Has anyone had a pair of XT600 wheels rebuilt with decent components (e.g. Excel rims, stainless h/d spokes)? If so, would anyone care to give me a rough figure for the finished article? The XT's rear wheel has virtually collapsed, and I am stuck between just getting it rebuilt with new spokes to get it back on the road, or bringing forward a planned upgrade to both the front and rear wheels. A lot depends on the cost of any new wheels. My plan was to take the bike off the road for the summer and spread the cost of the stuff I wanted to do over 3-4 months, but if upgraded wheels were a little bit affordable, it would make sense to do the work now.

I'll have a go at most things, but wheel building is something I will leave to people who know what they are doing, so the cost to me will be the cost of the finished job, not the parts. A rough ball-park figure would be enough. Thanks in advance.

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2006 XT660R daily ride, 1994 XT600E about to be reborn, Blog: http://goingfastgettingnowhere.blogspot.com/

i think you will be looking at about 400 pound for excels on stainles spokes i was thinking of doing it to go to the 18 on the back but thought it to much for a set of wheels

Wow - although I suppose I should have expected about this much. OK, it's back to replacing the spokes then. Now, where was that thread about spokes ...

Cheers for the info.

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2006 XT660R daily ride, 1994 XT600E about to be reborn, Blog: http://goingfastgettingnowhere.blogspot.com/

Just found someone who can supply spoke sets for 55 GBP for up to 40 stainless. Looks like that's the way forward ...

I'll just have to do one at a time

Central Wheel Components Limited, if it's some use.

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2006 XT660R daily ride, 1994 XT600E about to be reborn, Blog: http://goingfastgettingnowhere.blogspot.com/

Give Nik at Welcome Page a shout. He did a superb job re-lacing a set of DRZ wheels for me.

Have done just that.

Cheers.

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2006 XT660R daily ride, 1994 XT600E about to be reborn, Blog: http://goingfastgettingnowhere.blogspot.com/

... and got no reply a week later Too late, I've ordered the spokes and I'm doing it myself. I 'm going to clean and refinish the hub and do my best with the rusty chrome on the rim. It will do until that magic day when I take it off the road and give it the full works.

Does anyone know of a UK supplier for a cheapish wheel truing stand? I've seen one on eBay for under £40, but he seems to have sold out. Any others are close to the £100 mark. For the amount of use I will give it, it's only worth getting a cheapie, but it's worth it to me as I can then go ahead and rebuild the front when funds allow. I've got a design in my head involving some 2x4 and a workshop vice, but a 'proper' one would be nice

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2006 XT660R daily ride, 1994 XT600E about to be reborn, Blog: http://goingfastgettingnowhere.blogspot.com/

A weekend's work and she's back on the road. New spokes, refurbed hub and rim, same old TrailWing.

I got the spokes from Central Wheel Components, who are fairly slow, but pretty good. I ordered the spokes by phone, and they said they had the measurements, no worries. Paid and sat back to wait. A few days later they phoned and said they didn't have the measurements, and could I send a sample? So I took one off the wheel and sent it to them. Grrr. About a week later, they phoned and asked if the outers and inners were the same. I thought I had checked that, and said they were identical, but checked again when I got home and sure enough they were right. So I sent in another sample, and about 10 days later the spokes arrived. I found their slow speed of operation pretty frustrating, but they obviously know their job and the spokes are very well-made and beautiful. I would recommend them - but not for an urgent repair

Rebuilding the wheel was remarkably easy. I was going to do it one spoke at a time, but that was impossible - obvious when you think about it. So cut all the old ones off with Mr Angle Grinder and cleaned and repainted the hub. The rim was in a shocking state, but I have cleaned and de-rusted it, and it will do for the time being. I took lots of photos and measurements (especially the rim offset) before I started. Building the wheel with the new spokes was straightforward enough, once you have the first few in place. I built a simple jig in wood offcuts, as I was unable to get a wheel stand, and this worked fine. I got the vertical and horizontal runout to about 1mm, which is within service limits, and I am happy with that.

There were two glitches before I gt it all back together. First, I pinched the old tube when putting the tyre back on, so I went to bed in a bad mood last night. I got a new tube today (the old one was pretty shabby) and it went on fine. I think it took me longer to get the rear wheel back in the bike than it did to biuld the wheel. I ended up taking the brake caliper off the mounting and took the opportunity to clean out and grease the brakes while I was in there. After I had done that, it all went back together as it should. Quick check, and off up the road. She goes, she stops, she goes round corners.

And the new spokes look amazing.

Some useful links:

Spokes
More spokes
Tyre fitting 1
Tyre fitting 2
Tyre fitting 3

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2006 XT660R daily ride, 1994 XT600E about to be reborn, Blog: http://goingfastgettingnowhere.blogspot.com/

Sounds like you did a good job! Any pictures? Before and after? I might try this myself now as I've just picked up a spare set of wheels to supermoto. The plan is to have a dedicated trail set and a dedicated road set.

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The Garage:
1991 Yamaha XT600E
1998 Yamaha YZ125 Stripped and waiting for a full rebuild...
1993 Honda CG125 Stolen by my brother
1976 Honda XR75 In need of love and money
1998 Renault Megane Coupe

Here's the before and after (hope you can tell which is which!).









I like the idea of two sets of wheels. Actually, I like the idea of two sets of tyres.

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2006 XT660R daily ride, 1994 XT600E about to be reborn, Blog: http://goingfastgettingnowhere.blogspot.com/