1976 Kz 900 A4

Skidmark wrote: Beautiful bike!

Thank you! One of two. Here is the other one. In the photo it has a close ratio transmission, hence no kicker. This fall I changed the tranny to a standard and added a kicker, but haven't had a chance to ride the bike yet. I have a multi-vehicle classic plate that allows me to run any of my three vintage bikes when I wish. I just have to change the plate to the one I want to ride.

Apologies to Mikaw for purloining his thread.

Bike porn is always welcome!

So I chickened out. I found a custom shop about 40 minutes away that will true the rim for $70. A spoke torque wrench is more. But I did get a tidbit of info from a grumpy HD snob. He was initially interested in the job and ranted about how experienced he was and mentioned that Some HD front hubs have a 3/32 offset in the rim. When I mentioned what the rim was for he refused to work on it. Anyway I’m assuming if you measured from outside face of the rim to the Center Line of the hub one measurement would be 3/32” longer. Is this anything that needs to be addressed with my rear rim? Does the hub self center as the spoke tension is equally taken up ? If an offset is reguired then how much, to which side?, and I’d assume the shorter side would need the spokes tighter first to pull the hub toward that side.

Thanks for the help. Go easy on me for wimping out on not taking on the truing.

Mikaw wrote: Anyway I’m assuming if you measured from outside face of the rim to the Center Line of the hub one measurement would be 3/32” longer. Is this anything that needs to be addressed with my rear rim? Does the hub self center as the spoke tension is equally taken up ? If an offset is required then how much, to which side?

I believe bicycle rear wheels are typically offset to allow room for the gear set. But it doesn't look like you need to worry about it. If any offset was required, I believe it would be mentioned in the manual. I looked in the kz900, kz1000, and kz650 manual at the rim replacement section, and it doesn't say anything about offset at all. Just runout specs and torque specs.

Also, I'm guessing that if an offset was required, the spokes would be cut to different lengths for each side. Generally you want the spoke to thread most of way into the nipple, but not poke out. With all the spokes equal length, you're going to end up with very little offset if the nipples are all in about the same place. That may be why the FSM doesn't even mention the offset at all.

Sorry to interrupt the thought flow, but do you recall if you used the satin or gloss VHT caliper paint? I’m guessing satin.

Great thread by the way - I really enjoy following the discussion.

Your lace pattern looks correct. the outsides will go opposite directions - ditto for the inners.

You don't need the fancy torque wrench to true a wheel. Just tap the spoke. if it rings its good, if it thumps it needs to be tighter. You also don't need a fancy truing stand either although it does make it a bit easier. a couple of 2x4s to hold the axle or even just putting the wheel in the swing-arm will work.

Truing a wheel is not as hard as you might think. loads of videos online how to do it. The only thing you gotta watch out for is if you start to get tight on the spokes if you have a cheap spoke wrench you can round the nipple over if it doesn't fit the nipple tightly. I personally love building wheels, go slow and it will be no problem.

If you still want to have someone else true it check with MX shops. replacing spokes is a regular occurrence for them.

DOHC wrote:

Mikaw wrote: Anyway I’m assuming if you measured from outside face of the rim to the Center Line of the hub one measurement would be 3/32” longer. Is this anything that needs to be addressed with my rear rim? Does the hub self center as the spoke tension is equally taken up ? If an offset is required then how much, to which side?

I believe bicycle rear wheels are typically offset to allow room for the gear set. But it doesn't look like you need to worry about it. If any offset was required, I believe it would be mentioned in the manual. I looked in the kz900, kz1000, and kz650 manual at the rim replacement section, and it doesn't say anything about offset at all. Just runout specs and torque specs.

Also, I'm guessing that if an offset was required, the spokes would be cut to different lengths for each side. Generally you want the spoke to thread most of way into the nipple, but not poke out. With all the spokes equal length, you're going to end up with very little offset if the nipples are all in about the same place. That may be why the FSM doesn't even mention the offset at all.

Thank you, I did look through the FSM’s I have and didn’t see anything either, that’s why I asked. Having different length spokes makes sense it would cause the hub to offset. All mine were equal length but were different bend angle for inner and outer.

DoctoRot wrote: Your lace pattern looks correct. the outsides will go opposite directions - ditto for the inners.

You don't need the fancy torque wrench to true a wheel. Just tap the spoke. if it rings its good, if it thumps it needs to be tighter. You also don't need a fancy truing stand either although it does make it a bit easier. a couple of 2x4s to hold the axle or even just putting the wheel in the swing-arm will work.

Truing a wheel is not as hard as you might think. loads of videos online how to do it. The only thing you gotta watch out for is if you start to get tight on the spokes if you have a cheap spoke wrench you can round the nipple over if it doesn't fit the nipple tightly. I personally love building wheels, go slow and it will be no problem.

If you still want to have someone else true it check with MX shops. replacing spokes is a regular occurrence for them.

Thanks for the tips. When this build is done I’m sure I will have enough parts left to throw together a bike on the 1977 Kz900 frame. I have front and rear hubs and rims that will need laced and trued. I will give it a go next time around.

ayeckley wrote: Sorry to interrupt the thought flow, but do you recall if you used the satin or gloss VHT caliper paint? I’m guessing satin.

Great thread by the way - I really enjoy following the discussion.

No problem. We all do it. When we read a post that reminds us of something it’s natural. It was Satin.

Years ago when I and my group of friends were Sportster nuts we used to lace and true our rear wheels for 16" rims from the stock 18" rims. I had a truing stand that I bought and at the time it didn't seem like a big deal. We used the "pointers" on the truing stand and all seemed well, but was it really? Who knows? Today I would use a dial indicator on the rim with a wheel attachment to get the rim as close to true as I could. Some may have developed the ability to check spoke tightness by listening to the "ping" the spoke makes when struck by something but my hearing is nowhere good enough for that anymore. IMHO a spoke torque wrench is a requirement when lacing up a wheel for the first time, but around my area few shops sell them, nor do they want to take on outside wheel lacing work. They will do their own in-house work, but no walk-ins. So that left me with few options but fortunately I found a small vintage motorcycle repair shop in Belgium, WI that will do this type of work and he did my rear wheel after I trashed a rear tire by running over a large piece of metal. I tend to be a bit OCD in many respects and truing wheels is one of them. Screw it up and potentially you leave the door open for problems that may not surface until you are rolling down the road at speed. Tires and wheels are what keeps you off the pavement and I want them in the best condition they can be, not repaired by an amateur such as myself. The largest Harley dealer in my area has had a dealership race team for many years. They send their spoked wheels out for lacing and truing. On their race bikes they only want the best job possible on their wheels. I think Mikaw made the right decision. My idea of a good time isn't trying out my safety gear because I wanted to save money and experiment.

Rick H.

I was suprised to get a call today to come pick up the rear rim. Truns out I got an even better deal they only charged me $45.00 and took less than 36 hours. On the way home I dropped the rim off at the Kawasaki dealership to have the rear tire mounted and balanced.

Small progress yesterday. I got the front wheel partially assembled and the forks done minus the springs, top cap and fork oil. I’m posting more as a heads up to not blindly trust your torque wrench. It’s been in the low30’s here over night so a few days ago I brought everything in including the torque wrench. Wanted things to be warm when assembling. The last time I used my torque wrench it worked as normal, it was stored at its lowest setting in a case. But for my better judgment I could have snapped a rotor to hub bolt. I kept pulling waiting on the click which didn’t come and felt like I was way over torque. Turns out I was right and something had happened to the torque wrench during storage. It seems common here that people post “it snapped before the torque wrench clicked”. Never trust a these things, use good judgment and feel. If it seems over tight and no click it probably is. Mine is Craftsman brand so now I have to find a way to have it calibrated or replaced.

I had to replace my Craftsman torque wrench (the smaller in/lb one) due to it not reading or clicking at the set amount. Mine had rolled off the table and hit the floor, though. Before using my new replacement, I put an old bolt in the vise and checked if it clicked. It seemed to be working good. Do a search online for metrology companies to find a calibration house. The Craftsman brand (and most others) say their torque wrenches are accurate to +/- 2 in/lb, or ft/lb on their larger ones. A calibration company would get it closer than that. Since I was in charge of a Quality Assurance department in a machine shop, I know of and have used several calibration companies in So. Ca. You shouldn't have any trouble finding some i your neck of the woods.