Wheel Spoke Maintenance

[Reg IT]

My dealer has asked me to bring the bike in after 5000 KM to tighten the spokes.
Fact or BS?

 

[MortiisMachine]

Mine were all checked at the 1000k first service. What does the manual say, don't have mine to hand.

 

[s-flow]

Manual say, first at 1000 KM then every 5000 KM.

 

[dcstrom]

it's easy to check this yourself - no need for a dealer to be involved.

 

[~TABASCO~]

Tap them like a xylophone and see if they are in 'tune'... you will QUICKLY know if you have one loose... then you can correct that one...

 

[SisuTen]

This is DEFINITELY one I would not leave to a shop tech. These are not bicycles we're riding here.

 

[elizilla]

This is DEFINITELY one I would not leave to a shop tech. These are not bicycles we're riding here.

Yeah, truing bicycle wheels requires a lot more skill.

 

[SpeedStar]

I have never adjusted or tightened motorcycle spokes. I understand how tapping a spoke and the tone being different enough to know that one is loose.
My question is how do you know how much to tighten that one to get it back into spec, just by tone again?
I am reluctant to mess with it for fear of pulling the wheel out of true. Is this not an issue?

Maybe we need some spoke technical training.

 

[markjenn]

Motorcycle wheels are less sensitive to spoke tuning than bicycle wheels, so tightening a bit by "sound" is an accepted method of periodic maintenance. Give the wheel a spin afterwards and unless you see unusual runout or hop, call it good to go. That being said, if you're having to do anything more than just a slight tweak of an errant off-key spoke, you probably need to do a true. And you use the same techniques you use with bicycle wheels - not rocket science.

Assuming reasonable loads, reasonable speeds, and reasonable terrain (this doesn't include bashing a 600+ motorcycle through rock gardens, suspension hitting the stops all the time), you're unlikely to have to do much spoke work on a bike like the S10. It's like bolt tightening - check to be sure nothing is loose, but otherwise, ride.

- Mark

 

[HoebSTer]

Devin, I think there would be s torque spec on these as well in the manual. I am at work, and don't have the manual here to look at. All i know is you will need a Long 3/8 dr. 5mm ball end allen bit for the job.

 

[SpeedStar]

Nice, thanks guys for the info. I will not worry if I do need to make some adjustments. Jeff, thanks for the tip on the Torque specs. Now, where to find that long 5mm ball end allen bit...

 

[markjenn]

Devin, I think there would be s torque spec on these as well in the manual. I am at work, and don't have the manual here to look at. All i know is you will need a Long 3/8 dr. 5mm ball end allen bit for the job.

Aren't they tightened by a spoke wrench from the outside? I don't have my S10, so can't look and see the setup, but if this is like most bikes, you really want a proper spoke wrench that fits down over the spoke flats and not just an open-ended wrench that engages on two flats. It's so easy to round off the sides of the spoke nipple with an open ended wrench.

Edit: I looked at the manual and see what you guys are talking about - you adjust from the inside flange of the hub. Never mind.

I'm not a big believer in using a torque wrench on spokes - too many variables influence torque which have nothing to do with spoke tension which is really what you want to be the same. . I think "spoke tapping" is more reliable.

- Mark

 

[HoebSTer]

Devin, I ordered mine through Sears, but I wouldn't do that again simply because it took two weeks to get it to my house. My WASP order got here in two weeks time from Australia.

 

[Firefight911]

Paging Woody! Woody to a white courtesy phone....

http://www.woodyswheelworks.com/

 

[stevepsd]

For those of you who have never messed with spokes before, here are a few videos that show the basics. The big thing to remember when tightening spokes is to end up with correctly tightened spokes AND a wheel that runs true (both horizontally and vertically)!

If you are not careful you can end up with spokes with proper tension but the wheel wobbles. So take your time. I always spin the wheel first to make sure that the runout of the rim is acceptable...Just use anything as a simple pointer (like a zip tie or piece of wire) along the rim that will show you if the rim wobbles up & down or side to side. Then after tightening, check the runout again. If it's not acceptable then adjust the spokes as required to bring the rim into spec and then check for spoke tightness.

It's not as hard as it sounds, but it is sometimes more art than science. Do it a few times and it becomes very easy.

P.S. The spoke nipples on the ST are not thru the rim like normal, but are in the hub. Makes it very easy to adjust, along with replacing a spoke if one breaks!

Hope the videos help.

-steve


http://youtu.be/-K-iNGnEK3w

http://youtu.be/mLhONxt9Zi8

http://youtu.be/4STaIqBGTTc

http://youtu.be/F1_AdHG7fGY

 

[elizilla]

This is the first spoke wheel motorcycle I've had. Is it like the bicycle in that if you are trying to get the wheel true, you need to loosen some spokes as well as tighten? I have seen some bad results when someone has only tightened their bicycle's spokes in an attempt to true the wheel...

 

[stevepsd]

This is the first spoke wheel motorcycle I've had. Is it like the bicycle in that if you are trying to get the wheel true, you need to loosen some spokes as well as tighten? I have seen some bad results when someone has only tightened their bicycle's spokes in an attempt to true the wheel...

Same basic concept for bicycles & motorcycles....

For truing, absolutely, you typically have to loosen spokes 180 degrees away from the ones you need to adjust, other wise instead of 'shifting' the rim you just increase tension on the spokes...I usually loosen them in groups of 4 (so you loosen 2 spokes that pull on each side of the rim) and tighten them in a group of 4.

If the rim is true and you just have a loose spoke, then no. Just tighten the offending spoke and double-check your runout.

 

[Reg IT]

Thanks for all the advice. I don't feel qualified to twiddle. So I will take it in to be done.
However, nobody mentions balancing the wheels after adjusting.
Just a thought.

 

[tomatocity]

I got the long 5mm bit at Lowes for like $6. I don't anticipate having to use it much if ever. Be careful and just tighten a little at a time if you do it. I remember back in 1976 my couisin had a little DT100 Yamaha and we noticed the spokes were loose, not just loose, but they were LOOSE. WE tried tightening but the spokes were so loose tht by the time we got them tightened the wheel was like 1/2" out of true. Even though we were exceptionally smart 15 yr old delinquents we could not true that wheel, but a shop did it for $12 I remember that. I don't know why in the world that wheel did that as I have a couple hundred thousand miles on spoke wheels and rarely if ever tighten spokes on any of them.

"Long 5mm bit". Not sure what tool this is. Photo or link?

 

[SpeedStar]

Here is a link to one on Amazon.

I got mine at Lowes also for $6.00

http://www.amazon.com/GearWrench-80443-8-Inch-Drive-Socket/dp/B002YKFI9C/ref=sr_1_5?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1314716083&sr=1-5