Wheel rebuild needed

[buggsubique]

Hey lads, so has anyone here got the good oil on rim suppliers in NZ. advice I'm getting is to go Excel. My Africa Twin needs a new front rim, probably spokes as well, but trying to avoid that... It is a 1.85 x 21 36 spoker, so wider than most MX ones out there (around 1.6x21).

This guy in the UK did a new front with a 2.15 (same as a 990 adv?).

Anyway to cut a long drivel short, anyone know anyone who knows anyone?

Should I just get a 36 hole MX Excel drilled for the twin, or should I be focusing on the OEM dimensions or going even bigger?

Cheers, Matt

[Underground]

Mine are rooted as well, lots of oxidation flaking away quite deep on the inside.
What I did was clean them up with a paint stripper wheel on the drill then gave them a good soak with a clear epoxy sealer we use for rust on the boat .
A cheap fix, and it is stabilised for now and of course once the tyre is back on its 'out of site out of mind'
But new rims will be inevitable at some stage

[Eddieb]

Woody's Wheel works in the US

If Phreaky Phil and ADVrider are to go by there's none betterer, and he can make whatever you want.

[buggsubique]

Woody's Wheel works in the US

If Phreaky Phil and ADVrider are to go by there's none betterer, and he can make whatever you want.

yeah nah. I reckon there'd be a couple of places in NZ or Oz that would do a decent build. I'm intending to lace it myself - used to do it for MTB wheels and have a truing stand turning up at Xmas.
\
Just need the bloody rim - most seem to be 1.6's for MX bikes...

[johannvr]

Hamco Industries in Palmy North. They'll restore your current rims & stick new spokes in, or build you a set of shiny new ones (06) 324-8345 or 027-231-7864 - speak to Craig

[Box'a'bits]

Hamco Industries in Palmy North. They'll restore your current rims & stick new spokes in, or build you a set of shiny new ones (06) 324-8345 or 027-231-7864 - speak to Craig

Agree with Hamco. Also you need to decide what you'll use it for. On the 640's the hot tip was to go for the narrower rims, to stop them bending.

[Waihou Thumper]

OK, I used an old retired guy who rebuilt, laced my DRBig...1988 vintage. He was cheap and old school! Knew his stuff and did a great job, afterall, the wheel is still true and tight and lasted the Dusty Butt down there and back...

[Phreaky Phil]

There are plenty of people around who can lace a wheel. If you have a blank and have to get it drilled thats another story. The places like Hamco will have a jig with a mill drill so they can drill the holes on the right angle.
There was another place in Auckland I was talking to but I cant find the name at the moment.
The reason I used Woody's was that no one else will touch the cross lace Beemer wheels

[warewolf]

The later 640A's come with 2.15" wide fronts. Apart from the particular OEM rim being utter rubbish, it is too wide. Might be nice on the tar to put more rubber on the ground but off-road it's crap. Part of the reason for the dings is the increased leverage from the rim edge to the spoke centreline. Ppl tend to fit 1.85" which is considered better for road-focussed heavy adventure bikes, or 1.6" which handles better in the dirt.

Recently I've swapped in the 1.6" rim from my EXC and it is great. Definitely turns better in the dirt, but also I was always smashing the side knobs off the front tyre - in as little as 100-ish km on a trail ride 80% were rooted. Raced the 1.6" on the 640 for 4 hours in a cross-country and it didn't lose a single knob.

You can probably find out on an AT forum if there is anything unusual about the rim. Your AT is probably "Jap indexed" which refers to the angle of the nipple holes (where the 2 spokes form an X, the spoke between the X goes to the left); this is the most common type. If so, grab any rim that takes your fancy, and you can swap it easily by putting zip-ties on every spoke crossing, overlay the rims, and move the spokes one-by-one to the new rim. I haven't done it myself but supposedly the wheel comes up fairly true.

Woody's Wheels... says: Excel A60 is the strongest thing out there, and dismissed suggestions that it was a brittle MX-only rim. Silver is generally cheaper than colours including black.

The Excel "Signature" 7000 series (aka double-stamped) is cheaper and stronger than the OEM single-stamped Excel. Then there's also a new cheapo Excel designed to compete with the cheapo rim brands, available on trademe, but they're not recommended by Excel for rigorous use.

[buggsubique]

The later 640A's come with 2.15" wide fronts. Apart from the particular OEM rim being utter rubbish, it is too wide. Might be nice on the tar to put more rubber on the ground but off-road it's crap. Part of the reason for the dings is the increased leverage from the rim edge to the spoke centreline. Ppl tend to fit 1.85" which is considered better for road-focussed heavy adventure bikes, or 1.6" which handles better in the dirt.

Recently I've swapped in the 1.6" rim from my EXC and it is great. Definitely turns better in the dirt, but also I was always smashing the side knobs off the front tyre - in as little as 100-ish km on a trail ride 80% were rooted. Raced the 1.6" on the 640 for 4 hours in a cross-country and it didn't lose a single knob.

You can probably find out on an AT forum if there is anything unusual about the rim. Your AT is probably "Jap indexed" which refers to the angle of the nipple holes (where the 2 spokes form an X, the spoke between the X goes to the left); this is the most common type. If so, grab any rim that takes your fancy, and you can swap it easily by putting zip-ties on every spoke crossing, overlay the rims, and move the spokes one-by-one to the new rim. I haven't done it myself but supposedly the wheel comes up fairly true.

Woody's Wheels... says: Excel A60 is the strongest thing out there, and dismissed suggestions that it was a brittle MX-only rim. Silver is generally cheaper than colours including black.

The Excel "Signature" 7000 series (aka double-stamped) is cheaper and stronger than the OEM single-stamped Excel. Then there's also a new cheapo Excel designed to compete with the cheapo rim brands, available on trademe, but they're not recommended by Excel for rigorous use.

Great info thanks Colin,

Yep I saw a J stamped on the DID front rim, so that might indicate the Jap index as you say... I'll see what i can find in the Excel at 1.85 by the sound of it. MIght give Hamco a buzz first - the riding weather here is just awesome...
thanks for the replies.

[warewolf]

Dunno 'bout the J. Suspect it's not related to the spoke hole but the rim design.

[Woodman]

I relaced the rims on my benelli. The front was the original, but the rear I laced the original spokes to a wider DR alloy rim.


Total fuck up.

[pampa]

You should talk with Donald on Stokes valley, he may be able to recommend something and he also does the job and is quite reasonable ...

[NordieBoy]

Get a DR650 front rim - same size (1.85").
Not sure if I've ever seen a bent one.

[Aslan]

You should talk with Donald on Stokes valley, he may be able to recommend something and he also does the job and is quite reasonable ...

Matt - what Pablo said - Motorcycle Maintenance - Don Trealor 4/5635054

cheers S