Correct finish on spokes

[1970 XLCH]

Lacing up a wheel on a 1970 XLCH with stainless spokes . Does anyone know what the correct finish was originally ? I think they would have been cad plated . So would glass beading the stainless pass Judging ??

[Chris Haynes]

The question is, why didn't you replate your old spokes or buy the correct spokes. The AMCA will allow stainless spokes that have been blasted, They just don't look right,

[exeric]

Cadmium will adhere to stainless steel if you wanted to go that route but I agree with Chris that plating the original spokes would be the way to go. Unfortunately, finding platers that will still plate cadmium is a challenge, but they are still out there. Coincidently, I just had this conversation with a friend who is lacing up wheels for an Indian and he is super nervous about spoke quality and will probably go to SS Buchanan spokes. Personally, I like original spokes and I believe they are superior to anything available today. If a spoke or nipple is bad, that can be determined when you go though the process of cleaning each spoke and nipple before they go to a plater which you have to do to get a cadmium plater to do your work.

I have one more controversial piece of advice; I now paint my spokes and nipples with dull aluminum paint (to replicate cad plating applicable) on H-Ds, and Indians because cad is such a p.i.t.a. and costs 10 times more than it should. In my high humidity Florida climate, cadmium does not age well or hold up. It gets spotty, and discolored quickly and has an over-all a poor finish. Paint is much better, lasts much longer than cad plating, and can be touched up if there is a problem. Maybe it was better in the olden days but I have talked to 2 cadmium platers who said it is a cheap finish that was used in aviation to protect (to some degree) and to minimize galling on threads which was the important thing for aviation. Years ago, I bought a 5 gallon bucket of H-D spokes and nipples at the old Sanford Armory swap meet for $20. I had that whole bucket along with lots of other H-D parts cadmium plated for $50 provided everything was clean and oil free. There are still many spokes and nipples in that bucket that were re-plated and those parts have not aged well, in spite of spending much of their next life in a dry, cool environment.

Sorry for the long-winded exeric b.s, Mike; I would consider getting a cheap tumbler and using that to put a texture on your SS spokes and nipples instead of hand glass beading them. I would thread the nipples all the way on the spoke to protect the threads.