Wheels !

[Roy]

well another set of tyres went on last week.....(new rear every 7 weeks at the mo!!!)
and while the tyre was being changed, i found this


think maybe a new wheel is required

after a chat with the Tony (the nice old boy who looks after my bikes) he told me of a good trick to stop this happening again. it involves an O ring and a washer on the stem to stop the water getting in through the valve stem hole.


Roy

[Recycler]

Thanks for sharing the tip. You must start heading NORTH from Poole in the mornings.

[DaveS]

As its relevant to this thread.
I've recently contacted Devon Rims about AT rims and they said this. Anyone got answers to the questions?

Dear Dave,

Thanks for your email. I'm pretty sure I have rebuilt the wheels on an
Africa Twin in the past, but I can't remember what sizes they are and how
many spokes they have.

We will certainly be able to supply stainless rims, but alloy rims may be
more of a problem.

If you could let me know what the rim sizes are and the number of spokes, I
will work out some prices for you.

Yours Sincerely,

Doug Richardson.

[Roy]

nice...
i was looking at some harley (sorry had to swear) rims...but they dont do gold !!
was given a price of £180 for a re-build of the rear wheel with 316SS spokes and a new rim, and it should be stronger (to cope with the V4 when i fit it) but will weigh a lot more than standard! (and have heard tales of SS spokes snapping as they don't stretch like normal steel)

Ah well might try the guy you just posted...

Roy

[fw600vj]

Hi Roy the exact same thing happened to my Transalp a few years ago .The rim was intact apart from the area at the valve hole. New rims are the only cure.fw600vj

[lootch67]

Not sure if this will be of any help but a couple of years ago I bent the front rim on my Cagiva Elefant and got it repaired by Hagon - better known for their shocks. They're in north east London - Hainault to be precise.

http://www.hagon-shocks.co.uk/main1st.htm

[Roy]

Nice detail on the site about wheels....will give them a ring in the next few days for a price !

thanks for the link..... dont you just love this site....all the info under one roof !


Roy

[fw600vj]

Hi DaveS I recently had my front wheel rebuilt as it had a large part on the outside of the rim rotting away. I got a TAKASAGO EXCEL Rim fitted , I asked the guy who was doing the rebuild about S S Spokes and he advised against using them and just to use steel spokes " Due to corrosion " With the two metals against each other. Anyway the front rim is Slightly wider than most standard rims it,s 36 Spokes J 21 x 1.85 499 Dot 86_11_07. The rear rim is 32 Spokes J 17 x 3.00 399 Dot 82 -2611 1315 . If i remember right the price was £ 90 or £ 100 for the rim and £40 to remove the old tyre rebuild the wheel " using the original spokes " As they where like new and fit my new tyre . A good price i thought but it may be cheaper in the Mainland due to bigger demand , I hope this helps. fw600vj p.s. the rim was an alloy finish like the original.

[robelst]

Argh, I have the same problem but on the outside of the rim. I think it started where was once must have been a balance-weight (the corroded spot has a distinctive square-shape). Maybe the led / magnesium started a chemical reaction? It has been there for a while, seemed to be in a "stable" state, but this morning I noticed it has started crumbling into light-grey powder, exactly like on Roy's photo. If I scratch it, it keep crumbling There must still be a reasonable solid core beneath all that because there is no movement in the spoke that is sitting in the middle of all that. I asked my tyre-man who replaced the tyre and did the MoT last week to examine it all and he says there is no reason yet to worry about the rim to break. But for how long? I'd probably opt for the Hagon rims: 2nd hand OE ones on eBay go for ridiculous prices and is still the same bad quality so that looks like a bad investment. On the other hand, new rims are a lot of money in respect to the total value of my bike.
Hmm, choices, choices....

Meanwhile: Any suggestion how to (temporarily) treat these spots? Put grease on it, or paint / lacquer, or wax, or better not to put anyting at all on it? Thanks for any advice

[Roy]

not sure how to treat the outside...
clean it right back and coat it ?

I cleaned the inside right back, then coated it with grease and covered that with duct tape (to stop the small sharp bits of the coating getting to the inner tube).

i did notice it took a bit more weight to balance this time

and yes, new rims seem to be the only choice, the Guy who does my bikes has some rims that would do the job but they are all silver....so a call to hagon it is then.


Roy