Spoke Wheel lacing
#1
11-11-2007, 04:55 PM
Spoke Wheel lacing
Someone asked me topostthis, because I just did a restoration on a 74 Kawasaki 750 Triple and I did my own spokes. Why? because I'm cheap! Most shops that I called wanted 2 or 3 hours of labor per wheel to do it; at $80.00 per hour!!! So I figured it was time to learn how, and give it a try. Actually I love a mechanical challenge so this was a perfect project. You guys/gals can do this- it takes just a little mechanical aptitude and the secret ingredient......patience. Also go on Ebay and buy yourself a spoke wrench set.
Warning! - do not use your spokes to try to fix a bent rim- get a new one!
It starts with disassembly. I took some digital pictures of the spoke arrangement to have a reference when putting them back together- but once you spend a few minutes with your wheel you will notice a very simple pattern. All of the spokes on the "outside" of the wheel hub face roughly 45 degrees clockwise, and all the spokes "inside" the wheel hub face counterclockwise at roughly 45 degrees. And to make it even simpler, where each spoke fits into the rim, the hole in the rim is dimpled at the correct angle to point to the one and only spoke that should be pointing that direction. Also make a note of which side the rims' ID data is stamped on. The part number and some other stuff is stamped into one side of the rim, I used that as a reference in reassembly to make sure it went back together just the way Kawasaki had built it in 1974. My rim info was on the drive side on the rear, and the disc side on the front.
I used my electric drill with the correct bit to go around the rim and remove the spoke nuts. Zip, zip, zip and in about 5 minutes I was looking at a pile of rusty old spokes and 2 separate wheel pieces. I re-chromed my rim, so that gave me a week to overhaul my hub. My front hub was painted flat black, the rear was natural aluminum finish with some clearcoat. So I pushed out the old wheel bearings, did my bead blasting and paint/clearcoat and pressed new wheel bearings back in.
I had purchased some NOS OEM kawasaki spokes for this project. When you get the spokes you will notice that there are inners and outers - separate them before you start. There also should be one "nut" for each spoke. Look at the end of the spoke with the curve and the flat "head". Set an inner and an outer next to each other and compare them; the outer will have a larger curved radius in the bend. That is because they have to bend over farther to allow them to point toward the rim without interference from the wheel hub.
You have picked up the rim from the chrome shop, or just cleaned up the rim yourself and now your hub is ready to go. Pick a comfortable work spot - this is where your patience is going to come in. I did it on the living room floor while watching TV (dont ask my why). Set the wheel hub on the floor or table, and then place the rim down on the floor or table so the hub is centered roughly. Now find whatever you have laying around to prop the rim up off the surface so that the rim lines up with the center of the hub. Use some pieces of wood, or I grabbed some of my wife's magazines to do it. Remember the pictures you took - which way do the rims go? Does the stamped info go on the sprocket side or the risc side? For the front did it go on the speedo side? Separate your spokes and nuts, and then just study your picture for a few minutes. You will start with the "inner" spokes; by that I mean the spokes that you put into the hub from the outside and the entire spoke is "inside" the wheel hub. You will be able to see the "head" of each of these spokes on the outside of the hub after they are installed.
OK - you just put your furst one in - now using your picture align it at the same angle and you will notice a perfect line-up to one of the holes in the rim. And remember the holes in the rim actually point so that the spoke nut will be lined right up with the spoke. Just barely catch the spoke with the spoke nut, like 2 turns. Keep installing spokes and nuts - just keep going and skip to the next one, keeping it at the correct angle and then aligning it with the correct rim hole. Go all the way around with the "inner" spokes. Now flip it over and set it back on the magazines so it's all centered again. Now repeat the same process on this side, installing the "inner" spokes. Be sure not to overtighten the spoke nuts, you will need the whole assembly to be sort of "floppy" and loose because the more spokes you get in, the more critical the fit and sometimes the spokes dont want to go into the rim hole, and you have to rotate the hub back a little bit to make the spoke go into the hole.
Now the outer spokes. To put them in, you have to feed them up from the inside of the hub, and once you push them all the way into the hub they "lay over" the inner spokes. These face the opposite direction, and line up with their appropriate holes in the rim. Go all the way around, installing the outer spokes and remember to barely install the spoke nuts- just a turn or 2. Flip the wheel over and install the others. You will have to lift up the whole thing each time you feed a new spoke in, but dont worry becaue the alignment comes later.
You now should have all the spokes installed, inners and outers on both sides of the hub and the whole thing should still be loose. Now you must make sure that your hub is resting flat on the table, and the rim is elevated so it is exactly in the center of the hub. How do you tighten lug nuts on a car? All the ones on one side first? No- you criss cross right. It's the same thing here- put one hand on one spoke nut, and then put the other hand on the spoke nut that is 180 degrees opposite from it. (directly across from it). SIMULTANEOUSLY turn the 2 spoke nuts by hand (no wrenches yet) only 1 turn. Then go 90 degrees opposite and tighten the 2 that are across from each other 1 turn. Then go another 45 degrees and tighten the next 2 that are across from each other. Keep moving around the wheel, tightening the spoke pairs that are directly across from each other only 1 turn at a time.
Once you have done this, go back and do it again - noticing that the spoke nuts all should have the same amount of threads exposed. Re-check your rim centering on the hub - but dont spin it yet. Once all the threads disappear, you should be pretty close to needing the spoke wrench. Once they get a little snug, use the spoke wrench as a musical tuning fork. Just bounce it off each spoke and notice that you get a "bong" sound. It will be a low pitch, and thats ok for just hand-tight. Later on we will get the nice "ping" sound. So, is the whole wheel getting firm now? no more wobbly and loose feel? Take your axle and put it in the wheel. Use whatever you have- you can make up your own V-block setup, or clamp the axle in a vice or just do what I did, have one end on the floor. Anyway, spin the wheel and see how it looks. Mine was dead-on the first time. No wobbles, no twists. Put something next to the wheel to use as a visual reference so you can see if the rim is moving in and out.
My only problem on my first rim (rear) was that it wasnt exactly centered on the hub. When I stood back a couple of feet I could see that the rim was offset. The spokes on one side were flatter, and the spokes on the opposite site were more angled. Just set the whole thing back on the bench, and loosen all the spokes that are on the side you want it to move away from. Do them all just 1 turn. Then tighten the other spokes on the other side, just 1 turn. Check it again visually- you should have seen it move a little. Repeat that process again, loosen all 1 turn, tighten the others 1 turn. I think it took me ab
Warning! - do not use your spokes to try to fix a bent rim- get a new one!
It starts with disassembly. I took some digital pictures of the spoke arrangement to have a reference when putting them back together- but once you spend a few minutes with your wheel you will notice a very simple pattern. All of the spokes on the "outside" of the wheel hub face roughly 45 degrees clockwise, and all the spokes "inside" the wheel hub face counterclockwise at roughly 45 degrees. And to make it even simpler, where each spoke fits into the rim, the hole in the rim is dimpled at the correct angle to point to the one and only spoke that should be pointing that direction. Also make a note of which side the rims' ID data is stamped on. The part number and some other stuff is stamped into one side of the rim, I used that as a reference in reassembly to make sure it went back together just the way Kawasaki had built it in 1974. My rim info was on the drive side on the rear, and the disc side on the front.
I used my electric drill with the correct bit to go around the rim and remove the spoke nuts. Zip, zip, zip and in about 5 minutes I was looking at a pile of rusty old spokes and 2 separate wheel pieces. I re-chromed my rim, so that gave me a week to overhaul my hub. My front hub was painted flat black, the rear was natural aluminum finish with some clearcoat. So I pushed out the old wheel bearings, did my bead blasting and paint/clearcoat and pressed new wheel bearings back in.
I had purchased some NOS OEM kawasaki spokes for this project. When you get the spokes you will notice that there are inners and outers - separate them before you start. There also should be one "nut" for each spoke. Look at the end of the spoke with the curve and the flat "head". Set an inner and an outer next to each other and compare them; the outer will have a larger curved radius in the bend. That is because they have to bend over farther to allow them to point toward the rim without interference from the wheel hub.
You have picked up the rim from the chrome shop, or just cleaned up the rim yourself and now your hub is ready to go. Pick a comfortable work spot - this is where your patience is going to come in. I did it on the living room floor while watching TV (dont ask my why). Set the wheel hub on the floor or table, and then place the rim down on the floor or table so the hub is centered roughly. Now find whatever you have laying around to prop the rim up off the surface so that the rim lines up with the center of the hub. Use some pieces of wood, or I grabbed some of my wife's magazines to do it. Remember the pictures you took - which way do the rims go? Does the stamped info go on the sprocket side or the risc side? For the front did it go on the speedo side? Separate your spokes and nuts, and then just study your picture for a few minutes. You will start with the "inner" spokes; by that I mean the spokes that you put into the hub from the outside and the entire spoke is "inside" the wheel hub. You will be able to see the "head" of each of these spokes on the outside of the hub after they are installed.
OK - you just put your furst one in - now using your picture align it at the same angle and you will notice a perfect line-up to one of the holes in the rim. And remember the holes in the rim actually point so that the spoke nut will be lined right up with the spoke. Just barely catch the spoke with the spoke nut, like 2 turns. Keep installing spokes and nuts - just keep going and skip to the next one, keeping it at the correct angle and then aligning it with the correct rim hole. Go all the way around with the "inner" spokes. Now flip it over and set it back on the magazines so it's all centered again. Now repeat the same process on this side, installing the "inner" spokes. Be sure not to overtighten the spoke nuts, you will need the whole assembly to be sort of "floppy" and loose because the more spokes you get in, the more critical the fit and sometimes the spokes dont want to go into the rim hole, and you have to rotate the hub back a little bit to make the spoke go into the hole.
Now the outer spokes. To put them in, you have to feed them up from the inside of the hub, and once you push them all the way into the hub they "lay over" the inner spokes. These face the opposite direction, and line up with their appropriate holes in the rim. Go all the way around, installing the outer spokes and remember to barely install the spoke nuts- just a turn or 2. Flip the wheel over and install the others. You will have to lift up the whole thing each time you feed a new spoke in, but dont worry becaue the alignment comes later.
You now should have all the spokes installed, inners and outers on both sides of the hub and the whole thing should still be loose. Now you must make sure that your hub is resting flat on the table, and the rim is elevated so it is exactly in the center of the hub. How do you tighten lug nuts on a car? All the ones on one side first? No- you criss cross right. It's the same thing here- put one hand on one spoke nut, and then put the other hand on the spoke nut that is 180 degrees opposite from it. (directly across from it). SIMULTANEOUSLY turn the 2 spoke nuts by hand (no wrenches yet) only 1 turn. Then go 90 degrees opposite and tighten the 2 that are across from each other 1 turn. Then go another 45 degrees and tighten the next 2 that are across from each other. Keep moving around the wheel, tightening the spoke pairs that are directly across from each other only 1 turn at a time.
Once you have done this, go back and do it again - noticing that the spoke nuts all should have the same amount of threads exposed. Re-check your rim centering on the hub - but dont spin it yet. Once all the threads disappear, you should be pretty close to needing the spoke wrench. Once they get a little snug, use the spoke wrench as a musical tuning fork. Just bounce it off each spoke and notice that you get a "bong" sound. It will be a low pitch, and thats ok for just hand-tight. Later on we will get the nice "ping" sound. So, is the whole wheel getting firm now? no more wobbly and loose feel? Take your axle and put it in the wheel. Use whatever you have- you can make up your own V-block setup, or clamp the axle in a vice or just do what I did, have one end on the floor. Anyway, spin the wheel and see how it looks. Mine was dead-on the first time. No wobbles, no twists. Put something next to the wheel to use as a visual reference so you can see if the rim is moving in and out.
My only problem on my first rim (rear) was that it wasnt exactly centered on the hub. When I stood back a couple of feet I could see that the rim was offset. The spokes on one side were flatter, and the spokes on the opposite site were more angled. Just set the whole thing back on the bench, and loosen all the spokes that are on the side you want it to move away from. Do them all just 1 turn. Then tighten the other spokes on the other side, just 1 turn. Check it again visually- you should have seen it move a little. Repeat that process again, loosen all 1 turn, tighten the others 1 turn. I think it took me ab
#2
11-11-2007, 05:01 PM
RE: Spoke Wheel lacing
Good write up. I'm glad somebody actually used the DIY section for it's true purpose.[sm=smiley20.gif]
#4
11-11-2007, 07:27 PM
RE: Spoke Wheel lacing
Sweet write up! Screw paying some one. I just make a platform and a couple of 2x4s with a notch in the top. Put the wheel and axle on it and spin , tight, spin tighten over and over. Works great for dirtbikes.
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