Hi All,
I don't post much, but thought you might like to see what I did this Memorial Day weekend. I'm pretty proud of this, and I always wanted an excuse to do this, because I hated the galvanized spokes that H-D put on the bike as standard.
Besides the 2000 FXDWG, I also own a BMW K1200GT that just eats up tires. [:@]
So,... I bought a No-Mar Tire Changing setup to save some money in the long run. Without a lot of space in the garage (3 bikes), I opted for the receiver hitch mount, which makes the No-Mar gear very portable, so I can take it to my buds and help them change tires if needed.
Having gotten the No-Mar, the next step was to select some new stainless steel spokes and nipples for the front and rear of the Harley from Buchannan's. I chose "twisted".
So here is the start of the project.
Thisis the original front wheel sitting in the rim clamps on the changer.
Here is the original wheel sans the tire.
I polished up the old rim and hub and then laid out the new spokes on my card table.
Took this picture after loose lacing the new spokes. I then tightened and trued the wheel using a balance stand from No-Mar, a great spoke wrenchand spoke torque wrench from Buchannan's, and my Starrett dial gauge.
Next, it was out to the driveway with my air compressor and die grinder to take off the extralength on the spokes to prevent punctures. I took this shot to let you see how much extra length is on half the spokes. Because the spokes are all the same length, but the offset of the hub from left and right angled spokes is different half were like this, and the other half were about 1/3 this length. This really didn't take very long - maybe an hour for 40 spokes. Then it was wash down the wheel again to get all the grit and metal filings off the wheel and blow it dry.
Here I have put the newly laced wheel back on the No-Mar changer to remount the Metzler 880 with a new tube.
Then I remounted the wheel on the bike.
Finally, I took it out for a short ride Sunday afternoon to give it a test, and stopped at a local park to take a picture or two.
It rides as good or better then the original setup and looks great.
I didn't get the rear wheel done this weekend. Buchanan's got the rear spoke order messed up. They sent polished plain spokes, and I wanted twisted. TheSKU is nearly the same, and Angel thinks that the rear package may have been in the wrong bin, or was simply picked incorrectly in the shipping department. IMOO, they have been great on the service and are shipping the right spokes to me right away. I'm happy, and this was a lot of fun.
00glider
Laced My Own Wheels - Twisted Spokes
