VL Spokes

[downunder vl]

Greetings all.

I have just laced and trued my first VL wheel. Really any wheel for that matter.

Thanks to Steve S for the instructions in his book it all went well and I have certainly learnt a lot.

My question is that on the spline side every first spoke is about 1/16" proud and every second spoke in about 1/8" proud. See photo. I am happy to grind them off but want to be sure before I do that I haven't made a rookey error. It is difficult to add that back on after I have ground it off it I have made a mistake.

Thanks in advance
Phill


Spokes.jpg

[Greg Fittro]

I just finished lacing 2 19" rims, hubs, and spokes also. Spokes are new from Buchanan. I have final tightened and trued the wheels yet. Based on how deep the spoke is in the nipple, I do not expect to have the problem you encountered, but may. Does each outer spoke cross 4 of the inner spokes? If they do not, the spokes are 1 hole off.

I must admit that the first wheel I laced had to be repeated 3 times before I got it right. When I received the Buchanan spokes, I compared length to original spokes removed and they were same length. Recheck your work. If you have a pic of wheel before removing original spokes, compare it to what you have now. There may be a subtle difference.

Just before finishing last thought, recheck the hub end of spoke is is seated in the counter-bore of hub. The spokes may be one hole off at the hub and may cause this condition.

[exeric]

If your rim is true to the hub, you're probably all right, and you will need to grind the excess. If you read official H-D wheel lacing procedures; they state that spokes that protrude through the nipple need to be ground flush. . . Provided the wheel is true. I've laced and trued many, many wheels and it is rare that you don't have to grind protruding spokes. However, like Greg said above, make sure your lacing pattern is correct, and you're confident in the trueness of the assembly before you grind the spokes.

[downunder vl]

Thanks Greg and Eric,

Photo attached of the spoke pattern. It all looks correct to me.

Again, thanks for the input.

Phill


VL Wheel 1 Compressed.JPGVL Wheel 2 Compressed.JPGVL Wheel 3 Compressed.JPG

[Peter Cooke]

Phill,
I compared your photo to my original wheels and I agree the pattern is correct. So if your spoke heads are seated correctly I think your ok to break out the grinder!

Hope this helps.

Peter

[Chris Haynes]

It appears that you are only crossing 3 spokes, not 4. hard to see on my phone though.

[downunder vl]

Thanks everyone.

Peter. Are you going to the Great Race in January? If so we should catch up for a red or a beer. You know my bike from the profile photo. These wheels should be there but the new bobber won't be finished. Still more parts to find.

Phill

[Peter Cooke]

Hi Phil,
I'll be there, even if only for a day. I grew up in that area of Vic and my family is all still there so I'll do a clan visit and come find you guys as well.

[downunder vl]

Great Peter,

Make sure that we catch up for a quiet one.

[loch]

Hey guys,

I'm resurrecting this thread in the hopes of finding some answers to my dilemma. I'm looking for answers as to why the spokes I have from Buchanan don't seem to fit.

What do I mean by fit? I install all of the 75 degree spokes according to Steve's instructions. When I install the first run of 95 degree spokes the process lifts the rim off of the workbench. Steve suggested loosening the nipples.

I have spokes that are packaged as a kit from Buchanan (via a third party distro), for VL 19" rims. I've checked the hubs several times throughout the wheel rebuild process. I'm confident after looking at the pictures in the book the hubs are late VL hubs (with the longer splines).

After all 75 degree angle spokes are installed, I begin installing the 95 degree angle spokes exactly as the instructions say. As I do this the tension from the spokes lifts the rim off of the workbench. No amount of loosening the nipples and twisting the hub will get the assembly to lie flat. I flip the whole thing over and now I have to push the hub down as it is elevated about 2 inches off the bench. Forcing the hub down is the only way to get a spoke near the correct hole, and then the tension prevents any kind of sliding or twisting of the hub to get the spoke to align correctly with its respective hole.

Common sense tells me the first installation of 95 degree spokes should not misalign the hub and rim.
Looking for comments or ideas from anyone with first hand experience with this process.

Thanks!
Loch

Picture shows all 75 degree spokes installed along with the first set of 95 degree spokes.
You can see the rim is elevated off the table. Before installing the 95 degree spokes, the rim and hub were flat on the table.

Spokes1.jpg