TOPIC:

hi all,does anyone know where i can get rims respoked here in mass.rims are very nice, spokes are very rusty.can they be cleaned somehow? rims are aluminum. need new tires would like to clean up rims when tires are off bike




thanx jim.

Buy a spoke kit and do it yourself. It's not that hard and there are tons of on-line tutorials.

The uprights and bottom are 2x3's. That 'U' shape is then screwed to another piece that I use to clamp to a bench. All I did was use 1/2" conduit clamps on top to hold the axle. I originally made it for MX wheels, but it worked ok for the Z wheels too. Measure (with spacers) the width of the rear hub, that will determine the length of the bottom piece. If the front is narrower, you might have to add homemade spacers (I've used scrap pieces of wood too) so the wheel doesn't move around so much on the stand. When you get a wheel mounted, mark a spot on an upright at the corner of the rim. Then drill a hole slightly smaller than 1/4" and thread in a piece of 1`/4" threaded rod. Use this as a reference point. If you use the corner of the rim you can use the same pointer for the side to side and up/down movement. You need a different hole for the front wheel.

This stand will give you a solid baseline when you build the wheels. To fine tune them, install the wheel on your bike and fasten an old pencil or something to your fork or swingarm to get the rim 100%.

A couple tips:

First off, mark the inside of the rim with a marker or something. This is your reference point so you know where you started while truing.

Once you have the wheel laced, tighten all the nipples first so there's like 3 threads left on the spokes. Then tighten flush to the last thread. Move around the wheel in a star fashion for equal tightness. Then you can start truing radial (up/down) first. Once you have the rim true you can true for axial (side to side). Once that is done, go over all the spokes by tapping them and make sure they all "ring" a bit. Any "thud" spokes are too loose. Double check for true once more, then mount to your bike and check one last time.

After you ride the bike check the spokes 2-3 more times. Then the wheel should be "set" and you'll just have to go over the spokes with normal intervals (1000 miles or so).

This is only a rough idea on what's involved. You should check for hub offset before you break down a wheel. It's not totally important since you can set the offset after, but it's easier to do on the bench.

thanx guys, i'll look into spoke kits and give it a try. lots of good info for wheel holder. will post progress soon.



thanx jim.

If you find spoke kits, could you post the info.

Without really doing an exhaustive search, there don't seem to be any actual kits out there for the 650-CSR. Z1Enterprises.com doesn't list any spokes for the bike. One place (speedmotoco?) quoted a price of ~$120 per wheel for spokes & nipples a year or two ago - I believe that was for stainless steel. Kinda pricy to me, so I got a set of KZ550 cast alloy wheels & refurbished them, which ended up costing a lot less than just the spokes for one wheel.

Also, the KZ1000-CSR spokes might be the same.... in case you stumble across anything for that model.

Generally, spoke sets are $100 per wheel. You can find OEM spokes on Ebay for around $60-90. Just search Ebay the spoke part numbers for your application. SS spokes will usually cost 25-30% more than steel spokes. If all else fails, you can email Buchannons for a match.

Building spoke wheels is a little expensive, but they are far more appealing visually than any mag IMO. Unless you're on a budget or doing a concours resto you should look for stainless steel spokes and niples. I like to use Bel Ray waterproof grease on the threads.

The CSR is a rare bird. Searching the part numbers at ebbaayy will often times yield a single spoke or a lot of 6 or something. The pricing is usually high, and gets exorbitant w the shipping if you try to buy them a few at a time. The bike has 48 spokes per wheel, so it'll cost more to do than the earlier KZs. If my memory is any good, the pricing from speedmotoco mentioned above was via ebbaayy. Personally, I couldn't see spending ~$250 on spokes, then facing the task of doing it myself. And having the bike down for another period of time. I like mag wheels anyway.

Checking at Kawasaki.com, the 650 & 1000 CSRs have the same spokes.
I don't know if other spokes would work.

1981 KZ650-CSR w 550-Ltd wheels & 750-E mufflers

buchanon spoke .... google that,they should be able to hook you up...