I am in the process of rebuilding a set of wheels for one of my TY175s. I want something a little diffrent a bit like Yamaly's 175 from Germany (see bike for sale). Can I simply get the rims powdercoated or should they be anodised. Or should I get new rims.
What is the best way to go and for what reasons?
And be polite please.
Starky [code][/code]
Starky When competing in a trial, I don't suffer from nerves, I get way too excited for that stuff!!!!
Wayne Yes you can get your old rims anodised or powdercoated or you can buy new anodised rims. If your old rims are in very good nick you can probably save a few $$ by getting them done vs buying new rims. Coated rims look great on a show bike but as soon as you do a bit of crashing near rocks, any scratch marks will be obvious due to the colour of the aluminium underneath being different to the colour of the coating. To avoid this you can have the colour applied just to the inner section of the rim, leaving the edges plain. This makes rock scratches less visible as they usually are only on the edges. I too am rebuilding some TY twinshock wheels at present for the Majesty and was considering making the wheels a bit groovy with black hubs and yellow rims but have decided to keep the standard Yamaha look for the rims and hubs in case I need to do a wheel swap with one of the TYs. I finished polishing a TY250D front rim today and it ended up looking quite a bit better than the laquered finish they come with new. David
Gday David What did you use to polish those rims?Ive been at mine for weeks with maguires metal polish and I think its unbeatable,but I will cut to the point .Did you totally disassemble the rim? Spokes off? And whats the procedure for retighting them. Do you go to the oppisite spoke and tighten like a cars wheel nuts. Is there a certain tension ? How do you know its the right tension ?The sound ? Thanks Drakey
man I can't imagine hand polishing with the spokes in the way. It would drive me bananas. I only polish rims as part of despoking for some other reason ie machining the brake drum surface or because there are broken spokes that can't be changed without removing all the spokes. For TYs, best to use non-caustic paint stripper or bead blast to get the lacquer off. Options after that are: Acid cleaning with a 3M scouring pad or fine wet and dry paper used wet to remove corrosion Sand with very fine wet and dry paper used wet Polish the rim with a rag type polishing wheel (its very fast) Hand polish only the bits the polishing wheel doesn't reach properly.
Putting the spokes back (get new ones if you want it to look good - they are pretty cheap) is another story. I took some photos last wheel I did showing the sequence. I think it was a TY wheel so I'll have a look tonight and post something on respoking. It's quite easy though. Main thing is to have a good look at the wheel before you pull it apart.
Spoke tension yes it is the sound that tells you the tension.
Photo sequence showing TY250D front wheel putting the inside spokes in first on both sides then the outside spokes. Some wheels it doesn't matter but with TY wheels you have to do the inside ones first. Last photo has wheel in bike to centralise the rim and get it running true.
sorry to dis aggree with the person that says building wheels is easy. I have been building wheels for about 20 years on various bikes, there are many intricate little tips that you realy only learn by experience.I'm not saying you can't put a wheel together, but to get each of the spokes to share the load equaly ( or not as the case is in many wheels ) is not an easy thing to do and if you don't the wheel will not be very strong. I would recommend taking it to a mechanic who you are sure knows what he is doing, or if enough people want me to I will write a complete assembly guide.
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