check your spokes

I have dunlop 606's and rear beadlock and at 700 miles i had 4 loose rear spokes that had loosened almost all the way out. Not sure if the tires had something to do with it but still never owned a bike that the wheels loosened the spokes so quickly. While looking at the rear sprocket you can see the hub end side of the spoke and if they were as loose as mine they will be sticking out

t

bigt wrote:

I have dunlop 606's and rear beadlock and at 700 miles i had 4 loose rear spokes that had loosened almost all the way out. Not sure if the tires had something to do with it but still never owned a bike that the wheels loosened the spokes so quickly. While looking at the rear sprocket you can see the hub end side of the spoke and if they were as loose as mine they will be sticking out

t

Same with my Yamaha Tricker, 2006 model. Those wheels are machine built quickly and cheap. I once could watch those machines at KTM factory plant, by the way. There are cheats available to make spoke tension more durable, but all in all, if you need good wheels, have someone make you a pair of. Handmade wheels are the way to go for offroad and supermoto usage. For those cheap wheels take care to check tension every now and then. That is an important issue.

Does anyone know how to torque the spokes and if so what the spec is?

TIA
10Cup

10Cup wrote:

Does anyone know how to torque the spokes and if so what the spec is?

TIA
10Cup

Haan wheels provide some information:
http://www.haanwheels.com/en/sport/227.html

You need some spoke key to torque them. This little tool should be available easily and can be taken around somewhere at the bike. In case of losened spokes they should be tightened similar to adjacent spokes (hit spokes with key and listen to pitch level). Thats perfectly ok when doing it at some ride to avoid wheel or spoke outage.
I will disassemble my wheels (next winter I guess), have rims powdercoated and get them rebuilt by professional wheel builder, maybe use different spokes. Will see.

Front and rear spoke torques are 3.0Nm or 2.2ft-lbs. Start at a spoke by the valve stem or bead lock, which ever you prefer. Torque that spoke then count over 3 spokes and torque. Repeat this process and after the third time around the wheel you will have torqued all the spokes.

A local MX pro that used to hold a national number showed me this procedure and it seemed to keep rim runout to a minimum.

I have the RK EXCEL adjustable torque wrench for spokes. It's a little pricey at $100+ but, you know your spokes are torqued to spec.

MX757 wrote:

Front and rear spoke torques are 3.0Nm or 2.2ft-lbs. Start at a spoke by the valve stem or bead lock, which ever you prefer. Torque that spoke then count over 3 spokes and torque. Repeat this process and after the third time around the wheel you will have torqued all the spokes.

A local MX pro that used to hold a national number showed me this procedure and it seemed to keep rim runout to a minimum.

I have the RK EXCEL adjustable torque wrench for spokes. It's a little pricey at $100+ but, you know your spokes are torqued to spec.

When you use this method, have you ever gone back to the first spokes torqued to see if they were still at around 2.2 ftlbs?

Yes, the first few times I used this method I did recheck the first few spokes but, I didn't skip over 3 spokes, I just checked 2 or 3 after the valve stem. They didn't move when I clicked them off so I quit rechecking them.

Awesome, thank you sir, I will have to check mine!

I posted a write up on tightening spokes over here:

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showpost.php?p=9552645&postcount=3580

So is there a cheaper option when it come to spoke torque wrenches ?

$88.00 for a Buchanan spoke torque wrench.

http://www.buchananspokes.net/categories/miscellaneous_tools.asp

Anyone know what size Torque Key fits the OEM Spokes on a WRR? Are they the same on WRR & WRX?

whitea42 wrote:

Anyone know what size Torque Key fits the OEM Spokes on a WRR? Are they the same on WRR & WRX?

You'll need a 6.0 and 5.6 wrench head for the WR² wheels and I believe both share the same spokes.