DT125R ARCHIVE

Jase... 

Get your spoke key [spanner] out, there's one in the toolkit with the bike or most bike shops have em for a couple of quid..

Best done [but not essential] with the bike up on a box or MX style lifter like Mugen's just bought to get his frame up off the ground [on account of his 93 shiny framed beastie having no wheels at the moment !!  .. Sorry m8, cheap pop ?!!]... so the wheel can be spun freely, and no weight on the spokes.

Spin the wheel & check how true running it is before you start adjusting.

Get your spanner [or another small spanner, if your spoke key is the small circular ring type one] and GENTLY tap the spokes one at once...

They will [should] make a nice ping noise.
It's a bit akin to tuning a guitar ..  ideally the spokes should all make roughly the same tone, indicating similar tightness ...

Go round the wheel tapping to get a feel for the average sort of tone ..
before you start adjusting any...

Where the spokes cross other spokes, and rub, it may dull the tone, so just gently push the other spoke away to get a clean 'Ting' at the one your doing.

What you will probably find is some DEAD SPOKES.. as in real loose.. Just gently turn the adjuster in the ANTI CLOCK direction to tighten em up.

I would be suprised to find any needing more than 3/4 of a turn total..

And where you find loose [No ping, when you tap] ones, you will normally find tight ones [the Ping noise is higher in pitch than the rest] nearby.

These need slackening off a 'BIT' ..

Go round the wheel, with SMALL adjustments, at least twice or thrice .. Get em all sounding similar, then spin the wheel and make sure it's as true running as it was when you started.

[The link below to MX site, says do one, miss two .. ! This is in order to build up EVEN tension across the wheel, and not have all one side tight & the other loose ! ..Makes sense !]

It's hard to shag a wheel by playing gently with the spokes
[but not impossible, if you do huge adjustments 2 or 3 rotations of adjuster all down one side, you may buckle the rim ! ..  End up with the rim off-centered, out of true, or out of round !!
But DT steel rims, although heavy & ****e are strong, Gucci Alloy ones are more prone to problems if not looked after ..

You won't have access to a Truing Stand, and if your wheels are badly buckled before you start, your onto a loser !

but once you have done it a few times, it's a 10 min job & one you can do without any aggro..

Rear is more at risk of collapse if spokes not looked after, and the more Horse Power  transmitted through the wheel, the more likely it is to buckle !

The physics involved in a spoked wheel are Fookin' Complex and the weight transfer to the hub not how you would imagine at first thoughts !

If you do have to make huge adjustments, then try to work opposite each adustment ... ie tighten one or two at 'Three O'clock'  then one or two at 'Nine O'clock' ... but if your spokes are so bad, the rim would probably have collapsed long ago !

Like Gix said there are issues with the inner tubes, but in general the rubber 'Garter / band' round the inside of the rim, shouls stop any chaffing off the innertube [im assuming DT's like my old MX rims have this band ??]

And the adjusters are indeed sometimes siezed solid, depends on age & use & cleaning over the years... but once you get em good & moving, or if your bikes newish ! then it's best to oil the tiny threads on the spokes as part of your maint' [i use silicone spray in tins, steep cost, but good gear... like WD40, but finer & less messy / smelly ! ]

Im not saying any of this is gospel / right or wrong... it's just what i have always done with spoked bikes & have never had any issues up to 40 HP + in the past ...

I did once have a collapsed front mind !!  !! But it was more to do with a tree stump, than the tightness of the spokes !!

.................................................... Bed ... Im Shagged ..

SEE ....

http://motocross.transworld.net/2008/11/25/tuesday-tip-tightening-spokes/







-- Edited by SimsonS51E at 01:14, 2009-01-04