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2015 sae model. I thought the spokes were stainless steel ?
Noticed black marks on the spokes and assumed it was brake dust and grime but found out today it will not clean off and appears to be like the spokes are stained black just under the surface.
Anyone else had this and and any solutions to get the spokes shiny again.
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After confirming that there' s no clear coat or coating on the spokes, maybe put a drop of metal polish on a small wad of 0000 steel wool and rub the spokes with it?
That's what I do periodically on my Bonneville.
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Tried the wire wool and various polishes then moved on to a buffing wheel in a mini drill and that was better but its impossible to get where the spokes cross over and the ends. Might try some alloy wheel cleaner but doubt it will work. I have read somewhere they could be stainless with a zinc coating and for some reason its a reaction so really the coating needs to come off.
Looks like this is an ongoing problem so looks like I have three choices now..
1. Change the spokes for real stainless steel ones.
2. Change the wheels for cast if that's possible. Anyone know for sure ?
3. Change the bike
Not happy about this as I really like the bike.
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(04-23-2021, 03:59 PM)Mixagon_imp Wrote: Tried the wire wool and various polishes then moved on to a buffing wheel in a mini drill and that was better but its impossible to get where the spokes cross over and the ends. Might try some alloy wheel cleaner but doubt it will work. I have read somewhere they could be stainless with a zinc coating and for some reason its a reaction so really the coating needs to come off.
Looks like this is an ongoing problem so looks like I have three choices now..
1. Change the spokes for real stainless steel ones.
2. Change the wheels for cast if that's possible. Anyone know for sure ?
3. Change the bike
Not happy about this as I really like the bike.
Just send them to
https://www.central-wheel.co.uk/ to get them re-spoked with a material of your choice.
I recently had my rims made tubeless by BartFactory in Italy, they do replacement spokes or spokes and rims too. Mine were in good order so I didn't need them.
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I believe MY17 and onwards are stainless spokes, maybe earlier versions aren’t. Are they really that bad or is it a case of now you’ve seen it you can’t unsee it and it’s all you focus on?
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It's probably like:
"Look at my beautiful bike with beautiful spoked rims."
"Wait. The spoked rims look horrible. The bike looks horrible."
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Not sure if this will show but here goes a picture..
https://btcloud.bt.com/web/app/share/invite/Dg4S1fTGwd
Ok the corrosion is on the leading edge of every spoke front and back wheel, so from the front the top of the wheel looks corroded spokes the bottom looks shiny. It feels rough to the touch and if rubbed long enough with wire wool it comes off and is smooth shiny again but a layer of whatever is on the spokes has gone and I think its just steel underneath so is liable to rust.
I have seen many pictures around the web of 2015 models with multiple broken spokes were they join the hub and I don't want to join the broken spoke club.
There must have been a problem for Honda to change later models to stainless spokes.
Not sure what to do now? Do I try and polish away the corrosion on all the spokes (already spent many hours on this and not got far)
I have thought of next tyre change (which I do myself) of me changing the spokes myself one by one but not sure If I feel confident enough to do this.
Its not about looks its about me feeling safe on this bike.
I have seen a RS with cast wheels which is taking my eye but would like to keep my spokes if possible.
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This was very common on Africa Twins (AT) in 2016/17 and Honda replaced many owners spokes under warranty. It was probably the number one complaint and a large topic on the AT forums. My AT spokes held out well for a good year then tarnished as yours are. I think there is little point in cleaning them one by one, the effort outweighs the benefit, they will be back like that in no time.
As for replacing them one by one. I think that is a poor idea as the new spokes will be of a different material and weight requiring a different tension. As you went around the wheel tensioning them back up it would pull the wheel be out of balance with uneven forces, you will get to the end and have to start all over again. I really think your only solution is to bite the bullet and get them re-spoked with a quality product.
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Mixagon, the RS has 17” wheels compared to the EX’s 18”. Might make changing them an issue. You might do better to see if the US DLX wheels fit.
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(04-24-2021, 04:00 PM)Mixagon_imp Wrote: Not sure if this will show but here goes a picture..
https://btcloud.bt.com/web/app/share/invite/Dg4S1fTGwd
Ok the corrosion is on the leading edge of every spoke front and back wheel, so from the front the top of the wheel looks corroded spokes the bottom looks shiny. It feels rough to the touch and if rubbed long enough with wire wool it comes off and is smooth shiny again but a layer of whatever is on the spokes has gone and I think its just steel underneath so is liable to rust.
I have seen many pictures around the web of 2015 models with multiple broken spokes were they join the hub and I don't want to join the broken spoke club.
There must have been a problem for Honda to change later models to stainless spokes.
Not sure what to do now? Do I try and polish away the corrosion on all the spokes (already spent many hours on this and not got far)
I have thought of next tyre change (which I do myself) of me changing the spokes myself one by one but not sure If I feel confident enough to do this.
Its not about looks its about me feeling safe on this bike.
I have seen a RS with cast wheels which is taking my eye but would like to keep my spokes if possible.
From what i remember Honda also changed the hub design on the newer version of spoked wheels so be aware of that when choosing spokes.
The older design had a weak spot in the design where the spokes in one direction had longer heads which crossed over the opposite spokes at the hub that could fail under high loads;
http://cb1100forum.com/forum/showthread....ken+spokes
If you're interested, you seem the type that can handle this job let say over winter and have watched a lot of video's to get the idea, it seems the hard part is to get them crossed over without bending and that means lay them out at the same time and gradually weave them in place.
Not having done it myself i have only admired the video's.
