Spoke tightening

[shermanpup]

I used to race motocross when I was young .After each moto , I would tighten or check tightness of every bolt on my bike including spokes . To tighten the spokes , I would get on the right hand side of the bike and turn the spoke wrench counter clock wise to tighten the spokes . I want to check the spokes on my 1934 banded brake rear wheel and a set of 16"WL wheels also . Should I apply a couple of applications of PB blaster for a couple of weeks and then check tightness . Any response or tips would be appreciated
Thanks

[exeric]

You probably have more experience with spokes than most people so you no doubt have a good feel for spoke tension. I re-use old spokes and nipples because they are irreplaceable for early motorcycles, and are unique to periods of time, so you have to save them if you can. I can usually tell if a nipple is badly locked up, so I'll use all kinds of penetrating oils, heat, and whatever. I have to believe that oiling the spokes, and nipple is a good thing to do (although I never think of doing it). When you think about caustic cleaners that get in there when you wash a bike, it's amazing that spokes don't break after a couple of years.

[jim d]

I would spray not only the area where the spoke threads into the nipple but also where the nipple goes into the rim. That may leave the nipple rotate against the rim with less friction.

[shermanpup]

Thanks for replies / advise guys
S-pup/ Jim

[AFJ]

I used to race motocross when I was young .After each moto , I would tighten or check tightness of every bolt on my bike including spokes . To tighten the spokes , I would get on the right hand side of the bike and turn the spoke wrench counter clock wise to tighten the spokes . I want to check the spokes on my 1934 banded brake rear wheel and a set of 16"WL wheels also . Should I apply a couple of applications of PB blaster for a couple of weeks and then check tightness . Any response or tips would be appreciated
Thanks

My own way of checking spokes for correct tension is to simply tap each spoke with a screwdriver to see if they give a ringing sound. A loose spoke will only give a dull clack noise. A very slight tightening should give a ring like the other spokes This assumes the rim offset and radial run out are OK and no wobble is present. Any substantial tightening of a spoke means that it is going to protrude a bit more in towards the tube and it might be well to check that it does not puncture the rim tape or tube. Also tightening on one side may require loosening on the opposite side of the rim to get the same ring on all spokes.
AFJ

[shermanpup]

Spoke update
All the spokes on the 2 wheels I did were stuck in place. I lubed them for a long time but the lube never made it past the rust in the nipple.I have an 18" 1932-34 RL rear wheel and a 18" WLA front wheel. The nipple sizes were different for each wheel. I bought a metric spoke wrench kit and used ignition wrenches in combination . The RL wheel used a 5.0 mm and 13/64 wrenches the WLA 5.4 and 7/32" wrenches. . Having only 2 flat sides on the nipples, made the use of more than one wrench necessary or at least easier. I would turn the nipple in the loosening direction . The spoke and nipple were stuck together so both would rotate until the rotation stopped ,( I would use 2 ignition wrenches stacked on top of each other, together for more turning power) , then remove one wrench while holding the the other wrench in place . Then put the second wrench on to get another bite and hold it at the max tension , then after a little while,the spoke would snap loose from the nipple. All the spokes were in this condition and some were tighter than others .None un threaded without having to "unsnap" every spoke. I put anti seize in the nipple and on all of the spoke threads.I also ran the nipple up to the entire range of the spoke threads, so it would thread all the way up and down with your fingers Makes me wonder all the old bikes out there with "stuck" spokes that have never been turned in 70 or 80 years. Hope this helps someone. The spokes were tight enough that I broke the jaw off of 3 ignition wrenches until I learned about stacking up on the wrenches.
I was fortunate to get to use a commercial blast cabinet to clean the rust from inside of the rim. I used Aluminum oxide at 50 lbs. pressure ,that got rid of all of the rust even in the pitted areas.Then I primed and painted the inside of the rim. So, I hope my wheels will be safer and prevented from further rust . You can buy individual ignition wrenches from ebay instead of buying the whole kit of wrenches they usually come in