Anyone ever tie and solder their spokes??? Taking apart 74.5 Jackpiner wheels today and found that the rear wheel was tied at the crosses. Being in the bicycle industry I remember back in the 70's/80's where we would tie and solder track wheels for stiffness and strength, just never seen or heard of it in the motorcycle industry.
rear wheel
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Scott Summey
Jacksonville, Florida
Hi, Back in the day when spokes were not a strong as they are today we would safety wire them together where they crossed. This was done before an event and checked after the event. Should a spoke break during the event the safety wire would hold the broken spoke in place and keep it from flailing about and doing more damage. As to the soldering. I have never heard of that. I would think that doing so would make a hard spot that would lead to breaking spokes and causing a major wheel collapse. Amherst Paul
Not a good idea, the spokes need to be able to move, I can see tying them together, not making them solid.
Man, I have cut and cussed a lot of those when restoring bikes. Agreed, spokes have to flex and move to do their intended job. Also love the folks who "swiss cheese" their machines to save 1 oz. of weight on a 200 pound machine (like it really helps). Welded up a bunch of that also!:(
I have used small gray zip ties on spokes back in the day and still use them. They will flex with the spokes and hold them in place.
Lee Buffenmyer
My 71 six day stripped down mxer the rear spokes are wire tied and have been since I bought it in 1975 76ish