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New spokes and rims on 1975 860GT

Posted: Wed May 15, 2019 9:18 am
by rjk40
FYI,

Just in the finishing process of putting new spokes and Excel rims (from Buchanan Spoke and Rim) on my 1975 860GT:

Pics are on this Flickr link:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/124760992 ... 0407126538

All went together nicely. The front hub was very easy, and the spokes, once in the hub, found their proper rim holes with no hassle. Lacing the rear hub, with its two spoke angles and four-spoke grouping, was eased by using the pattern from a photo, in Steve's gallery, of Jack Ballard's 860GT.

There was an interesting moment of concern, when the rear wheel made a cyclical rattle noise as I spun it on the Tusk truing stand. Turned out that the distance piece between the two rear hub bearings was flopping up and down as I turned the wheel; an embarrassing several minutes until I remembered the piece, and how much fun it will be to thread the axle though it when mounting the wheel.

Buchanan's spoke wrench adapter and spoke wrench are quite good quality, as are the spokes and rims, both of which I had polished by Buchanan.
I bought shouldered rims, acknowledging Steve's recommendation not to, because of the likelihood of water collecting at the six o'clock position. Living and riding in Florida's dynamic climate, however, has shown water to collect even on my old Sportster's non-shouldered rims near the nipple holes, so I have taken to keeping them good and waxed, and after a wet ride, set a dry rag on the six o'clock part of the rim to collect that nasty di-hydrogen monoxide (also known as water), and it does a fairly good job of minimizing spotting.

Next, I will mount the tires , Avon Roadmasters, that I purchased from Steve, with the help of a new set of spoons and rim savers.

Resto progress has been slow, but continues to move forward.

Any questions, please feel free to contact me, and I will try not to bore you into a coma.

Regards,
Richard,
... and thanks to all of you who have helped in the past; you make this Forum a great venue for info.

Re: New spokes and rims on 1975 860GT

Posted: Wed May 15, 2019 1:20 pm
by Gardner
New rims and spokes look amazing! I love the Avons.

Re: New spokes and rims on 1975 860GT

Posted: Wed May 15, 2019 6:10 pm
by Vince
Is that a spoke torque wrench used in the pics, what setting did you use?

Re: New spokes and rims on 1975 860GT

Posted: Thu May 16, 2019 11:47 am
by rjk40
Hi Vince,

The text with the pics explains all. Yes, the torque wrench is a Tekton dual range spoke torque wrench, with one range of 0-100 inch/lbs.
The torque setting that I used was 30 inch/lbs., per recommendation from Buchanan Spoke and Rim, where I purchased the spokes, rims, torque wrench adapter, and spoke wrench.