Just had my rear wheel trued by a very experienced professional wheelbuilder. I talked to him about alternative spokes and/or rims. He wasn't keen on replacing with a tubed rim and sealing it (too risky in his view) and he wasn't aware of any replacement rims in the Yamaha style. He could rebuild it with stainless spokes but, as the problem is not spokes BREAKING but LOOSENING, he couldn't see why stronger spokes would be an improvement (remember I don't ride off road) though he did admit that maybe the Yam spokes were so poor they were stretching - not something he had come across before. His take on the loosening in road use was that it was be down to wear on the rim at the point where the spokes fit through or wear on the hub where the nipples sit. He thought the former most likely. Off road he included the rims distorting too readily. Probable cause in both cases - inadequate material and/or construction. He found the whole issue of constantly checking and tightening spokes quite puzzling as, when he rebuilds wheels, he advises owners to check after a few hundred miles (though he doesn't expect much change) but doesn't expect any further checks until high mileages or rough use - certainly not every 1000 miles. In fact, he positively discouraged regular "adjustment" as most likely to cause distortion. He and I agreed that there must be millions of wheels out there that have never seen any checks from day one and are still running true and strong. So what is it about S10 wheels? Is it a rim/spoke quality issue that deserves a recall? I'm beginning to think so as the Yam seems to be the only bike with this level of problems. Anybody out there with other makes that can offer contradictory evidence? How often do BMW, KTM and Triumph owners check their spokes and what does their service advice say?