wheels

[shaunb]

First step in the tidy up of my ty is getting the wheels trued up and possibly respoked.

I read somewhere that the hubs should be painted to protect the magnesium. Can I bead blast these and just spay em with a can?

Also , I have seen some nice bikes that have been respoked with stainless spokes. I am wondering what people think of them vs the old style galv spokes? My rims have the usual marks and scratches on them, I was not intending to buy new flash rims as I intend to use the bike and expect to fall off heaps.

Any ideas and opinions welcome.

Cheers

Shaun B

[Stork955]

Gday, new spokes are available from Yamaha at a reasonable price (Zinc plated as original). I just painted my hubs with engine paint and then "cooked" them in my workshop stove after a bead blast. Works well for me.

Cheers,

Stork

[David Lahey]

The hubs are cast aluminium allloy and the backing plates are magnesium alloy and both can be painted with whatever paint you like or left bare, bead blasted or polished. Unless you enjoy polishing, painting is the go (the magnesium alloy holds its shine for about a week and the hubs being finned are hell to polish).
The important thing to avoid corrosion of the magnesium is to clean and dry the brakes after muddy riding so there is no water or wet mud in contact with the backing plates (especially inside)
Same applies to the magnesium alloy flywheel cover on BCDE models

[David Lahey]

Ah the spokes. If you want your spokes to still look good in 30+ years, get stainless steel spokes. I've got a 1968 Bultaco (42 years old) that still has the original stainless steel spokes and they look as new.
The standard Yamaha (plated) spokes are dirt cheap and will look good for at least 15 years. Quite a few years ago, before I discovered how cheap the Yamaha spokes were, I respoked a few TY wheels with the original spokes I repainted with silver paint! One TY wheel I had to respoke though had quite an assortment of different diameter and type of spokes so I had to get some new spokes to make it look OK. I have used the Yamaha spoke sets ever since. Having said that, all my bikes are riders that I just want to get looking presentable. The stainless steel spokes on some of the fancy TYs (and KTs) around do have quite a strong bling factor.

[PA]

I just painted my hubs with engine paint and then "cooked" them in my workshop stove after a bead blast. Works well for me.

Cheers,

Stork

Is that the one near the fridge and you wait until the wife goes out for a couple of hours?

[David Lahey]

I just painted my hubs with engine paint and then "cooked" them in my workshop stove after a bead blast. Works well for me.

Cheers,

Stork

Is that the one near the fridge and you wait until the wife goes out for a couple of hours?

Thats the one I use PA. One time I had to wait two weeks to get an opportunity to use the oven and get rid of the paint smell before she got home. I guess that's another thing to add to the list of things required for the perfect workshop. I put the expresso machine for the workshop at a higher priority though

[Stork955]

I just painted my hubs with engine paint and then "cooked" them in my workshop stove after a bead blast. Works well for me.

Cheers,

Stork

Is that the one near the fridge and you wait until the wife goes out for a couple of hours?

He he. I actually have a stove in my workshop. Very useful for heating cases, drying paint etc and keeps me out of trouble...

Stork

[shaunb]

Guys

Thanks for the various replies. I have priced spoke sets through Yamaha, they are around $120 per wheel which is the same as what my local recommended wheel builder charges. Does that sound right?

For the record , my local Yamaha dealership spares guy tells me there are only a VERY small number of TY twinshock spokes sets still available and they all sitting with Yamaha in Japan at the moment (they quote a 10/14 day delivery).

I have made the basic enquiries with a wheel builder who was recommended to me. One thing he asked was to make sure I knew if the rear hub had any offset before I pulled the rear wheel apart. From a quick look with a vernier and a big steel rule the rear on my TY 250D looks like it has no off set either way, ie it is laced up with the hub right in the centre of the hub. If I have that wrong please feel free to set me right.....

On a related matter my TY presently has fibreglass guards front and rear. The front one does not have the steel inner brace fitted between the forks. Are they necessary for front end rigidity?

I was going to get one of those aftermarket guard mounts so I don't have to use the typical TY scalloped front guard (actually have a some carbon kevlar ones getting laid up, will post pics when they are done).

Cheers

Shaun B

[Stork955]

Gday, if I remember correctly, my last sets were around $90 each. It does pay to shop around a bit.

Cheers,

Stork

[David Lahey]

yes Shaun both front and rear TY twinshock wheels have the rims centered between the hub flanges.