Topic: Spoke ??? How rusty is too rusty?

[Jugghead]

I have a 77 CB550F that I am getting road worthy.
I am about to put new rubber (Metzelers per TwoTireds reccommendations) on front and rear,
But I want to know, how do you tell when the spokes are too far gone and need to be replaced?
They are all pretty darn rusted, but none are broken or bent.
I can provide a pic if it would help.

This bike is for my brother, so I don't want to hand over an unsafe ride.
Thanks!

[Tom Stark]

I am hardly the one to answer here, so let me pose a question.  Is it worth $29 plus your labor to not think about this anymore?  www.partsnmore.com sells spokes for $29 per wheel.  $35 minimum order and $3 shipping.  If I had to guess, I woudl guess that your spokes are fine.  Like I said, I am not the one to answer this, but for a few bucks, and a little time, you can put this behind you.  Just a thought.
Tom

[merc2dogs]

I'll second that. you should fix it and forget about them.
 
 Otherwise, if they aren't pitted or thinned down it's just an apearance issue and not too serious, you can most likely get a couple years out of them no problem, But if they have pits or thinned areas (other than the butted sections) I would replace them at the first chance.

 the cost of new is not that bad, and it's fairly easy to respoke a wheel, or if not someone should be able to help or point you to a good place to have it done.

ken.

[SOHC steve]

Im pretty much repeating what the other guys have said....If your budget permits replace them,they have lost their protective coating (silver zinc?).If youre really trying to keep $$$ down, give them a clean up first...any evidence of deep pitting  would be reason enough to scrap them,but,if they clean up Ok you may have given yourself some peace of mind,but they will be always be susceptible to more corrosion without any protection...If you still have doubts,replace them,its pretty cheap insurance.My 750 had about 5 broken rear spokes when I got it ,no corrosion,just fatigue I guess,they do carry a lot of load and need to be kept in good condition.
 Steve

[rstarcher]

Can respokeing be done with the tire still on the rim, or does one need to remove the tire?  Mine are also pretty ratty looking and I would like to replace them, but removing. replacing, rebalancing the tire is beyond my skillset.

Randy

[Bob Wessner]

Sorry, but you have to work with a bare rim to replace the spokes.

[merc2dogs]

carefully mark the weights and tire positions on the rim and reinstall in the same locations.

  If you re-use the nipples it is possible to do with tire mounted, simply air down the tire so the nipples can slip in
 but since the nipples are normally as bad as the sokes, and not all spokes have the same OD, it's not realy feasable.

Ken.

[andy750]

If you hear a pinging sound as you ride down the highway then you know this is your rusty spokes snapping one by one.....I learnt this the hard way  ...however it takes a long time before the wheel finally collapses. I rode from Cape Cod, MA to Knoxville, TN (via a few days in NY city) with my brother on the back of my then CB750 and couldnt work out what the pinging sound was (heard it while still in MA) - it wasnt until Knoxville that the wheel finally gave way....

cheers
Andy

[Jugghead]

so it would seem that these spokes are strong enough?
Just to clean, coat with wax and let them be until i break one?
If one breaks, then I will replace all front and rear, guess.
I just spent $190 on the rubber at american moto tires,
so I would like to spend as little possible to get her going nice.
Thanks for the replies, and any more info/opinions is welcome!