Excel Rims on vintage bikes

[Mick Milakovic]

Hi All,
I need to replace two rims on my 1980 Husky and was wondering how you order modern rims for older bikes.  Dennis Jones had some great looking Excels on his Award-Winning Penton at Moberly, and I've seen them on many others as well.  Are the spoke patterns universal, and if not, how do I know what will work?  Also, the Husky has the abnormal 17" rear wheel.  Thanks!

[john durrill]

Mick,
 Try Speed and Sport, you would need the right drill pattern for each hub. We got 2 from them and they was drilled right for our hubs .
John D.

[OUCWBOY]

Mick,
You can also get rims from Buchanans Spokes. They will have the correct hole pattern and you could even get the stainless steel spokes if needed.
//www.buchananspokes.com/

Donny

Donny Smith

[Big Mac]

Search "Penton" or "vintage KTM" on Ebay right now. Some guy has NOS 17" rear rims on auction now, believe they were Sun brand. Better check to be sure spoke numbers are correct. Seemed reasonable in comparison to cost of new. No idea why he has 17" rims  listed under Penton/KTM, don't know of a year when 17" rear was ever used. Mac

[namgar]

Word of caution here!!!  Spoke patterns are not universal!!!

I got the Excel rims on my Penton 6 Days from Buchanan and they also provided the Heavy Duty Stainless spokes.  According to BSR, Excel rims are nippled for a Japanese hub spoke pattern, not a European hub.  This is what I was told by the good folks (heavy sarcasm) at Buchanan AFTER I ordered my wheels and after I started having massive problems lacing them.  Because of this you will have to lace one side in the opposite direction from what it was.  I was unable to do this inspite of the fact that I have laced wheels before and ended up having to have mine done by a wheel specialist.  It is my understanding that the Sun rims are correct for the Penton or other Euro hub bikes and would have laced on the same way as the old rim.  Also the Excel rims Buchanan supplied me along with the spokes and nipples were NOT drilled for the correct size of the HD nipple.  I had to slightly overdrill EVERY hole.  All in all I thought the service from BSR was atrocious and the people I dealt with were rude and insulting, especially their comment that I was obviously an "amateur" who "didn't know anything about wheel lacing" and that "everyone" knew that they would have to lace the Excels backwards and I should have just bought the Suns (although they certainly didn't supply this information at the time of purchase).

Having said all that, now that they are done they look and perform fabulous but if I had known all of this going into it I would have gone with the Sun rim.  Also I wish I could say I will never deal with Buchanan again but the truth is they are pretty much the only game in town, I will not however deal  directly with them again and will avoid them at all reasonable costs.  In spite of the fact that I have laced wheels in the past I have found someone locally who does them for $25 and at that cost it's not worth my effort.

Good luck on the Husky!


William R Gahrmann

[firstturn]

William,
  Thanks for the input...it is obvious that I too am a amateur???  Let me get this straight, I am going to lace my wheels(Excel) backwards (opposite direction)?  Please someone else jump in here since I thought I already had my new rims laid out to lace?
Thanks again,

Ron Carbaugh

[Dennis Jones]

Mick, You are right right, the Excells on my bike look great as long as you don't look to close. These wheels were on the bike when I bought it so I don't know how they were laced. I do know that something isn't right. All the spokes have a slight arch in them, this can't be good. Being even less than an amature I don't know the problem, but it seems the rims just don't fit the hubs.

Dennis Jones

[desmond197]

Dennis, I would get those rims replaced and relaced. The stress put on spokes and hubs with a dirtbike are large. The drilling of the rim is very critical on a dirt bike and the spokes should line up properly. Remember we are dealing with hubs that are 30 years old and metal does not get better with age. Some of the metalurgy used on our bikes is not so hot. I got a replacement front wheel on Ebay for my Husky 360C Sportsman that I am restoring and it was laced all wrong the rim was drilled for a conical hub and the spokes were bent up when the idiot that laced the wheel tried to get it to work. If I had gone over a jump on the bike the wheel would have colapsed. The Husky wieghts in at 252 Lbs + 200 lb rider that is a lot of force @ 40 mph. Getting a wheel done right $50-$150, broken arm $2500.

[Mick Milakovic]

I'm feeling pretty lucky right now.  After many calls and hours on the phone I finally decided to get Sun rims and stainless spokes through Dave Boydston at AMS.  The rims are drilled specifically for my bike.  The price was still salty by anybody's standards, but as Desmond said:  Getting the wheel done right $50, broken arm $2500, peace of mind pricele$$.  Also, the Excel rims are anodized and in time will wear off.  The Sun rim is a polished aluminum and will look brand new for eternity if I take care of them and don't bend them up [:I]

[James]

Just got my wheels done by Lynn Soup at rage racing for my Maico. They are RM rims and then have to be drilled out at the right angle.
The last rim i laced was when I took my YZ80 apart and had to have parental help to get it started relacing. I am happy with the excels mainly due to cost. They do look great in black though.
What is funny to me is the Suns on my Penton were bulletproof. In fact I found several wheels in the early 90s that were grogeous-switching for better ones and selling the others. I gues these parts have dried up. James

You dont stop racing because you get old..you get old because you have children