Re: Loose spokes
Help me here, 'cuz I forget ...
What brand of motorcycle is it that you manufacture? Or was it what is your long standing area of wheel assembly expertise? :question: :question: :question:
As for the spokes...
The last, and worst, thing you would want to do from the factory is to put some sort of thread locking compound on the spoke threads. There are threads on the spokes for a reason, and experience with spoke rims will show you that it takes any spoke, in any rim, some time to "seat". The area where each end of the spoke meets the rim or the hub has to *compress* a bit, and work-harden, before the spoke will be at its proper *working* length. It is this period as the spokes "seat" where they may appear to become loose. Sometimes there is sufficient tension applied to the spoke that it remains sufficiently tight as these areas work-harden, or the area work-hardens without much compression or deformation. In either of those cases the spoke appears to remain tight.
However, with other spokes the surface compression and work-hardening of the surfaces may be more than the installed spoke tension can take up. These spokes will appear to "come loose". Spokes can also back off slightly, but this is unusual. Instead as the contact surface areas compress and harden the spoke tension is no longer sufficient to keep the nipple tight, and the spoke feels loose. Then it is easy for the nipple to back off and get lost. If thread locker was used then the nipple might not fall off, but the spoke would still be loose, and then when you tried to tighten it up there would be chance of damaging the threads due to the dried thread locking compound.
The best thing it simply to periodically check your spokes from time to time. Very often at first, with low miles on the bike, and then you will find you need to check them less and less often (unless they take some big hits). You will probably find two or three a tiny bit loose each time you check them in the first 3,000 miles or so. Just snug them up. Then you will probably only find one every now and then the next 3,000 miles. After that it will be rare, if at all, that you find a loose spoke, as they will be bedded in. I checked my spokes frequently the first few thousand miles, and I found a couple of loose ones. I now have over 32,000 miles on my Super Tenere and I can't remember the last time I found a spoke even the slightest bit loose. I think it was around 6,000 miles.
There is a reason off-road bikes have spoke wheels... After all, you don't see cast wheels on MX or competition enduro bikes. The reason is the wonderful flex they allow, along with great abilities to re-self-align after impact, not to mention more load being spread out over more load-bearing members during rotation. That's one of the great things about them... They can still work with a few spokes broken or gone - i.e. they get you home. Cast wheels are much too rigid for off-road use for the most part, not just making life tougher on the suspension, chassis, and rider, but often cracking and breaking as well. Spoke wheels flex enough to absorb impact better. Sure, the rims can bend (ask Pluric), but they are still a much better solution for off-road work. They are often able to be repaired when a cast wheel cannot be.
Super Tenere owners should be really glad Yamaha chose spoke wheels for their bikes, and we are doubly lucky that they did so with a clever method of allowing them to run tubeless tires.
Maybe some think they should have done better... But if so then just invent, design, develop, and produce us all a better solution for us all. No doubt Yamaha - along with many other manufacturers - would be happy to either buy them from you or license the technology. You'll make bazillions!!! ::025::
Dallara
~
ridefast99 said:
Help me here, 'cuz I forget ...
What brand of motorcycle is it that you manufacture? Or was it what is your long standing area of wheel assembly expertise? :question: :question: :question:
As for the spokes...
The last, and worst, thing you would want to do from the factory is to put some sort of thread locking compound on the spoke threads. There are threads on the spokes for a reason, and experience with spoke rims will show you that it takes any spoke, in any rim, some time to "seat". The area where each end of the spoke meets the rim or the hub has to *compress* a bit, and work-harden, before the spoke will be at its proper *working* length. It is this period as the spokes "seat" where they may appear to become loose. Sometimes there is sufficient tension applied to the spoke that it remains sufficiently tight as these areas work-harden, or the area work-hardens without much compression or deformation. In either of those cases the spoke appears to remain tight.
However, with other spokes the surface compression and work-hardening of the surfaces may be more than the installed spoke tension can take up. These spokes will appear to "come loose". Spokes can also back off slightly, but this is unusual. Instead as the contact surface areas compress and harden the spoke tension is no longer sufficient to keep the nipple tight, and the spoke feels loose. Then it is easy for the nipple to back off and get lost. If thread locker was used then the nipple might not fall off, but the spoke would still be loose, and then when you tried to tighten it up there would be chance of damaging the threads due to the dried thread locking compound.
The best thing it simply to periodically check your spokes from time to time. Very often at first, with low miles on the bike, and then you will find you need to check them less and less often (unless they take some big hits). You will probably find two or three a tiny bit loose each time you check them in the first 3,000 miles or so. Just snug them up. Then you will probably only find one every now and then the next 3,000 miles. After that it will be rare, if at all, that you find a loose spoke, as they will be bedded in. I checked my spokes frequently the first few thousand miles, and I found a couple of loose ones. I now have over 32,000 miles on my Super Tenere and I can't remember the last time I found a spoke even the slightest bit loose. I think it was around 6,000 miles.
There is a reason off-road bikes have spoke wheels... After all, you don't see cast wheels on MX or competition enduro bikes. The reason is the wonderful flex they allow, along with great abilities to re-self-align after impact, not to mention more load being spread out over more load-bearing members during rotation. That's one of the great things about them... They can still work with a few spokes broken or gone - i.e. they get you home. Cast wheels are much too rigid for off-road use for the most part, not just making life tougher on the suspension, chassis, and rider, but often cracking and breaking as well. Spoke wheels flex enough to absorb impact better. Sure, the rims can bend (ask Pluric), but they are still a much better solution for off-road work. They are often able to be repaired when a cast wheel cannot be.
Super Tenere owners should be really glad Yamaha chose spoke wheels for their bikes, and we are doubly lucky that they did so with a clever method of allowing them to run tubeless tires.
Maybe some think they should have done better... But if so then just invent, design, develop, and produce us all a better solution for us all. No doubt Yamaha - along with many other manufacturers - would be happy to either buy them from you or license the technology. You'll make bazillions!!! ::025::
Dallara
~
