issues with lacing rear wheel...( mikesxs rim)

[racerdave]

Gary, among your many XS talents, do you lace wheels? I need 2 done. Both are Mikes XS 19x2.15 shouldered aluminum and stainless spokes to oem XS19inch frt hubs. I don't know if I want to tackle it.

 

[hard_y_rd]

So let me ask you guy's this.

I've located NOS spokes locally for my 72. But they want $80 for the rear, and I haven't got a price on the front yet.

Would you spoke expert's go NOS, or give mike's stainless a shot.

Get NOS for 16 inch rims. Anything else ,I'd go mikes stainless.

 

[CalsXS2]

Get NOS for 16 inch rims. Anything else ,I'd go mikes stainless.

I would be doing 19" and 18".

 

[gggGary]

RD so far just when I need to do my own wheels, I need more experience before I would "hire out"
Check the local dirt bike shop/hangouts there will be an experienced lacer near by.

The set I did recently was the first time in a long time. I think it is a very reasonable DIY project.

There are a bunch of how to guides and youtube videos, it is VERY nice to have a reference front wheel to get the pattern started.

Anybody know the specs on CB750A (hondamatic) carbs? I can't believe the stuff I get roped into doing......

 

[hard_y_rd]

I would be doing 19" and 18".

You should be fine with stainless spokes from mikes. But ya never know with aftermarket stuff. I laced a 21 inch rim with the stainless spokes from XS650Direct (mikes) It worked out. Just got to gamble. You'll never know for sure until you try.

 

[padgett]

anyone get a solution out of this? i'm running into the exact problem with a mikes 16 inch kit. the spokes just seem way too short

 

[DIRTY DOG]

i agree!! it almost seems the holes on the rim are not drilled properly.

spoke nipples not seated on the outers

outer spokes bending over

what the heck is going on here.

edit... i do have the inner and outer spokes correctly sorted. this seems to be an issue with the 16 inch rim. never had an issue with 18's, 19's etc....

I have done a few xs wheels it looks like you have the outer spokes in the rim holes for the inner sopkes take it a part and start over make sure you have the spokes in the corect direction and in the corect holes I have done this many times hope it helps if I'm wrong I'm sorry

 

[Ostunner]

So I had the same issue with the 16" rear wheel and spoke kit that I ordered from MikesXS. Basically what ended up happening was I had countless e-mails back and forth with the company regaurding the issue, only come to find out that the 16" rear wheel/spoke kit is not designed for the drum brake assembly? So I sent the spokes back for a refund, and ended up keeping the wheel. Then took it to "thewheelmaster" here in washington and he had to fab up custom spokes for the wheel as wheel as re-drill the holes due to them being slightly off. Hope that saves you some time!

 

[nineosixdave]

I am having the exact same problem as others have had. I have a rear drum hub off an xs650, a 16" 2.75 Takasago rim and stainless spokes from MikeXS for a 16" wheel.

When I go to fit the 90 degree spokes for the outside I would have to bend them to make them fit.

If I have screwed something up. Fine, I'll take the heat for being ignorant. But I noticed this thread started almost a year ago and it's now evident that MikesXS keeps shipping crap that doesn't fit?

It took me literally weeks via email with MikesXS to get these spokes ordered in the first place.

While I am ranting, I vow never to buy another item from ANY company that does not have telephone customer support. I would rather talk to somebody in India than have to do email for customer support.

 

[TwoJugs]

One thing I learned, if you are lacing stainless spokes be sure to use a lubricating oil on the nipple threads. They like to gall and bind up when getting tight.

 

[hard_y_rd]

I am having the exact same problem as others have had. I have a rear drum hub off an xs650, a 16" 2.75 Takasago rim and stainless spokes from MikeXS for a 16" wheel.

When I go to fit the 90 degree spokes for the outside I would have to bend them to make them fit.

If I have screwed something up. Fine, I'll take the heat for being ignorant. But I noticed this thread started almost a year ago and it's now evident that MikesXS keeps shipping crap that doesn't fit?

It took me literally weeks via email with MikesXS to get these spokes ordered in the first place.

While I am ranting, I vow never to buy another item from ANY company that does not have telephone customer support. I would rather talk to somebody in India than have to do email for customer support.

If you compare the stainless spokes to the originals you will see why they don't work. The inner stainless spokes are fine but the outer spokes need a slightly longer spoke head.
I could of gave you a complete set of worthless stainless spokes to try. Too bad you had to find out the hard way.

 

[nineosixdave]

If you compare the stainless spokes to the originals you will see why they don't work. The inner stainless spokes are fine but the outer spokes need a slightly longer spoke head.
I could of gave you a complete set of worthless stainless spokes to try. Too bad you had to find out the hard way.

Wait. I figured it out and the spokes worked fine with just a little extra effort.

The problem - at least in my case - was that the stainless spokes from Mikes are just a little larger in circumference than the originals. Along with the fact that I had my wheels powder coated this added just enough material to the two parts to prevent the outer spokes from laying flat across the hub and to the center of the wheel without force. This is what is causing the bending of the spoke others, and myself have complained about.

The resolution was pretty simple one I got the inners all installed and connected to the wheel.

What I did was take a small diameter metal file and remove just a portion of lip from where the spoke comes out and across the hub in the direction towards the nipple on the wheel.

Here is what it looked like after the removal. Notice not much material is removed.

Once I did this the outers laced up just fine.

Of course, all of this could be resolved if Mikes would just make the outer spoke a hair longer between the short end of the 90 degree turn. That's the area between the lip that goes into the hub before the 90. This would not necessarily lengthen the overall spoke but would allow for the thickness of the stainless spoke rubbing on the hub edge.

By the way - the part number the spokes I purchased from Mikes is 19-0058 Rear 16 inch Stainless Spoke.

 

[DIRTY DOG]

yea I found out the hard way too the first few set I got were good but the last set was bad. I got a set of 48 s/s (got 54) laced ok after a wile the nipples rusted (not a little a lot)anyways mikes xs spokes arn't always up to par.

 

[5twins]

Yes, powder coated rear hubs can present a problem. I encountered this doing an 18" rear which are usually trouble-free. My solution was to twirl a suitably sized drill bit in the hub spoke holes to remove the power build-up in the bottom of the holes. This allowed the spoke heads to fit in deeper and properly as they would on an un-powdered hub.

 

[ericsjeep]

I unfortunately ordered my 16" stainless spokes and 16" rim from mikes before I found this thread. Unwilling to give up stainless spokes on the rear wheel I did some experimenting with the extra spokes in the pack, and came up with something that I am happy with. First I found a couple blocks of wood and clamped them in my vice, to keep from damaging the spokes. I then clamped the spoke in between the two blocks, with the bend sitting about a 1/4 inch above the blocks(too high and the spoke will mangle).

Next I used a small mallet to hammer the head down a little.

As you can see very little adjustment is made. Stock bend on left, new bend on right

Then I installed all of the outer spokes. I was abble to get quite a few threads(at least 6).

The rims have not been trued yet either, so more threads will be used during that process too.

 

[hotrod937]

Sorry to bring up an old thread but are these wheels I have laced wrong. There is a good amount to touching and tension where the spokes cross.

I didn't last the 21 inch sporty drum one but did the xs one. I'm going to relace the both.

 

[5twins]

I really can't comment on the Hardly wheel other than to say they do some strange shit. The XS wheel is wrong. You have all the spokes laced as "inners". They should alternate inner, outer, inner, etc. If you look closely at the spokes, you will see there are two different types. The bent over part at the top differs between an inner and outer spoke .....

Here's a pic of how the spokes alternate around the hub, inner, outer, inner, etc .....

 

[hotrod937]

I relaced it and am having the same problem with the outers as the few of you. Seems they being bent at 90* are not enough as they need to go past 90* to fit correctly. I'll hammer them over in the vice and try it and if not after that I'll file a bit off the hole and after than I'll bend the fuckers if they don't fit and run it.

Side note: with the Mikes aftermarket shallow rim the stock spokes would be too short. I wish I'd known this rim was gonna be like this cause I would have found a deeper stock style one to match my Harley front. I still might have my old bent one repaired and rechromed. But for now this must work.

 

[ericsjeep]

I relaced it and am having the same problem with the outers as the few of you. Seems they being bent at 90* are not enough as they need to go past 90* to fit correctly. I'll hammer them over in the vice and try it and if not after that I'll file a bit off the hole and after than I'll bend the fuckers if they don't fit and run it.

Side note: with the Mikes aftermarket shallow rim the stock spokes would be too short. I wish I'd known this rim was gonna be like this cause I would have found a deeper stock style one to match my Harley front. I still might have my old bent one repaired and rechromed. But for now this must work.

I tried filing the hubs before I used the hammer to bend the spokes, but couldn't get them to line up. the problem is that the heads aren't bent in enough, so when you go to align the spoke up with the hole in the rim it pushes itself out of the seat in the hub. When you bend the spoke in a tad more it allows them to stay seated in the hub holes. According to the Climer manual the outers are should be 87deg, but I think they need to be a little more than that.
Good luck

 

[hard_y_rd]

I don't think it's the angle of the spoke that's causing the problem (although it's off) as much as the spoke head length. I measured OEM compared to the stainless. As you can see in the photo's, the stainless is shorter. If you bend them, I don't think you will gain anything. Probably weaken them more then anything. Time will tell if you do get it to work.