Spoke advices please.

[Lobo]

Been deep cleaning the ‘fleet’ this week, and as always the odd issue gets noticed...

On the K2 an outer (SS) spoke is broken (Rear wheel) - which is now removed.

Q1. Whilst I find / order a replacement, comments on riding the bike (sensibly) in this state? (Fact - I may have been riding like this for weeks 😂)

Q2. The original supplier was Centralwheels; their stock shows NIL, but worse, they only quote a full set @ £85 + postage. Any ideas where I might find (eg 4) of these outer SS spokes, the length is abouts 145mm, with the >90 deg end, and 3.6mm dia / single butted at 4mm.

Q3. Is is possible to get the CB750 rear wheel back on without removing the (metal) chain guard! Tips here?

Q4. One for the chemists... stupid details aside I’ve inadvertently mixed a bottle of Isopropyl & a bottle of (clear) methylated spirits 50/50. Doh. Is there any use for it... cleaning etc... or best disposed of.

Thanks all.

[hairygit]

Answer to Q1. do NOT use it on a public road now you have mentioned it on here. Anyone can read that statement without being a member, so IF you were involved in any kind of incident, your insurers would just laugh at you, as you have used it KNOWING thee is a potentially dangerous fault in it. Insurers and other agencies have software which can scour the net for that kind of thing, and they do use any means to escape liability.
On to Q4, treat it as meths, don't drink it, avoid prolonged skin contact. Great for cleaning, degreasing, burning in spirit lamps/camping stoves etc

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[Lobo]

... thanks Hairy - fair point if a single missing spoke is indeed considered dangerous. I’ll err toward caution and heed your advice.

Dang on the alchemy question drinking advice as I figured I’d invented a new 🍸 Cocktail....

[hairygit]

Well, 40 bits of metal not much thicker than piano wire, all under equal tension is all that stops the wheel collapsing under a quarter of a ton of bike, that's without the weight of rider and passenger, the shocks from bumps in the road, and the forces of inertia when cornering/acceleration or braking. Those little bits of metal have incredible forces going through them, enough that Honda fitted 40 of them, and the 36 on 400/4 and below would never support the stresses of a 750.

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[MrDavo]

I was speaking to Bill Swallow at the Classic TT some years ago, he had just finished on the podium, riding an Aermacchi, I think.

Apparently his pit crew noticed a couple of broken rear wheel spokes during a mid race pit stop. By the time the race had finished there were many broken spokes, and the wheel was on the verge of collapse. Bill had thought the handling had become a bit odd, but not enough to slow him down.

My H-D has very thick spokes indeed, as you would expect. There was no way in the world I was going for cast wheels though, nowhere near retro enough.

Try the cocktail with tonic ice and lemon, and get back to us, if you can still type that is.

[71 V12]

Hi Lobo,

With regard to point 2 I would email central wheel with a photo of the broken spoke and request a replacement. Perhaps get 2-3 just in case!

Good luck

Kevin

[Lobo]

Thanks all - appreciated.

Take your point Hairy, but my working life was aviation and it always amazed me to see the (seemingly) light engineering employed in the construction of aircraft... whether it be control belcranks, 4 bolts holding a jet engine to the wing (32T of thrust), the so-called Jesus nut on a helicopter etc. I suspect most of us underestimate modern metallurgy and good engineering?

This said... I’ve now had 2 spokes fail recently on my CB750 rear wheel. I’m beginning to suspect the SS is just a bit too brittle - they’ve both failed at the small radius bend into the hub. Kev, you have a point, but they’re 10yo I guess, and notably N/A (for now) - and I just wanna get back on the road. I’ve found 2 OEM spokes on eBay from the ‘States, and ordered them @ $10USD + $14 postage. Fair...

I guess my wee brain was still in aviation mode when I started this thread, as when we had multiple of any item on the aircraft and a number were missing, we’d refer the MEL (Minimum Equipment List) which would stipulate whether we could dispatch and any caveats. Eg, if 2 Static discharge wicks were missing (out of 20)... it might say, “Dispatch allowed with a maximum of 2 wicks missing per surface for a maximum of 5 flight days”.
Or a hydraulic leak might be covered by... “a maximum of 2 drops / 30 seconds for one flight only”

..... so since I’ve got 40 spokes... well, 39 now... I was kinda naively hoping some Honda / wheel expert might recall some dim & distant Motorcycle MEL .

Hey Ho.

Mr Davo... wildo; always on the lookout for something new 🍸💀

Thanks again gents.
Simon

[Arch stanton]

You could give this guy a ring.
Alan Atkinson.
Southport Wheelbuilding.
0151 2349831.
He is very helpful. And makes the spokes himself. So he would probably be able to help.
Regards.
Sean.

[philward]

You could give this guy a ring.
Alan Atkinson.
Southport Wheelbuilding.
0151 2349831.
He is very helpful. And makes the spokes himself. So he would probably be able to help.
Regards.
Sean.

He built my CR Rep wheels a few years ago - top guy

[Lobo]

Thanks Sean / Phil. I’ve now got a couple of OEM B Spokes coming from the ‘states (eBay) so sorted. The main issue though would be Alan’s in Southport, I’m in Brisbane...

[Bryanj]

The one spoke is easy to fix, the other side you have to bend to get in

[Lobo]

Cheers Bryan. It’s the longer ‘B’ spoke, inserted from inside the hub, with >90 deg bend as it heads back towards the rim / nipple. I’m not anticipating any problem, though it’s on the LHS of the hub meaning the whole wheel has to come out as the sprocket assy fouls a simple threading.

I think my previous failure was a B spoke too... this was fixed in 10 minutes. Due the more extreme head-bend of the Bs versus the As I guess it’s the Bs that tend to fail first?

[Bryanj]

The difference is one feeds from inside to outside leaving the "head" inside the flange and is a doddle to swap, the othe goes from outside to inside and you can see thehead and is a swine to fit as you have to bend it round the spokes that are left