Topic: 16" Harley rear spokes query

[Noddy78]

Hi Folks,

So I got a 16" Harley rear and spoke kit from a guy who specialises in CB750 stuff (like his entire shop is purely CB750 stuff), so I'm assuming he's sent me the right gear.. but foolishly didn't do a double-check before I powder-coated and plated. Anyway, I finally got around to spoking up the wheel and I've got a few concerns. So I thought I'd see if anyone here with some more experience might be able to shed some light.

This is the spoke kit:


So here are my concerns:
Firstly this seems to be the only way I can spoke it all up correctly (and from my searching all 'inners' is pretty common for this conversion, and the bent spokes sure as hell can't be 'outers'):



Which looks ok, until I notice that a) all the 'bent' spokes face one way, and all the straight spokes go the other:


b) All the bent spokes really don't look they sit very nicely in the hub (nevermind I managed to chew out some of the powdercoat trying to get them in):


c) the straight spokes are considerably longer at the nipple than the bent ones, to the point that just nipping them up finger-tight they end up reaching the limit of the thread - though I haven't trued anything seriously yet, so that might be less of an issue once everything is in?:




So, am I being pedantic and once I true it all up it'll be fine, or is there something not quite right going on here?

Cheers!

[754]

Looks like they should be on the outside..

[Noddy78]

Yeah, that was my thought too.. but they get nowhere near!

[Don R]

 I'm not sure what you have, I found lacing instructions on Hondachopper.com and printed it out. But, mine were innies and outies.

 Something appears to be off, I can't see exactly what. Half the bent ones and half the straight ones should go the other way. Did you search? I remember this coming up before.

[Noddy78]

Yeah, I found this (amongst a few other sites, but this seemed to be about the same predicament I'm in):

http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=81896.0

But with all the broken images (and no close-ups), it's hard to gauge...

[Don R]

 I hate it when they never tell us what happened. Did you see the FAQ's too?

[Noddy78]

Yep, they all seem to deal with the stock stuff. From what I can tell from the previous link he ran them all as inners and it worked ok, but what I can't tell is whether his bents all go one way, and straights the other or not. Which seems wrong to me. I'm pulling it all apart gain now and seeing if there is some other mysterious way I haven't come up with thus far!

[Noddy78]

Ok, good news is I've found an alternate way that gets the bents and straights alternating direction... still not thrilled with the way the heads sit in the hub though... anyone got any experience/thoughts there?

[MCRider]

We had several good threads on this 16" wheel lace question. It's been a few years, but if you search on key words you'll find it. First, there are kits that are all inside spokes and kits that are inside/outside. So don't let that throw you. I have laced both.

Second, they are often not of the highest quality or due diligence, but still safe to use in my opinion.

Third, if you have threads protruding thru the nipple, it is common practice to grind these off, when its all laced and trued.

[Noddy78]

Thanks guys. Yep, my searching of the topic previously came up with your responses there MCRider, which made me realise they're all inners, I just couldn't get my head around the spokes of the same kind all running in the same direction thing. Now I've found the alternate way around for that, they all sit a bit happier, and definitely feel more right. I got it mostly trued up last night (not quite) and the heads of the bent spokes seem to sit a bit more happily too, but still not great, but I guess that's just the way they sit. I'll post some pis up of the finished product for anyone else looking to go down this road when I've got it trued properly.

[Don R]

Good job.

[Don R]

Is it possible to alternate the bent ones so every other one opposes the one next to it?

[Noddy78]

Well, all laced and trued, everything seems to buckle-up quite nicely. Even the somewhat-odd bent spoke heads have pulled themselves relatively straight. Only a couple of spokes that'll need a little grinding down. And yep Don, I ended up finding a way to lace the opposing bent and straight spokes to alternate directions. Some pics for FWIW: