TOPIC:

I'm going to replace some 15-year-old tires this weekend. I put a cheap runout dial indicator on the front wheel, and it only shows 30 thou lateral runout (0.8mm), which seems pretty good. When I "ping" the spokes with a wrench, I hear a few which "thud" and are probably loose. I think I'll fix those, no matter how good the runout is.

But even with the spokes that make a good ringing "ping" sound, I hear a wide range of "ping" pitches from the other spokes: most of the pings fit into a range of about 4 white keys on the piano (a major 4th). When I watch online videos for wheel truing, I see people claiming that even a "whole-step" difference in the pitch of the ping is too much. But I'm thinking that if my wheel runout is under 1mm, and if the spokes make a ping sound (any pitch) then I probably shouldn't bother trying to get the pitches closer.

EDIT: I should mention that this bike has a serious pull or wobble, which I haven't located yet.

Both lateral and radial true is important, and the best way to keep the wheel that way is through consistent spoke tension. Easily said but not easily done. I've built a fair number of bicycle wheels and use a spoke tension gauge. At the end of the day there is always some degree of spoke tension variation, but it shouldn't be too much. How that translates into tension tone on a motorcycle wheel I'm not sure.

Well, I could adjust the "ping" pitch to be the same pitch all around, and if that makes it out-of-true, then I could adjust as necessary. Of course, the more spokes you touch, the more chances for stripping or breaking one.

One thing I don't see mentioned in the manual is the dish of the wheel, or how to measure.

Buy a spoke torque wrench and check your manual for correct torque. On my Z1's the range is 22 to 26 inch lbs. However as already stated it's difficult to maintain that torque and get a wheel properly trued.

Your over thinking this. As long as they ping and not thud your good.

baldy110 wrote: Your over thinking this. As long as they ping and not thud your good.

Sounds good, baldy. That was my first thought. Not sure why those YouTubers seemed so picky about pitch. If they all ping and the runout is in-spec, I'll call it good.