Vintage Dirt Bike Q & A

Gents,

I am restoring a 83 CR480 back to race spec. Due to reasons beyond my control I need to throw a rim on a rear hub. Yes I know about Buchannon's. Never respoked a rim before.

I see all kinds of rims on the 83 CR's. Can someone tell me if an Excell rim off of of a modern bike would work? I would assume, possibly incorrectly, that a 36 hole rim ought to fit a 36 hole hub, regardless of the machine that it is on.

Am I missing something here?

Yes I can send Buchannon's my hubs & a blank check & let them work their magic, for a price, a hefty one at that. I would rather save a few bux, do the work myself and learn something in the process.

Can someone that has experience on this process shed some light on the subject?

Thanks in advance!

Stan

_________________
83 CR250
83 CR480
87 YZ250
88 CR250
74 TY250
07 YZ250
83 RM250 on the resto table
91 YZ250 with an Ohlins 360 kit in resto que
83 CR125 in resto que

Stan,

I've got zero experience with '83 CR's, but in 40+ years I've relaced a wheel or two, so in case it's helpful...

If two wheels share rim diameters, spoke counts, lacing patterns, nipple O.D.s, and hub diameters at the spoke holes, the rims will interchange with no issues using the existing spokes. If the hub diameters are different but everything else is the same, different spokes with the same nipple size should work fine (you may have to grind the spoke ends a bit). Sorry if this seems obvious, but it might save you a lot of work down the road, and these days I'm all about saving work.

On the other hand, if you have two wheels were none of the above are shared, all bets are off. You really should have at least the spoke counts and lacing patterns in common.

If I was going to put a modern rim on an older hub, I'd first check to see if any of the rim makers you're interested in made ones for your bike (duh) but if not, then any drum-brake bikes. I'd then use Google Images to check the lacing patterns / spoke counts / approximate hub diameters on those models and take it from there. If you decide to go ahead, I'd check Amazon to see if the hub's available there - they have an excellent return policy in case things don't work out.

I called Buchanan's once for a complete respoke/relace ('73 CR250M rim / '83 RM250 hub) and ended up doing it myself because of the price (hefty indeed). While I had them on the line, I asked about both my MR hubs, which required that the hub be oriented correctly to the rim during relacing (it drove me nuts, I redid one of them 3 times as I wanted the perfect sides of the rims on the right side of the bike). They told me I was imagining things and had done it wrong 3 times, which was both unhelpful and incorrect as the nipple angles were wrong for that lacing pattern. I mention this to show that it's possible to have problems even with a simple spoke replacement.

Respoking/relacing is tedious, dirty, and sometimes frustrating, but not too bad. A large, flat bench-level surface is most excellent. If a nipple just won't budge, try heating it nice and hot and holding the spoke with Vice-Grips just above the nipple.

Ray

_________________
'74 CR125M (175cc), '75 MR175, '82 RM250Z, '08 YZ250F, '14 Zero FX electric, '14 Zero MX electric, '18 Alta MXR electric

Thanks for the reply Ray.

I didn't take into account the lacing pattern in my thought process. I can see where that would make a difference.

I still haven't found an answer that I am completely satisfied with. I really am looking for part #'s of new rims (Sun, Excell) that I can try to procure at a reasonable cost. I am sorry, 2+ large bills for a rim is a tough pill to swallow.

I am going to ask on a couple other forums & will report back here as to my final findings. There needs to be a place to find this info. all in one place.


Respoking/relacing is tedious, dirty, and sometimes frustrating... three of my middle names!

_________________
83 CR250
83 CR480
87 YZ250
88 CR250
74 TY250
07 YZ250
83 RM250 on the resto table
91 YZ250 with an Ohlins 360 kit in resto que
83 CR125 in resto que

Just thought I would close out this post.

I did find rims & spokes at a reasonable price.

Tom at Full Circle Racing.

His gold rims & his Buchannon spokes & my labor = a very nice wheel set.

It wasn't too bad relacing a bare hub. I had at my disposal other stock wheels for reference. Watched a couple videos online & i went about the task. No surprises.

The hardest part was drilling out the rear hub. (used a 3/16" bit) I used the bike as a truing stand. Mounted up the wheelsets to where they are intended to go & used tape & pop-sickle sticks as a guide. It really was a fun and rewarding experience.

Just remember to use some sort of anti-seize on the threads. I had planned on using my own anti-seize but the spoke sets came with a vial of some kinda brown looking substance that I used instead.

Hope this helps someone in the future.

Blue Skies,

Stan

_________________
83 CR250
83 CR480
87 YZ250
88 CR250
74 TY250
07 YZ250
83 RM250 on the resto table
91 YZ250 with an Ohlins 360 kit in resto que
83 CR125 in resto que