Different Rims?

[sheadouglas]

Does anybody know of any different type of rims that dont have spokes? I've read of people's spokes breaking, spokes busting throught the rim and putting a hole in the tire, etc... especially after some tough off roading. Is there anything else out there?

[culcune]

I remember the late 70's and the Schwin Scrambler dirt bicycle with the plastic rims. There must be a motor-bike equivalent to these?

[mdsuave13]

oh god, the mag styled wheels! haha.. i remember i wanted a set of white mag wheels for my bike soooo bad and when i got them, i hated the hell out of them.

there is NOTHING wrong with spoke wheels. You have to make sure to check them, tighten them up, double check the wheel to be straight and true.. other then that, no worries. I've ridden many bikes real hard, and i find it hard to believe that people are busting spokes that easily.. if its just because of cheap parts on china bikes, then just change the rims out for some better spoked rims...

[sheadouglas]

My front rim does have a little iddy biddy wobble to it. I mean a small one. How do I fix it, or how do I know which spoke may be too tight, or loose? Dont really know?

[mdsuave13]

go thru and check them all.. fun fun.. its a pain, but it needs to be done every so often. I would do it because losing control of your bike cause it gets a weird wobble and you go down.. yea, i have a nice scar on my leg from 8 broken spots in my left leg from a bike wreck.. trust me, doing something tedious is worth it when it can keep you safe.

[spanks100]

I wonder if Lifan LF200 (sport bike ) would fit? Does anyone know?

[Vlad]

I already have a LF200 sportbike, and I will be getting a LF200GY-5 soon. Once I have them both in one place Ill do a post to tell you. Right now though I dont think they will fit because the LF200 has a drum brake in the back and the LF200GY-5 has a rear disk brake...

[ejcycles]

Hi sheadouglas
The bikes that have had broken spokes have been riding hard...these bikes are Not made for jumping, jumps etc. They are not racing bikes. Even the Enduros of early years wouldn't take this abuse {70's & 80's}. Ya I'm showing my age. There are different thickness spokes for every kind of use {Buchanan's Wheel in Ca.} call them and ask, they are the largest aftermarket manufacturer in the USA of spokes. Spokes are not universal! I saw this in another post and I will attest they are not! I have been lacing & truing wheels for years. Part of regular maintenance to any motorcycle with spoke wheels is keeping spokes tight & wheels true.

Bruce

[msRandi]

well here is what comes to my fuzzy head. I am going to a buy a wheel truing stand, if you keep titing the spokes with out spening the wheel you pull it out of round. and I have been looking at replacement rim on line for two days and at price of new rim and spoke. I can keep fixing the stockers for a long time to come. with the wright tools.
love from the big island.

[fatboy250]

Originally Posted by ejcycles

Hi sheadouglas
The bikes that have had broken spokes have been riding hard...these bikes are Not made for jumping, jumps etc. They are not racing bikes. Even the Enduros of early years wouldn't take this abuse {70's & 80's}. Ya I'm showing my age. There are different thickness spokes for every kind of use {Buchanan's Wheel in Ca.} call them and ask, they are the largest aftermarket manufacturer in the USA of spokes. Spokes are not universal! I saw this in another post and I will attest they are not! I have been lacing & truing wheels for years. Part of regular maintenance to any motorcycle with spoke wheels is keeping spokes tight & wheels true.

Bruce

Bruce,
I'm curious. Since you have done this for a while. With a good rim and spokes, shouldn't all the spokes have the same ring to them when struck softly with a wrench or screw driver. Assuming they are all snugged up properly (not cranked down too tight) You know, kind of like tuning guitar strings.... that is if all the strings were the same and were tuned to the same note.

My recent tire change and spoke replacement lead me to this conclusion so I went around and made sure there were none too high pitched and none too low pitched. Then I went ahead and zip tied the x's where they cross.

I know that my spoke breaks have been a result of my weight and "riding style", but I AM working on taking it easier on the bike. Mainly because I'm getting tired of the whole spoke replacement job.

Jason

[ejcycles]

Hi Jason
This is kind of a good rule of thumb, but a wheel can still be out of true even though all of the spokes ring the same. They even sell spoke torque wrenches today, and these do not make a wheel true just by torque. The wheel needs to be set up correctly to true them, you have up & down true and side to side true, centering the rim to the hub correctly etc. it's not always an easy job. I have had wheels take from one to four hours R&R spokes and truing depending on what I'm working with {used or new}.

Bruce

[fatboy250]

Thanks Bruce,
I feel pretty good about it right now. I have no verticle runout and maybe 1/16" horizontal. It rides pretty good. The only thing is getting the street (tubeless) tire to seat on the rim. I went all the way up to 60psi but didn't want to blow the tube. How high have you gone with a tube tire to get it to seat all the way around? It's not really that noticable when riding, but I can visually see that it still has about 1/16" in one 6"-8" section on the tire.

Would it be ok to go above 60psi to get it to seat all the way around? I used WD-40 also with the tire deflated hoping it would allow the tire to slide better onto this section, but it only helped a little. BTW, they are Cheng Shin Barracuda tires. Very good tire IMO.

Jason

[ejcycles]

Hi Jason
I use a black synthetic compound that helps in tire installation and helps seat the bead. Don't Ever Use Grease, Grease will eat the rubber as they are both petroleum compounds. I have gone to 60psi but don't like to, some tires are just tougher to seat than others. Tire shops used to use a soapy compound to seat the tire on the rim {some still do}, I use a product sold by Tech Tire.

Bruce

[fatboy250]

Thanks for the heads up on grease. I never did but had considered it. WD-40 shouldn't be a concern since it's not petroleum based.

I guess I'll just live with it then. I would rather not take the chance of rupturing the tube and having to go through the whole process again.

Jason

[red2003]

Jason, you could also try a little Dawn dish soap. Its what I have always used to seat tires on bikes, cars, racecars, whatever. Works great and wont hurt anything. And it smells good TOO!!!! 60 SPI is quite a bit. More so then ruining the tire and tube, you don't want to kill your self. My Dad and I exploded a racecar tire in the shop once and it about killed us both. He had his hand on the tire chuck and was blown over backward and required 40 some odd stitches in his hand where the chuck was literally blown through the webbing of his fingers. I took a good blast in the face and ended up on my a$$ wondering what the hell happened. After that when we had a tough tire, we attached a self holding tire chuck and blew it up outside controlling pressure with the guage on the pump while INSIDE the shop. Tires can be scarey man.