My original chromed rims and spokes were not in the best of condition and the rear hub had the usual badly cracked brake lining which made the back brake not safe to use and kept the bike off the road.. After hunting high and low for a long time for someone who not only said they could fix the hub but who I could also trust with my wheels. Then, unexpectedly, Google did its job and found a blog in which a traditional engineering shop only 20 or so miles from me, was writing about restoration of various motorcycles, including the relining of brake drums. A quick exchange of emails convinced me to hand my wheels over to Terry who was 100% confident that he could do the job, having done this numerous times before. We also discussed wheel building, using 316 stainless steel. Terry's workshop is very traditional with all sorts of equipment for practising the dark arts of engineering. There are also several wonderful motorcycles in various states of restoration, the work looking to be of a very high standard. Terry did my job in 4 days and I duly collected two immaculately rebuilt wheels with polished hubs. The rear brake lining had been custom machined for the hub and shrunk into place reinforced by the same adhesive that is used to glue brake shoes to their backing plates.
The man himself is Terry Ives, Stotfold Engineering, Biggleswade - look him up. He used to race Bantams and an Ariel Red Hunter amongst many other bikes. He tackles any engineering project, not just motorcycles. Pick through his blogs, some are quite entertaining, especially his views on BMW spoked wheel rebuilds!
