To and of my UK based XS friends, have you any experience of the cost of ordering from Heiden Tuning now that we have left the EU? I want to order new stainless spokes so if there is a UK supplier that is as good let me know.
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Ordering from Heiden Tuning
- Thread starter Dom
- Start date
Have you tried Feked? They sell mostly old Brit bike parts, but they also rebuild wheels. Tell 'em what size you need and they might just have 'em. I ordered rims and spokes from 'em for my BSA. Quality and service is first rate.
... and they're not far from you... in Dorset.
https://www.feked.com/wheels/services/wheel-building/
... and they're not far from you... in Dorset.
https://www.feked.com/wheels/services/wheel-building/
Hi @Dom, I've bought from Jerry Heiden two or three times and faced no Brexit issues. That was in 2019 and I don't know if the situation is any different now. Took a look at my XS650 spreadsheet (sad but true) and don't have separate postage costs but I don't remember shipping being a lot more expensive than using Yambits or Feked. I even returned some carb slides to Heiden when they weren't suitable for the BS38s on my XS. He coughed up a full refund and I really only lost out by the £6.45 return postage to Holland.
Happy to endorse @Jim's mention of Feked. Bought a lot of stuff from them rebuilding a 1970 Triumph TR6 and have since bought things for the Yamaha and Royal Enfield Bullet. Very good service. If Yambits have the spokes you need, I've also had very good service from them.
Might be a good idea to talk to a couple of wheel builders and see if they can supply or fit spokes for an XS wheel. They ought to ask the right questions at least!
Had a wheel for a Honda NX250 rebuilt to a larger rim, 17" instead of 16" to give wider choice of tyres. The m/c engineer in this village recommended Roy Thersby in Middlesbrough, said he's probably the 'best wheel builder in the UK.' Fairly expensive but did a perfect job. He was well able to sort the angles and spoke lengths for a one-off wheel. Cheers, Raymond
Happy to endorse @Jim's mention of Feked. Bought a lot of stuff from them rebuilding a 1970 Triumph TR6 and have since bought things for the Yamaha and Royal Enfield Bullet. Very good service. If Yambits have the spokes you need, I've also had very good service from them.
Might be a good idea to talk to a couple of wheel builders and see if they can supply or fit spokes for an XS wheel. They ought to ask the right questions at least!
Had a wheel for a Honda NX250 rebuilt to a larger rim, 17" instead of 16" to give wider choice of tyres. The m/c engineer in this village recommended Roy Thersby in Middlesbrough, said he's probably the 'best wheel builder in the UK.' Fairly expensive but did a perfect job. He was well able to sort the angles and spoke lengths for a one-off wheel. Cheers, Raymond
Hi Dom,
I use Tug Boat Dave (BESPOKED WHEELS) a master wheel builder.
He built up my Cognito hub to an Alloy rim with stainless DB spokes.
The rim had to be drilled to match the hub.
Perfect job and not too expensive either.
Ads.
DAVE SHALOM
07969153555
tugboatdave@hotmail.co.uk
I use Tug Boat Dave (BESPOKED WHEELS) a master wheel builder.
He built up my Cognito hub to an Alloy rim with stainless DB spokes.
The rim had to be drilled to match the hub.
Perfect job and not too expensive either.
Ads.
DAVE SHALOM
07969153555
tugboatdave@hotmail.co.uk
Thanks folks, really helpful. I will look into the other options buy I'm quite keen on lacing them myself, I mean how hard can it be
electricpoet
XS650 Member
Dom Central Wheel Components Birmingham have a good reputation for wheel building and looking at their website they list most XS650 years for stainless steel spokes at around £98 a set. This would be much cheaper than buying from Heiden Tuuning, I’ve bought a number of items from them and the German XS650 shop and prices compare with buying from the US. Import duty, VAT and a hefty charge from the Post Office to deliver items to my mind is cost prohibitive unless of course you can’t source from elsewhere. I used a specialist wheel builder near Gloucester and he got the spokes from Central Wheel Components and cut to size for my Trail bike. I plan to rebuild my XS2 wheels this year and will be buying from C W C, not sure how difficult it is but please learn from my mistake and measure the wheel offsets for both wheels before you start cutting the spokes with an Angle Grinder. If you can source the correct model/spokes then not such a problem BUT if you have to buy a generic set and cut to size then you will need to know the offset of rim to hub, My Yamaha trail was central offset front wheel and 35mm rear. If not correct then the alignment of the wheel rims won’t sit correctly in the frame. Cheers.
Thanks mate, I'm sure I read that the spokes from central were threaded too far up leaving lots of exposed thread
@electricpoet just looking on CWC, unless I'm missing something they are more expensive than Heiden (£92 for front wheel as opposed to £72) @Raymond thought there were no charges to import from them?
When you buy from abroad, there's a randomness. Usually there's no additional charge but a couple of times I've been left a postcard from the postman 'Could not deliver because there is a Customs charge to pay.' And you don't get your parcel until you pay. It doesn't even appear to be related to the value of the item. Odd.
electricpoet
XS650 Member
Dom, can’t comment on the thread size from CWC, but I read a thread on the UK XS forum last year from a guy in West Wales who was complaining about the cost of buying stainless spikes from Heiden and added cost was well over a hundred pound on top of the spokes. I think Raymonds timing was just right and he missed the 2020 Brexit (also gave a grace period to the end of 2020). I bought an XS 650 seat and Exhausts and payed at least £150 in extra charges. Heiden also state on their site that UK vat is not included in the price so instantly thats 20% on top of price without the additional import tax and the extra £12 pound that the post office charge to get it from customs and deliver to you. That doesn’t include the postal charge that Heiden will also add. The post office will collect the customs duty and vat from you before they will deliver so there’s no way around
it. German XS650 shop does it slightly different and include the UK vat in the price but you will still have to pay customs and the Royal Mail charges. The US has the same issues but I’ve not payed custom charges on anything under £35. Brexit has definitely made buying from Europe very expensive. Do a Google search on buying EU product from the UK, you will find plenty of people complaining about charges. Hope this is of help, spent a small fortune in buying from the EU over the past two years.
Crikey! Thanks for the insight guys, I think I'm best contacting one of the UK based places mentioned then. A job for tomorrow!
joestella28
XS650 Member
Another vote for Central Wheel Components - They did a great job on my 19" flat tracker rims 6 or so years ago (which have then sat in the garage collecting dust, waiting for me to actually finish the build....)
What about the colonies?
XS650Direct -canada
Always wondered if there were an advantages in trading inside the Commonwealth?
XS650Direct -canada
Always wondered if there were an advantages in trading inside the Commonwealth?
Spoke to CWC today, really helpful so I've ordered front and rear polished stainless spokes
Excellent. I've never built a wheel so don't take my advice. But you might need one of these:
I think that is a brilliant little tool, and perhaps sommat like this:
I think that is a brilliant little tool, and perhaps sommat like this:
I was wondering if I could use my ABBA bike stand with a bit of imagination to true up wheels.
