Wheel building part 1

Got the rear wheel laced up and ready for the truing stand, I'll let you know how that goes. Being stainless steel, which has a lower tensile strength than regular steel, the nipples and spokes must be greased for proper seating and preloaded with a much higher torque to allow for stretching. The end result is a nice clean wheel that won't rust. The 66 Bonnie is slowly coming together though!



Finding the drive side of the wheel involves measuring the nipples in place. The largest gap between the nipples (measured two on the inside, side by side, and two on the outside, also side by side) indicates the drive side. I found that they were very close in distance so I put a set of spokes on each set of nipples (which exagerates the angle difference) and the gap was about a half inch wider between the two nipples on one side - this is now marked with a sharpie as the drive side). Lacing the wheel backwards will result in a wheel thats misaligned and probably bent spokes since they wont line up right. I used John Healy's article from Vintage Bike Magazine to get this info. Join the TIOC for a subscription if you haven't already, the info in the magazine invaluable for wrenchers and tuners.



Greasing the spokes so that they don't bind up.




First set of outer spokes go anti-clockwise. (drive side down)




Next set goes in clockwise (when the drive side's down), but at this point I flipped everything over so I could drop the spokes into place). I found that placing the rim on a couple of 1x2 boards to prop up the wheel helped line up the hub, since its is wider than the rim and needs to be somewhat centered to get the spokes in place correctly.

Using the air nozzle hole as a refference, I counted to the 8th spoke hole on the right (drive side up) for the first of the outside spoke holes, and 7 holes to the left for the  first of the inside spokes. Just go every forth hole from there. Easy right? I still messed up a couple of times and ended up starting from scratch. NEVER BEND YOUR SPOKE TO MAKE IT REACH A NIPPLE!!!! If you have to bend it, something is wrong!!!





Drive side done, next is the right side (shift side). This side is pretty easy as the spokes just hook into the hub. Finding the right nipple becomes seld evident.




All laced and ready to true! More to come as I fumble my way through this. Thank you Jon Melniczuck for providing me with all the materials and literature to get this started. This is one of those things that you just have to dive into in order to learn.

ps
sorry for the blurry images, I did this entire post from my iphone and it obviously came up low res.

-Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:S High St,West Chester,United States

Turkey Pro 2010 Al Hartmans Brit-Bike-Barn Bonanza!

No clever, writing on this entry, I'm just too tired with all family activities for three straight days all to be topped off with what many in the Tri-State Area consider to be the closing event of the motorcycle riding season: The Turkey Pro. My dad, the late great Snuffy Smith, started this event (well this particular event  under said moniker) twenty something years ago in our driveway. It has grown, relocated many times over, the last couple of years being held in an hour north of West Chester at Al Hartmans house - A.K.A. the Triumph Treasure Trove. 

Picture below is the behemoth slow race trophy (slowest time around the lap without putting a foot down "wins" this albatross for a full year). The bike in the background is my dads old 58 T110, now owned by Al.

Ok, the pictures should be self explanatory, but I'll try to ID what I can. Below is one of two Vincents that showed up.

I'm not a huge Greatful Dead fan, but I dig the custom paint job on this old Buco helmet. Kudos.

Als garage is a museum. In fact some of Als bikes were featured in the recent Triumph display at the Simone Museum in Philadelphia. Below is a Bathtub Tiger Cub - no not a Tiger Cub, I just noticed it's a twin. 350 or 500. 3ta 5ta or t100a? Notice the lack of points cover on the timing case. The distributor sticks out behind the cylinder making this a 59 or 60.

Cool shop signs.

This, I later found out, was my dads old flat track steel shoe.

Spare parts neatly organized.

Cylinder heads and crankcases, in case you need one. no pun intended.

Triumphs.

Ducati, check out that Norton tank on the top shelf.

Everywhere you look theres something worth photographing.

Clocks. Kinda reminds me of the Selvedge Yard blog masthead.

A well sorted shop. I'm jealous...

Need a part? Al has it. 

Triumphs, Nortons and a BMW.

Awesome.

Units.

Engine mounts.

Pre Units.

Pipes on a Ladder. Am I being too short and literal? I think so too...

Garage

Theres even stuff in the woods!

A friendly older chap explained to me that the reason this fire was so warm was the quality of the hard wood being burned. He identified 3 or 4 types of wood. Who knew? 

More stuff out round back. 

Nice mid-late 60's unit 650 (trophy?)

Well hidden Vincent. if you've got it, flaunt it... or cover it with jackets.

Norton Comando 750.

This was, in my opinion, the most interesting bike of the event. This Pre Unit (Speed Twin?) was one of the Simones show bikes. It looks ratty to the casual bystander, but this relic is a great example of 50's/60's flat tracker with a rich history - which I really need Al's help to fill me (and you) in on.  I'm sure this will warrant it's own post.

Not sure what that shield is. Or is it a bracket?

That profile. Look at that! The rear fender cut to the perfect length. Perfect clearance too (just about none).

Rear sets are simply reversed pegs and gear shifter making it 1 up three down. Once your in top gear you don't shift anyway. Full speed into the corners.

Topless chick on tiger. Perfect logo for this shop. Several bikes in the garage had this sticker. Dealer stickers from the 50's/60's rule.

No Kickstart lever.... Bump only.

No front brake, just a spool.

No rear brake pedal.... look closely at the top tail section. See the cable?

Flat trackers had no brakes. I guess this was intended to fit to a hand lever that could be removed for the race. A hand lever rear brake. Awesome! No brakes during the race means you stop by either completing the race and coasting out though downshifts along with the pack or you crash. At 80+ mph in the corner what do you think your odds would be?

Back to that Vincent (A.D.D.)

Dual front drum brakes.

It's hard to see but there are dual brake cables coming down each fork tube.

Great tank patina.

 

Triumph Thunderbird. Another fine example.

The sprung hub on this provided a rear "shock" for this rigid frame bike. It probably only moved a couple inches, not even close to what the springs on the seat provided anyway. This technology never survived the years.

"I"-Talians

Norton. Really nice details. Just "custom" enough to be unique but enough of a nod to the original styling that it's not obnoxious.

Really big thick tires on this Parisian Velomoteur? 

Or worlds smallest fork girders!

 

Iron Oxide Engineering? Does this belong to Dick Miles?

Yep! The most obscure bike at the event.

Speaking of mini's

The slow race kicked off with me riding a lap on the T110. Then the battle of the babies:

Clay waits his turn on his newly acquired 73 TR5T (Thanks for the update Clay)

Tom Swan from Manayunk Triumph, two time slow race winner goes for a third title.

And he does it. Billy Knox is the reigning champ for most wins, but Tom is catching up. Why doesn't he look happy to be lugging this trophy home for the third time? Event-host Al Hartman looks over Toms shoulder at the beast. a 12 Volt battery wired to the two terminals on the back will light the headlight and  turn signals. That way you can tell you wife that it's functional art when you place it on your mantle. 

Now how is he going to get that home on his bike?

Slowly? *badup bah!* told you I didn't feel like being clever...