Spokes

[Juan]

I got my new ST a month ago and wanted to break-in the engine in a few days, so I just did 1000 km in 3 days. On my third day the unimaginable happened - one spoke broke off (sheared from the thread) and did superficial damage on the wheel rim and on the shaft housing (grazing). Presently I'm dealing with the dealer on this. The dealer is being very cooperative. He says that it's very rare for a spoke to shear off, especially since the bike was not ridden off road. Simply bad luck I suppose.

Did anyone experience a similar situation?

 

[Duconce]

You didn't say what you hit, rims don't bend by themselves

 

[Don in Lodi]

I didn't see any mention of a bent rim...

 

[snakebitten]

Yea, don't think he bent the rim. But his description fits exactly that of a few others.
New (or nearly new) bike throws a rear spoke on left side and flails around messing up a brand new bikes look.

Regardless of the official spoke conspiracy being whatever it is, it is looking like the FIRST thing a new bike owner should do is check the spokes on the bike on delivery.

That done, I suspect the owner will not have spoke problems thereafter. At least not this kind of trouble.

The "ugly spoke" syndrome is guarantied. They can't be loved enough to stay sparkly.

 

[GrahamD]

Juan,

Owners Manual 6-4

Check runout, spoke tightness and for damage.
• Tighten spokes if necessary.
At the initial 1000 km (600 mi) and every 5000 km (3000 mi) thereafter

.

OK so I hope you didn't do 1001 Km without checking. ;D

BUT just a bit more ass covering...

Owners Manual 6-20

The wheel rims should be checked for cracks, bends or warpage, and the spokes for looseness or damage before each ride.

But here is the thing with spokes..

They tend to bed in a bit..So they will loosen initially. Like a new chain does. Then they "settle in".

They break may have been a rouge spoke of it could have been overtightened. Who knows.

Now the Service manual says...[3-17]

Tap the spoke with a screwdriver. A tight spoke will emit a clear ringing tone, a loose spoke will sound flat.

And if loose..

Tighten to 6Nm, 0.6m-Kgf, 4.3ft lbf.

I check mine after a rough ride or every 2 weeks of so when cleaning (yes cleaning is not just about cleaning). Nothing changed much in 18,000km. All i do is play the harp on them. If one sounds way out of tune I have a look. So far they are all within 1/4 of an octave of each other. One front one may need to one may need looked at. The one with the lowest note. The front wheel has had a few good hits in the last 2 weeks.

I am sure the Tiger Explorer XC owners are about to find all this out as well.

 

[Doug44]

This bike has a history of loose spokes as the others have stated. My bike had a few loose spokes at about 1000 miles only on the left drive shaft side rear. I just snugged them up an 1/16 of a turn or so and now at 3000 they remain tight.


Let us know the out come of getting the damage fixed.

 

[snakebitten]

Graham, did you just say that your spokes are all within 1/4 of an octave of each other?

Closet musician.

 

[JohnB]

Graham, did you just say that your spokes are all within 1/4 of an octave of each other?

Closet musician.

Yeah, Graham, how many hertz should our spokes chime in at? Can we use a digital guitar tuner to test 'em? 8)

 

[Juan]

To sum up the various points made:
- Rim was not bent: In fact I continued riding home with no problems (did around 200km after I noticed the broken spoke).
- Funnily enough, the spoke broke at practically 1000 km: I had not checked them.
- And yes, the broken spoke is on the rear left, by the shaft.

 

[GrahamD]

Yeah, Graham, how many hertz should our spokes chime in at? Can we use a digital guitar tuner to test 'em? 8)

Probably, but then that would spawn a hard tuning thread wouldn't it. :

 

[Juan]

Joking apart (tuning forks and the lot), is there a simple and practical way of tightening a spoke when replacing a broken one? I do not have a torque wrench with readings in the 7nm range. I was going to tighten and listen to the ping noise and try and match this to the other spokes as much as possible (though all the spokes give a somewhat different ping noise). I wonder if there's another way of doing it.

 

[CDMartin884]

When you tighten your spokes, small increments, and tune the spoke being tightened to the group it is in. Similar tone to those around it. In my experience, spokes tend to loosen a bit when they are new, and once tightened they settle in. Something to consider, a zip-tie around the spokes where they come closest will prevent the flailing affect if one comes loose from its nipple.