (Brian S ) and so I swapped it back on. She’s about as pretty as she’s going to get this summer I’m afraid.

Demi: I got the rear wheel bearings and seals installed down at the shop (thanks Bruce D!) and today I spoked the 18” rim onto the 48-hole hub. It isn’t centred or trued yet - but we’ll get there. It really is quite the jigsaw puzzle getting all those inner and outer spokes sorted out. That wheel has more nipples than in the Follies Bergere dancers change room at costume change time.

Please ignore the grubby condition of the rim and hub - I had very greasy hands and also, I had written on them with a Sharpie to help keep track of the spoke holes.

 

[member28833]

Nice ! On screen that 18" rim looks much more appropriate with that spoke pattern. That will surely compliment the front rim to have a unique look

 

[member28833]

Hey... is that Aluminum ?

 

[MaxPete]

Hi Randy - yup, just tested it and it is aluminium. I had thought it was steel like the stock front 64-spoke rim but I just checked it with a magnet.

Interesting....

 

[member28833]

yup, just tested it and it is aluminium.

Awesome ! Maybe a front aluminum to match ? After all you did do a very nice job there !
MaxPete is on a roll with Snazzy gizmos, Green paint, Polished goods, Tires, who what's next ?

Keep it rollin Pete you are rockin the XS ers out here like me setting the bars high ! (and not the handlebars either)
-R

 

[5twins]

I can put up with the 48 spoke rear and may eventually do as you have with the one that came on my Heritage Special. But that 64 spoke front just doesn't do it for me, I think they look awful.

 

[MaxPete]

I can put up with the 48 spoke rear and may eventually do as you have with the one that came on my Heritage Special. But that 64 spoke front just doesn't do it for me, I think they look awful.

ahhhh c’mon 5T - don’t pop my bubble, I think they’ll look nice on good ol’ Demi.

They’ll compliment her....hmmmm...errr, ummmmm....buxom tank.

 

[MaxPete]

OK - well, that 18" rear wheel pictured above was NO GOOD. When I tried to true it - some spokes were waaaayyy too long and others were waaayyy too short. I disassembled it and started over - without success.

So - here is my plea...

Let me say that I am not a spoking expert - BUT - I have spoked wheels before and in doing this job, I have discovered the following:

• there are inner spokes and outer spokes (which is true of any spoked wheel I believe);
• there TWO different lengths of inner spokes and TWO different lengths of outer spokes;
• the short inner spokes and the same length as the short outer spokes and the long inners and long outers are also the same - so it would appear that the pattern mimics the original 16" spoke pattern which has repeated eight spoke groupings (see the photos below);
• there several different ways of lacing this wheel incorrectly - and I have found them - I hope ALL of them.

I have photos of the original 16" wheel showing the spoke pattern (see below) and I get that. I have tried to replicate it but it seems to come out that some spokes are much too long and others are much too short - and again, I have tried it several different ways.
Here are my questions:

1. has anyone ever actually laced this wheel correctly?
2. what lacing pattern did you use?
3. would you PLEASE post a photo of your wheel for me so that I can replicate your pattern.

I know that some people do not like the 48 spoke wheels - but I do - and so I don't want to have that debate here.

Pete
(confounded in Canada)

Maximum Pete - Windsor, Canada

 

[GLJ]

In the original pic it looks like 47 is shorter than 48. In the new pic it looks like there are very close to the same length.

 

[MaxPete]

Hmmmm....could be.

I know I did something wrong....

 

[YamadudeXS650C]

I know that some people do not like the 48 spoke wheels - but I do -

So do I Pete !
And I also love my two stock "humpback" seats

 

[MaxPete]

OK - might have it now.....and key were those very clear photos from NightHog (thanks SO much). I took photos too, but mine simply weren’t as clear and I didn’t notice some of the nuances like the offset of the pattern from one side of the wheel to the other.

There is an awful lot going on with these wheels:
- inner spoke and outer spoke types
- two different lengths of each type of spoke
- which hole you start at on the “second” side (i.e. the pattern is the same on the chain and brake sides BUT - you must offset the pattern by a certain number of holes - but HOW MANY)? It took a lot of staring at photos to get that pattern offset.

Anyhow, after much angst and about six or seven tries, I think I have done it correctly now and I think I’m right because all of the spokes are in and they all have about the same amount of thread showing as the nipples begin to seat in the rim. Previous iterations had some spokes showing NO thread when the nipples seated and others with the thread barely started as the nipples seated.

Clearly that was no good - as I like nipples that are in good shape and symmetrical.

The proof will be when I try to true the thing tomorrow (too tired from dealing with students abroad and bending over that frickin’ wheel).

Film at 11:00!

Pete

 

[Raymond]

Well, at least you have something to keep you occupied during weeks of social distancing.

Seriously, well done for taking it on - I've never even attempted to lace a wheel.

 

[MaxPete]

Thanks Raymond - lets see how it looks with a spoke wrench on it.