Sparky
XS650 Addict
A while back there was an ad in the classified section, a fellow selling wire wheels- cheap price, just gotta put em together yourself! So I bought em, and received a quite dirty pair of hubs, a pile of SS spokes, and a pair of VERY shiny rims- a 21" and an 18". I was pretty stoked, and immediately got to work polishing up the hubs.
As always, I didnt take enough pictures.
before
inside
I decided that webbing in the front hub was in the way of a good polish, so I cut it down a bit and squared it off. Also I took the idea someone on here had and chucked the hub into a drill via an 8 inch bolt. With that mounted to the workbench I had a really terrible lathe, but good enough to spin the hub against some sandpaper. I used 220, then 500 grit, then polishing compound.
Done!
The rear was too big and heavy for my drill-lathe, so I did a lot of hand sanding, and used a tool I made consisting of a plastic coat hanger with a slot in the end. A long strip of sandpaper sort of whips around and does a good job of sanding. I also used this tool for the inside of the front hub. Again, I finished up the rear with polishing compound, and my homemade drill-buffing motor.
That drill gets a damn good workout around here.
Done!
With the hubs polished and looking good, It was time to lace these suckers up. I've laced bicycle wheels a few times, so I was only slightly intimidated. Lots of forum searching led me the right direction, and I started in on the back wheel. With only 2.5 attempts and about 2 hours, I has a wheel!
fuzzy, i know.
The next day I launched into the front. This one only took 2 tries, and Boom! I have a pair of rims!
Ooh, shiny...
I need to get bearings and build a truing stand- the front is quite a bit out of round- but that will come later. I'll post an update whenever i get all the bits and get these on the bike.
As always, I didnt take enough pictures.
before
inside
I decided that webbing in the front hub was in the way of a good polish, so I cut it down a bit and squared it off. Also I took the idea someone on here had and chucked the hub into a drill via an 8 inch bolt. With that mounted to the workbench I had a really terrible lathe, but good enough to spin the hub against some sandpaper. I used 220, then 500 grit, then polishing compound.
Done!
The rear was too big and heavy for my drill-lathe, so I did a lot of hand sanding, and used a tool I made consisting of a plastic coat hanger with a slot in the end. A long strip of sandpaper sort of whips around and does a good job of sanding. I also used this tool for the inside of the front hub. Again, I finished up the rear with polishing compound, and my homemade drill-buffing motor.
That drill gets a damn good workout around here.
Done!
With the hubs polished and looking good, It was time to lace these suckers up. I've laced bicycle wheels a few times, so I was only slightly intimidated. Lots of forum searching led me the right direction, and I started in on the back wheel. With only 2.5 attempts and about 2 hours, I has a wheel!
fuzzy, i know.
The next day I launched into the front. This one only took 2 tries, and Boom! I have a pair of rims!
Ooh, shiny...
I need to get bearings and build a truing stand- the front is quite a bit out of round- but that will come later. I'll post an update whenever i get all the bits and get these on the bike.
