Went for an hour spin for first time this year and the entire wheel came apart I had just checked all of the spokes 2 weeks ago and they were all tight, I check them before every ride Hour on the track every spoke went loose and I mean finger tighten loose Any one seen this before ? I checked the hub and rim and no cracks
Never heard of anything like ~all spokes coming lose ... I've rode with the Excel rims (on all my Huskies) for a ~decade and had to tighten my spokes maybe 5 times in those yrs ...I've always considered them as tighten-and-forget. Pics would be good also ...
no such thing is tighten and forget with spokes. anyway all metals have fatigue life (age and corrosion factoring in?) and rims are constantly taking a beating and changing form. Proper torque is important, spokes are just long screws. Not just tight but proper torque, too tight and they stretch. you guys get the idea. mine constantly change and need attention, they are in a state of change every time you slam stuff and put regular riding stress on them. PS could simply a freak failure, there is no data to support a trend in wheels coming apart.
Yep on checking your spokes ... I didn't mean to imply don't check your spokes, ESP if your riding is harder faster type variety ... I'm an easy enough rider, mine just stay tight after an initial tightening. I doubt that recent little track work I did on my 012 TC250 did anything to my spokes but I still have to check them.
I almost ~never tighten my Excels ... Just not necessary on my (EX) 02 CR250 ridden once a week in GPNF like a wildman or on any of my 5 current Huskies, that are just ridden alot by an old guy...Not a fan of the lighter bikes really ...
Thanks for feed back This is on 11 TC449 with 30hrs . It just seemed like something else would be wrong for this to happen so fast I've checked for cracks on rim and hub Retrued wheel and now I'm afraid to ride it It does have excels takasagos
Sounds good and someone has to test it ... Just be careful and don't go too far before stopping .... Never had a torque wrench but there is a proper setting for those if you are too worried ...
After initial break in, I have rarely had to tighten spokes. When I'm checking air pressure or changing a tire I tap on the spokes with a spoke wrench and listen for a dead sounding spoke indicating it's loose. I have always gone by feel when tightening. You can feel the stretch of any fastener including spokes and with experience you learn not to overstretch things which once that has been done the fastener is compromised and prone to fail. Many people rely on click type torque wrenches which can easily get out of calibration especially if you use the torque wrench to loosen anything (counterclockwise).
I don't trust any click type torque wrench.... dial type or forget it. old beam types are actually very accurate if you can look directly at them, as they are unaffected by temperature variations and less prone to damage. All must have a calibration tag every 6 months to be used in any technical / mechanical trade, be it military mechanics, FAA A&P license holders etc. This calibration requirement is mostly neglected in the automotive mechanics field. I recently bought a like new "Utica" dial type Newton meter/inch pounds 3/8" Torque Wrench with a built in follow up needle, with all the paper work. It was manufactured in 07/2014 in a nice metal box set in Styrofoam that was like new . Not even a dirty fingerprint in the Styrofoam, with current calibration certificate and sticker dated 12/29/2014 for about $65.00 delivered to my door off of ebay. It's box was stenciled "243 engineering battalion". I had the Matco Tools salesman double check the calibration on his $2500.00 calibration tool on his truck for free. He had quoted me about $230.00 for a 3/8" clicker type a week earlier. I told him after that, this was the one I bought instead and I had bought it off ebay and it was in my hand a full day or 2 day before he was even back on the next Tuesday. He would have had to order the Newton Meter one himself and it would have probably took longer.
i like the split beam type but they are hard or impossible to find in the lighter weights..like under 50lbs
Yep, the beam type are accurate and durable plus they can be used in either direction. The dial type is basically a beam type with a gear set attached to an analog dial to make it easier to read. As long as the gears in the dial type don't get worn or misaligned from being dropped they are reliable as well. The click type uses a sear to make a click when the torque setting is reached. The click type are time savers because you don't have to look at the dial or beam and can go faster but there is a lot more that can go wrong with them. When possible you can measure the stretch of the bolt with a micrometer and compare it with the torque reading. I've done this with connecting rod bolts and compared it with the specs of the bolt. Manufactures like ARP usually give the desired stretch such as .005" @ 55-60 ft.lbs. With spokes a lot has to do with the friction of the nipple threads, if the nipples are creaking or sticky a torque wrench is useless. The goal is to get a consistent amount of stretch from the spoke that doesn't overstretch it making it weaker but an even torque so that all the spokes work together to support the wheel. If you over-tighten spokes to their limit they have nothing left to give and the first big hit will exceed what they are capable of holding. If not tight enough they aren't supporting the rim enough and your rim will be easily bent.
All good info here. I have 6 different torque wrenches and prefer the click type. Before I use one though I check it against a beam type by coupling the two together with two sockets that are welded together.
