I'd borrowed the hollow three spoke Brembo wheels from my Daytona, pending a posh polish and paint job on the original six solid spoke SNW Trophy wheels. Meanwhile, Tim decided he had no use for his six spokers so I thought I'd make use of them (cheers Tim) as a way of returning Streaky his wheels. First off, ditch the 20 year old rubber tubeless valves. For a few pounds, it just isn't worth trusting these critical components. I've seen the front tyre of a bike blow out on a motorway. Not pretty.
Tim's wheels were a bit tired but otherwise in decent condition. I decided to give them a simple tidy up with some steel coloured wheel paint I had for years. Literally. I went for a steel colour because I thought it would pick up the graphite stripe on the Trophy bodywork, rather than the aluminium colour these wheels came in.
After a good scrub with a nylon pad, degreaser and CIF, I could see the paint on the rims was very thin and flaking. So a went over the edges with wet and dry. Also, I treated the inner surface of the rims where they had suffered from tyre irons in the past.
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| Tyre iron groove ... |
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| ... treated to a foam block and wet and dry ... |
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| ... until all is smooth again. |
I had some grey primer so treated the wheels to a coat of that to start with.
Unfortunately, there was still some flaky paint around the bare ally on the rim and it didn't take very well. So more rubbing back, more primer - still not great but as I was determined not to agonise over the finish, I went on to the wheel paint.
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| Not bad ... at a distance |
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| Rubbing back Simoniz steel colour wheel paint as it reacts again |
Well, more reaction followed, more rubbing back, more wheel paint. I think they are pretty good now.
I installed a new 160/60ZR18 Avon Storm 2 on the rear wheel ...
... and then noticed how the inner faces of the swingarm had suffered last winter. So more rubbing back - with steel wool this time - but special metals primer this time. Marvellous. Why didn't I use it on the wheels? No idea other than this time I wasn't thinking about a quick job. I was thinking of a sound one.
As a consequence, the paint took beautifully and no futher rubbing back was required so it was actually quicker anyway. When will I ever learn.
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| Good as new |
With the rear wheel reinstalled, I can see that the rear of the bike sits higher now. Tim discovered that there is a difference in the length of the rear shock absorber for bikes with an 18 inch rear wheel and the later 17 inch rear wheel. That figures, with the difference in stance of my bike, back on a wheel it was originally spec'd for.
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| Better stance with 18 inch rear wheel and original shocker |
I have not yet finished the front wheel but Ruby Trophy 12 is blasting around Somerset and Wiltshire again. Soo smoooth on the new chain and new rear tyre.
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| Ah, Summer time |
5 comments:
Hi, I'm in the process of changing to the three spoke wheels with a 180/55/17 tyre and according to the Gearing Commander app the difference in diameter to the six spokes is just 2.4mm. Am I missing something here as I can't imagine Triumph would change the shock length for the sake of 1.2mm and surely that difference would not affect the stance of the bike? Hello all by the way - been not so well for a while but now back and following the blog with renewed interest.
Hi Paul
My sums say the same as yours but all I can say is that Ruby certainly feels like there is a higher ride height with the change back to 18 inch wheel. The nominal difference is added to by the fact it's also a near tyre vs. part-worn so probably 5mm taller. However, it could also be psychological in part because the narrower tyre naturally Looks taller. Maybe Tim has measured the difference his later-spec shock has made.
Sorry to hear you've been poorly. Hope you are able to enjoy some miles of smiles before the summer is out.
Hi LeT, thanks for getting back to me. I think as you say the difference is probably part psychological and part tyre wear. It will be interesting to compare the different shock lengths. As it happens the three spoke rear wheel I'd just bought turned out to be slightly out of true so has been sent back. Still can't decide for sure if there's any advantage in changing other than looks and tyre choice. Either way I shall be re-painting them so was wondering what the 'special metals primer' you mentioned is? Great to have you back blogging again by the way. P.S. I'm not Paul by the way but Gray who you used to chat to some time ago. Paul is my brother-in-law who borrowed my laptop and I was logged in as him!
I wondered if it was you - but the Paul thing confused me. My origonal pot of special meals primer was s Finnegan's product but I've been using a B&Q version since it ran out. It is for galvanised metals, aluminium etc. It somehow keys into the surface better than regular primer but leaves a rougher finish so needs some rubbing back after. Three spoke wheels are easier to clean but I think the wider tyre makes the steering heavier. It's a matter of preference. Tim is happy with his 17 inch 180/55 set up, with his new shock.
I'll post something on the shocks in a minute. Nice to see the wheels being used !
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