First let me apologize for being a little late with this installment. We have been busy with other projects here at Blue Moon, one of which is a calendar of Blue Moon bikes and Vortex waitresses. Here's a small taste.

Today we will build a set of wheels with new chrome rims and spokes. The first thing after removing the tire is to cut the old spokes out of the rim, this can best be accomplished with a bolt cutter. There is no point in saving the old spokes and nipples, cut them up and toss em. Do be sure to save the square brass spoke plates as these are expensive and reusable. Chrome shops charge over $200 per wheel to plate a rim, you will save money by simply replacing your rims. Aluminum rims can be polished if they are not heavily pitted, be sure your rim is straight before e you send it out for polishing.

Follow the shop manual to inspect your wheel bearings,you can use your axle and a home made pipe spacer to hold the bearings in alignment while tapping them out. Always use heat when removing wheel bearings. After cleaning, inspect the bearing races for small pits or rust,replace any questionable bearing, pack them with a good quality wheel bearing grease.

If a bearing is replaced the assembly will have to be re-shimmed, you want minimal free play with no binding when the axle nut is torqued. Test the bearing fit before the bearings are installed in the wheel. You really don't need a full set of bearing shims to do this job but you will need a lathe to cut the spacer to size.

We have given our wheel hubs the bead blast treatment and they are now ready for the bearings to be installed, along with new seals, Some times I clear coat the freshly blasted hubs with urethane clear. The hubs will stay cleaner and not oxidize but the look will be somewhat different from original.

There's a myth about wheel lacing being a "magic" science and a lost art. Its really quite simple, the BMW wheel hub directs the spokes for you,the wheel will only go together one way. If this is your first wheel lacing experience do just one wheel at a time so you always have an assembled wheel to refer to. It is important to note that these rims have a left side and a right side, basically you must put an inside spoke to an inside nipple and and outside spoke to an outside nipple.If the spokes interfere with each other where they cross try flipping the rim over.      BMW spokes use a 4mm nipple, some after market spokes, such as Buchanan's use a 5mm nipple, these larger nipples can present a problem when trying to lace them to a stock rim. I suggest you get your rims and your spokes from the same source.      Its a good idea to use anti seize compound on the spoke threads,especially if you are using stainless spokes. Personally I prefer chrome plated spokes as they are brighter and moreauthentic.

After the wheel is laced and all spokes are finger tight it is time to start the lacing process. First you want to note the rim offset. You can measure this on your other wheel that you haven't dissembled, its the sideways distance from the edge of the rim to the edge of the brake drum use a straight edge a ruler to determine the off set. Now begin snugging the spokes using a proper spoke wrench. You want do do each spoke about a quarter turn at a time ,always adjusting for the "run out" and the "side to side" distance. A little practice and you will get the hang of it. Continue this process until all the spokes are tight and the rim spins true. You can tap on each spoke with the wrench to hear if they ring.A dead sound is a loose spoke.      By the way you don't need a fancy truing stand, the earls fork swing arm will make a fine stand. It is not difficult to lace and true BMW wheels,anyone can do it with a little patience and practice.

Use the special wheel nut pin wrench when tightening or loosening the wheel nuts it will save your nuts from damage. I always replace the hub caps with new ones, these are relatively inexpensive and they look great.      Of course I should tell you Blue Moon Cycle sells the parts and tools required to build your wheels right.Or put your crusty wheels in a box and send them to us,in a few days they will come back looking like new.

Next week in episode 6:
Stay tuned for our next virtual restoration episode, we are ready to start assembling the chassis.

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