Spoke issue

BKj

New Member
Joined
May 27, 2019
Messages
6
Location
Oregon
At a recent coffee stop my buddy pointed out a rear spoke that was just hanging from the rim...... the threaded nut/nipple had come loose and was lost.
My local shop wasn't any help and I haven't found anything on internet parts searches. Anyone have any ideas? (first post!)
 

WJBertrand

Ventura Highway
Joined
Jun 20, 2015
Messages
4,516
Location
Ventura, CA
There’s a member here who sells small sets of OEM spokes with nipples. Look for a post that says “spokes for sale”.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
 

BKj

New Member
Joined
May 27, 2019
Messages
6
Location
Oregon
There’s a member here who sells small sets of OEM spokes with nipples. Look for a post that says “spokes for sale”.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
Thanks, Jeff, I'll look it up.
Swakop-Toe, it's a 2014 with 43k miles. Thanks for the quick response!
 

EricV

Riding, farkling, riding...
2011 Site Supporter
2012 Site Supporter
2013 Site Supporter
2014 Site Supporter
Joined
May 22, 2011
Messages
8,227
Location
Tupelo, MS
FWIW, spoke maintenance is a fact of life for the Super Ten. After about 6k, mostly you only need to check every tire change, but you really do need to check spokes and at least ping them. I prefer to check with a torque wrench. 52 in/lbs is the spec. I check for run out in both directions as well. I've never even come close to exceeding the spec for run out. Or even half of that.

Harbor freight has an inch lb torque wrench with a good range for cheap. Online from Home Depot and others too. No need for a super specific spoke torque wrench. 5mm allen socket on an extension works great.

Edit - I and many others put zip ties loosely at the cross over points on the spokes so if you loose a nipple, you don't have a spoke flopping around. Don't put them tight or it can cause a stress point.
 
Last edited:

MFP

Well-Known Member
Joined
May 9, 2018
Messages
1,410
Location
NYC, NY
FWIW, spoke maintenance is a fact of life for the Super Ten. After about 6k, mostly you only need to check every tire change, but you really do need to check spokes and at least ping them. I prefer to check with a torque wrench. 52 in/lbs is the spec. I check for run out in both directions as well. I've never even come close to exceeding the spec for run out. Or even half of that.

Harbor freight has an inch lb torque wrench with a good range for cheap. Online from Home Depot and others too. No need for a super specific spoke torque wrench. 5mm allen socket on an extension works great.

Edit - I and many others put zip ties loosely at the cross over points on the spokes so if you loose a nipple, you don't have a spoke flopping around. Don't put them tight or it can cause a stress point.
EricV,
Quick questions about spoke tightening since you are quite experienced and knowledgeable with the subject.
I have done the ping test and all seems good but I know that is not the end-all test.
I plan to go over each spoke next weekend and I recall somewhere that one should check and tighten each spoke in an alternating pattern (one every two or three spokes?).
Also should I just go ahead and loosen the Allen head spoke nut then torque it to 6NM or just tighten/torque as needed?
I will be using a long shaft T-handle 5mm Allen tool with a Topeak 6NM torque bit fitted with a 5mm hex bit.
Thanks,
MFP
 

EricV

Riding, farkling, riding...
2011 Site Supporter
2012 Site Supporter
2013 Site Supporter
2014 Site Supporter
Joined
May 22, 2011
Messages
8,227
Location
Tupelo, MS
EricV,
Quick questions about spoke tightening since you are quite experienced and knowledgeable with the subject.
I have done the ping test and all seems good but I know that is not the end-all test.
I plan to go over each spoke next weekend and I recall somewhere that one should check and tighten each spoke in an alternating pattern (one every two or three spokes?).
Also should I just go ahead and loosen the Allen head spoke nut then torque it to 6NM or just tighten/torque as needed?
I will be using a long shaft T-handle 5mm Allen tool with a Topeak 6NM torque bit fitted with a 5mm hex bit.
Thanks,
MFP
I am not a motorcycle mechanic, just another DIY guy with a fairly broad level of experience. That said, I would first say, do NOT loosen any spokes! You don't want to change tension on the wheel that could cause deformation. Just tighten to torque as needed. that will alter tension by much smaller amounts than if you were to loosen nipples first.

What I do is pick a spot like the valve stem, starting on either side and stick to that side. The spokes alternate directions slightly on each side of the wheel. I put the torque wrench to all the nipples going the same direction on one side, then switch to the opposite side of the wheel, do all the nipples facing one direction there, then back to the first side and do all the nipples facing the other direction, then finish up with the nipples on the second side that were facing the other direction.

This method defaults to checking/tightening alternating spokes due to the pattern of spokes. IMHO, it's a safe way to avoid pulling the wheel out of true and it has worked well for me. Many spokes will be tight. Others may need some tightening to get to torque. With the clicker torque wrench I just put it on and use two fingers to pull the wrench until it clicks. It may click w/o moving the nipple or may go 1/8 to 1/4 turn. When the wheels were new, I was not unusually to get up to a turn, but seldom more than that. Now I occasionally get a little movement on some nipples at 30k miles.

I just watched the video for the Topeak Nano Torqbar and see no reason why that or the Torqbox won't work just fine. A little more precision than required for the moto application, but no harm there. Any 1/4 or 3/8" drive in/lb or Nm torque wrench that covers the range, preferably not at one end of the range, will do the job.
 

treybrad

Member
Joined
Jul 15, 2016
Messages
71
Location
PF TX
I've never even come close to exceeding the spec for run out. Or even half of that.
If you're ham fisted enough, you can do it -- DAMHIK.

I wasn't alternating side to side, only top to bottom and I managed to pull my front wheel out of true laterally pretty bad. Take your sweet time and study how the spokes run and make sure you're going as opposite side to side and top to bottom as you can. Make small adjustments, if you're turning a nipple more than 1/2 turn something is probably wrong.

trey
 

Cycledude

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jan 29, 2016
Messages
3,999
Location
Rib lake wi
Bought my previous 2013 used and the rear wheel was messed up big time by someone that didn’t know how to properly adjust spokes, I wound up paying good money to have a good experienced mechanic fix it.
 

Checkswrecks

Ungenear to broked stuff
Staff member
Global Moderator
2011 Site Supporter
Joined
Mar 7, 2011
Messages
11,489
Location
Damascus, MD
At a recent coffee stop my buddy pointed out a rear spoke that was just hanging from the rim...... the threaded nut/nipple had come loose and was lost.
My local shop wasn't any help and I haven't found anything on internet parts searches. Anyone have any ideas? (first post!)
For the future,
1) The search block in the upper right of the home page is your friend. There've been MANY threads on this and it's a sticky in the tire/wheel/brake sub-forum!
2) Please start new threads in the sub-forums made for the topics, as it saves us mods from doing it.

Otherwise, enjoy the bike and carry on.
:cool:
 
Top