The World of Autojumbles at your FIngertips

how to... reach the rim

Central Wheel Components has been producing motorcycle spokes and assembling motorcycle wheels for over 100 years. The company was founded in 1897 and is in the unique position of having built motorcycle wheels for every bike from A to Z in the alphabet, (Adler to Zundapp).

Customers range from enthusiastic bikers to Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM), (CWC currently build all the spoked wheels for Norton Motorcycles). It also builds the majority of wheels for the National Motorcycle Museum.

Central Wheel Components consider no task too specialised and no job too small to benefit from its expertise. Whether it be a new rim, a blast and powder coat of your old hub or indeed a new set of spokes and nipples, it is there to help. CWC can even supply and fit tyres and tubes via its sister company (Wheelhouse Tyres... Tel 0121 748 0000).

The purpose of this article is to explain to both enthusiastic amateurs and indeed at times to weathered professional restorers exactly what CWC requires by way of information to rebuild your wheel.

CWC receives on average between 50 and 100 ‘jiffy’ bags per week enclosing anything from ‘back of a cigarette packet scribble’ to a screed resembling War & Peace that detail customers’ wheel build requirements. Add to this the 20/30 boxes received each week containing old wheels, old hubs and spoke samples accompanied once again by the obligatory  ‘scrap’ of paper.

You would not believe just how many parcels arrive without any paperwork, or indeed without any contact details.

The obvious information required starts with the make, model and year of manufacture for the bike in question.

The next most important detail is for the customer to confirm the exact scope of work to be done. It would be helpful to look at its website (www.central-wheel.co.uk) to establish exactly the type and size of the rims and indeed spokes that are required.

At this stage you need to be aware of exactly what it is you are trying to achieve. It might be you are looking for the cheapest option just to get the bike running, but also you might be restoring a bike to ‘Concours’ condition.

There are 4 sets of details we require, for the Rim, the Spokes and the Hub. The final requirement is to detail exactly what is required to be done in regard to the rebuild.

Rim details: We need firstly to know if it is a Classic, Custom or Off-road wheel. The type of rim, whether it be mild steel and Chrome Plated/Powder Coated (and if so to what standard or colour). Whether it be an alloy rim of the old Akront type (now manufactured by Morad in Spain), and if so what section be it TC, TR or S.

We supply stainless steel rims with ‘Drop centres’ ideally suited for custom cruisers and Harley-Davidsons.

We are the Owners of the ‘SM Pro’ product range, encompassing a huge selection of wheel components for the off-road biker. Rims and indeed full wheel assemblies can be supplied colour matched for KTM, Honda, Kawasaki, Suzuki and Yamaha. (see www.smpro.co.uk).

Most wheels have 36 or 40 spokes, although some can have as many as 72. Each hole must be punched at a precise angle on the rim so that every spoke aligns correctly with the hub. This is why the offset measurement and the hub dimensions are so important.

Below we have detailed all the information required to supply either a wheel rim to complete a rebuild or indeed a complete wheel assembly.

The ‘Golden Rule’ when ordering any rims, spokes or hubs from CWC is to assume nothing, remember... a sample is far better to work from than poorly detailed sketches and inaccurate measurements.

It is far better that problems are identified at the time of ordering rather than during production of an order. The latter can be very costly for both customer and CWC alike.

Spoke details: We manufacture single diameter, butted and double butted spokes in both galvanised steel and stainless steel (polished or unpolished).
Central Wheel manufacture on average 500,000 spokes per week in sizes from 4 Gauge to 12 Gauge and in lengths from 80mm to 1000mm (Penny Farthing spokes).

When ordering spokes, there are three pieces of basic information required... the quantity (36 or 40) per set. The material (stainless steel or galvanised mild steel) and the type of spoke (single diameter/butted/ double butted).

The spoke length, gauge, angle and bend dimensions are all essential for order placement. (see illustration below for clarification).

Hub details: The majority of wheel rebuilds completed at CWC use customers’ own hubs. Shot blast and powder coat or shot blast and polish are the usual options.

A lot of the professional restorers prefer to prepare their own hubs. The only prerequisite we do insist on is that all bearings are removed from the hubs prior to arrival at CWC. This is because the powder coat process involves heating the component to 180º centigrade and the bearing grease drips out of every orifice if left in the hub.

For the off-road market, we supply our own SM Pro Aluminium hubs that are anodised in Gold, Blue, Red, Black and Orange to suit the 5 major off-road OEM motorcycle bike ranges. (see www.smprowheels.co.uk and download its Rock Solid Feather Light SMPro Platinum wheel brochure).

Central Wheel Components offers a range of ancillary services to its customers, coachlining of rims, tyre fitting and same day wheel builds (by appointment) are just a few of the services on offer.

The CWC sales office will be delighted to discuss your queries prior to order placement. The knowledge and experience it offers to its global customer base is second to none.

Contact CWC

Call us on 01675 462264 and find out “why” we consider ourselves No 1 Wheel Builders in the UK and number one for service in the UK.