Question for the spoke gurus

[Borghi]

I am a new S10 owner coming from a DL1000, which I loved (except for the chain!). When I bought the Tenere I didn't even think about the spokes till I started reading this forum. Now I am kicking myself for not seeing this as an added maintenance burden (maybe not quite as much as the chain). I just turned 600 miles and changed all the fluids. I pinged all the spokes on both wheels and all produce a clear pinging sound, BUT some are a different "tone" than others. So my questions are as follows:

1. Should all similar spokes (i.e. inside vs outside) produce a "same" tone when pinged?
2. If I invest on a spoke torque wrench, do I adjust all spokes to a same torque value or will a wheel with acceptable runout and roundness require slightly different torque values on the spokes?
3. When I ping the spokes, am I looking for just a "dead" (i.e. no tone) spoke and then torque these "dead" ones to the specified values (50 inch pounds I believe)?

I guess my main fear is that I will be having continual issues with wheel runout if I have to tighten spokes and be handing over major cash to a dealer to keep on truing up the wheels. I was very happy with the cast wheels on the Vstrom and am wondering if this spoke experience will be a never ending nightmare! I really prefer to do my own maintenance and have done valve adjustments, throttle body synch, etc, but this spoke thing is really bugging me! Any suggestions or comments are welcome!!

 

[Firefight911]

Based on your post, do not touch your spokes. Get someone with truing experience to do it.

Are you having your dealer service your bike? If so, this is part of the service. If you are doing your own service, have them do just this portion periodically.

Don't read in to the threads on spokes. Few post about how nothing ever happens, it's not a rampant issue, and after a couple checks you'll probably find they will have taken a set and require less and less maintenance until/unless you ding them. Wort case, you can take your wheels in to your dealer for tire changes and have them wrap the truing in to the job. It's easy and it's not expensive.

Others will chime in on procedures, etc. or you can do a search as it has been posted before.

 

[RED CAT]

No worries. Unless you are doing lots of Off Road you probably won't be getting many loose spokes. Get yourself a #5 metric extended(4-6 inch) allen socket for 3/8 inch drive for tightening. Can only access most spokes with this tool. Pinging spokes is good. Only slightly tighten 1/4 turn at a time the really dead sounding spokes and mark those ones, so you'll see if the same ones come loose again. As an example I ride aggresively on gravel roads and after 3000kms only found 3 that had to be tightened slightly on the back wheel. Checked my pals bike with 9000kms and had never been checked and only found 2 again slightly loose. Chances are they won't come loose again. So not to fret! ::001::

 

[jajpko]

Tightening the spokes is not rocket science, but can be screwed up in a heart beat if your not careful. Don't tighten all the spokes at the same torque!! Don't tighten the spokes all at once, in one direction.
The wheel is true from the factory and will probably loose tension on a few spokes, mainly on the rear.

Mark a beginning point on the wheel (valve stem), and begin tapping each spoke. They all should have a distinct high pitch "ping". If you find one that is really out of tune( clunk, thud, or whatever, tighten that one, until it matches the spoke next to it. Don't worry about using a Torque wrench at this point.

As RED CAT said, mark the spoke(grease pencil, magic marker, or masking tape).

I do not trust my dealer to true my wheels!! If I can't do it, I would find a shop that has a great reputation in my area, or send them to Woody's Wheel Works. A tech that does not know what he is doing can screw up your wheel, charge you for doing it, and you will still have to pay to have it fixed..

There are many riders on here or other forums that will be glad to help point you in the right direction.

 

[stevepsd]

Here is a How-To guide for spoke truing:

http://www.yamahasupertenere.com/index.php?topic=2871.0

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.


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

http://youtu.be/mLhONxt9Zi8

http://youtu.be/4STaIqBGTTc

http://youtu.be/F1_AdHG7fGY

It is not that hard, but you can screw it up in a hurry. Make sure you have someone available (dealer/friend) so in case you want to try it and can't fix it you can take it to someone who can.

 

[biting_point]

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!

Well not really, some spokes are inaccessible due to the other spokes blocking it..
in order to change the broken spoke in the "inner" rim, you will need to dismantle the "outer" spokes..
when that is done, truing is needed..

well, it's still not as hard as standard spokes where you needa take out the tyres to do re-spoke..

TS: torquing all spokes with the same torque doesnt give you a balanced rim.. been there done that..
after the torque exercise, i still send the rims to a bicycle mechanic for truing, bicycle mechanics are best at this job..

 

[Maxified]

TS: torquing all spokes with the same torque doesnt give you a balanced rim.. been there done that..
after the torque exercise, i still send the rims to a bicycle mechanic for truing, bicycle mechanics are best at this job..

Truing a spoked-wheel is becoming a lost skill, a skill that I never achieved. Takes patience to do it completely & accurately.

 

[stevepsd]

Well not really, some spokes are inaccessible due to the other spokes blocking it..
in order to change the broken spoke in the "inner" rim, you will need to dismantle the "outer" spokes..
when that is done, truing is needed..

well, it's still not as hard as standard spokes where you needa take out the tyres to do re-spok.

I beg to differ....replacing a broken spoke on this bike is easy compared to others. No need to break down the tire. And you can do it while the wheel is still on the bike.

 

[Borghi]

Just turned over 600 miles last night and checked the spokes again this morning after changing oil. Found two or three on front and two or three on back that had almost a thud sound (very low pitch ping if any). I got out my new inch pound torque wrench and long 5mm hex socket and tightened these to 50 inch pounds. I did a quick look for runout using a pen tip held close to the rim and couldn't detect any after the tightening. Next week I'm taking the bike into the dealer for a spoke check only. As someone else said here, spoke wheels are so few these days, I hope the mechanic has the necessary skills. I really want to learn to do this myself unless someone starts offering cast wheels soon! Thanks for all of your posts!