Rebuilding XT600E wheels. Heavier spokes? Alloy rims?
 

Hey, I haven't posted in a while since most of my effort has been going into my '84 FJ1100. I have a lot of off road adventure trips planned for this coming warm season though, so I'm trying to pick it up on my '92 XT600 project.
Both of my wheels are rusted, twisted, dented piles of junk. The hubs are fine, though. I plan to rebuild the wheels with new spokes and rims. It seems like I've heard of the wheels being rebuilt with heavier-than-stock spokes. I like this idea since I want my wheels to be as beefy as possible. What's a good source for these spokes and is there any modifications involved (like maybe drilling out the spoke holes in the hub and rim)? I've ordered spokes from Buchanan's in the past, but I'm open to new options.
While I'm rebuilding the wheels anyway, where the heck can I source new (or used) steel rims? My heart is not set on using steel rims, but like I said above, I want really strong wheels. I'm open to the option of using aluminum rims with the heavier spokes. 21" and 17" aluminum rims are widely available since many dirt bikes have used them since the '80s.
Anyone here rebuilt their XT600E wheels onto aluminum rims?
Thanks for the help.

Geoff had spokes made up for him from an English company, and used Excel rims.

http://i809.photobucket.com/albums/z...build003-7.jpg

Rather sexy eh. :thumbup1:

Mezo.

If you want "Beefy" wheels then you should keep the steel ones.

They weigh a ton but they can take more abuse than aluminium ones.

Aluminium rims are strong but when they go, they just crack ! Steel ones will bend before they go and take A LOT of force to bend in the first place. Try getting an alloy rim tig welded in the third world too. Any money can weld steel.

I don't think i've heard of anyone trashing a steel XT wheel !!

Well, the previous owner did manage to trash the steel front wheel. It was a gnarly enough crash that it bent one of the fork tubes at about a 20 degree angle. Must have been quite a crash. Then the bike was parked in the weeds for years and rust trashed the rear wheel. Replacement steel rims will be kind of hard to find. I'm sure that I could find some and have them custom drilled, but I don't want to spend the cash. I have a whole bunch of various aluminum dirt bike wheels laying around and I'm sure that I can find some that will work for the XT hubs.
Anyone have any information about outfitting them with thicker gauge spokes?

Normally people change to SS spokes, but as they are a bit weker, you need to go up in size. So I dont know if the bigger ones are really stronger. But it sure as hell looks beefier :thumbup1:

I'd like to hear from anyone who has changed to ally rims and has then undertaken some serious long distance travel, including rough terrain, and had their wheels survive with no problems.
Touring Ted, and others, are always quick to make the relevant point about the potential for damage, let's hear the other point of view.
Geoff

I think tyre pressure and tyre choice is just as important as alloy vs steel rims. A good stiff rear tyre like mefo mfc12 will not compress as much as a tyre with fever layers.

640 adventures, xtz660 and many other dualsport bikes have made it around the world on alloy rims, if I were to change, it would definately be for alloy.

I have no argument against aluminium rims. They hold many advantages over traditional iron chromed rims. All up weight, gyroscopic mass and manouverability, strength (yes ali is stronger), looks. But in so saying they are far more susceptible to internal corrosion, galvanic corrosion with the spokes, tend to deform and bend easier and when they break, break badly.

There is no such thing as welding up a rim when in the field. Unless it is placed in a purpose built jig it WILL go out of round through heat deformation and you WONT be able to rectify it with spoke tension. The spokes will snap or the weld will tear.

Price wise a good set of British chromed rims will cost the same as cheap ali rims. If I was to say best rims for RTW, I'd say take your pick. The truth of the matter is if you do something on a laden bike like hit a pothole in tarmac hard enough to damage either of the rim types or are reckless in the terrain you choose to ride. Rim choice will do little to salvage the situation.

Thanks for the info. I think that I'll be going with aluminum rims for my rebuild, with as heavy spokes as I can get away with. I'll be ordering the spokes and doing all the lacing and truing myself. I'm waiting to hear back from Buchanans about spoke thickness.

YES you can have your rims welded . i had a guy in Colombia weld the rear rim on my XT in 11 places .With no jig. yes not ideal but it lasted for the rest of the trip ( about 10,000 miles extra ) then another trip round europe . with no problem . i am now doing a full rebuild of my bike so i have just had a 18" excel put on and will see how that goes

All I can say is you were incredibly lucky in all accounts and quite possibly rather brave.

Bravo kito! I love to see conventional wisdom disproved. Sounds like a skilled welder, too. Laugh at danger!
I hope you saved the welded-up rim to hang on the wall of your living room...or at least your shop.

ye he was a good welder. one guy blew a hole in the rim . i went to a top guy he fixed the rim cleaned the rust and gave me a beer while i waited all for $5 . that was in Cali Colombia . must have been strong as i took a lot of off road after that . it survived the Amazon on the ( roads ) to guyana and the interier of Suriname . only took it of as i thought it might be illegal in the UK.