Kawasaki Triples Club

I decided that one job for over winter was to tidy up the rear wheel of my '73 H1D, which was looking rather shabby. The chrome on the rim is amazingly good, probably from being in the States for 37 years, but the hub and the spokes hadn't fared quite as well.



With the wheel stripped I was undecided what to do with the spokes, which, although unsightly were still in very good condition. Should I replace them with new stainless steel or re-plate them with my recently acquired zinc plating kit? There is the question; renew or restore?

While the easy option would be to buy a new set, I prefer to only replace parts when they are beyond salvaging so I decided to go down the restore route. So armed with a box full of 40 spokes and a nice new wire wheel in the drill, firmly fixed in the bench vice I set to work cleaning them. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea. Oh well, I'll do a few each day.

I've found that part of restoring bikes is having the patience to spend hours and hours doing very mundane task, but the results can be well worth the effort and I was really pleased when I removed the first batch of freshly plated spokes from the tank.




Having only a small 9 litre plating kit it took 4 batches to plate all the spokes but they looked like new and hadn't cost anything except my time.

With the hub cleaned and polished and 40 nipples similarly sorted it just remained to lace the spokes back to the rim and the wheel was beginning to look pretty good.




With the spokes back in and tensioned and the rim running true the tyre was refitted and the wheel is ready to go back into the bike.



It's surprising how many tasks can be accomplished in your own garage without having to send parts to be professionally restored or even having to resort to buying replacements.

Nice Job

That's an amazing result. What a transformation. :smt023
You're right, many hours of mundane rubbing and polishing but the results usually make the task worthwhile.

Neat job - which plating kit did you use ?

Fabulous job and I think I will have a go on the S1 that I have eventually got round to restoring. How brittle are these things likely to get Wolf Man?. I would assume he is not going to try and ride it like a Fireblade.

Charlie wrote:Neat job - which plating kit did you use ?

Hi Charlie,

It's a Zinc plating kit from Gaterous Plating at Hereford, £57.00 + shipping.

www.geterousplating.co.uk

I then bought a 10litre brewing bucket and a small 25W aquarium heater to keep the temperature of the electrolyte up.

The trouble now is everytime I look at one of the bikes I see something that can be plated.

Did you find it easy to keep the same rim offset when re-fitting the pokes?

Do you need to keep the solution warm?

Are the rims offset?

I would always prefer to restore rather than replace and the finish is certainly, to a very high standard.

But I can hear my wheelbuilding mentor 'tut tutting' about re-using pre-stressed spokes.

The only way he could guarantee the integrity of the wheel, was to use new spokes.

I think we tend to take wheels for granted and as I had a few spoke breakages in the past, I have become a regular spoke 'pinger'

Doc

Eric wrote:Do you need to keep the solution warm?

Are the rims offset?

Firstly, the information provided with the kit suggests a temperature of around 30 but does say acceptable results can be obtained down as low as 15.

I set the little submerged heater to 30 and leave it to warm up before I start. As it's only 9 litres it warms up pretty quick.

Second, before I strip the wheels I measure the off-set both sides and make a sketch of what it looks like. When rebuilding I go round the spokes tightening each equally until things start to nip up. Again patience is the key here but I've found that the off-set is right doing it this way. Keeping the rim a perfect circle is pretty important so I use a dial gauge in a jig and keep spinning the wheel occasionally to make sure things are going right.

The biggest pain is getting the spokes laced up without getting them trapped and having to loosen some off to release others. Again, slow and steady is the key. Never start the job if you have a time limit, it can take a while. Hope this helps.

Androu wrote:

Charlie wrote:Neat job - which plating kit did you use ?

Hi Charlie,

It's a Zinc plating kit from Gaterous Plating at Hereford, £57.00 + shipping.

www.geterousplating.co.uk

http://www.gaterosplating.co.uk/ correct link

I only know because I like the look of what you have achieved

Sneck

Don`t worry too much about "brittleness"

Just fit a KING 3 ply Nylon front tyre with no discernable speed rating on the front of your H2. That should take your mind off brittle spokes.....................................EH Wolfie ??!!!

Cheng Shin Nylons are just as good a diversion...

Diversion ? Nah. My eyes are still drawn to the Chrome Headlamp shrouds !!

I love the S1c in that colour

The stock exhausts are much prettier than those on the H1's

I think s1/kh250 exhausts are the best lookin pipes of all the triples...

S1c's only come in Halibut Blue..

i am thinking of re-plating my spokes am i dicing with death?