PM to follow.......cheers

Neither, these are zinc plated steel (or whatever most spokes are made of).
I have sent a warranty claim to Yamaha and will keep you posted. The thing is, our winters in the UK (and here in Spain evidently !) are sometimes so salt ridden it is likely to happen again if I replace them with the same. Its a bit like getting a new loom/regulater for the 660Z and getting the same uncovered connector on the new loom.
I am considering getting some stainless ones made up, or getting some gold anodised ones to go with the brake caliper plugs.

Yam ones are rear �90 and front �72 per set.

EDIT: From these people, as far as I can see, I can get a stainless set for about �150 all in.
http://www.central-wheel.co.uk/spokes/spokes.html

Got your pm but you forgot to give me a forwarding address. :064:

I cannot get it till tomorrow. Will PM then.
Regards.

That is not good Ray, if my bike looked like that I would cry. None of my XT spokes have ever shown any corrosion on them & I live by the sea, thank God no SALT on the roads here.

I would fit stainless steel spokes under those condition, as the damaged has been done to the metal coating surface & cleaning them is only a tem repair.

I agree totally, thats why I laquered them, but as you say it is temporary. I will wait to see if Yamaha change them for free, if not, its the stainless route I think.

Firstly, thanks to Capt Moto. His ACF50 allowed me to haul the bike 2,500 kms back from southern Spain whilst in preservative.

Secondly, Merry Christmas guys and gals,

Thirdly, back to topic....

(I posted this on ADV earlier today)

Well I have nice shiny stainless spokes on now. Here are a few piccys of them being fitted..

An original rusty one beside one that I cleaned up with an electric wire brush. They were then painted with clear laquer. It did not last long as expected. Once you remove a coating it can only be worse...
http://i310.photobucket.com/albums/k...y/P1000274.jpg


I then managed to get some stainless ones from Hagon Ltd, Hainault Essex, UK. They are a spoke and shock absorber producing company with very long pedigree of drag and dirt track racing.

http://www.hagon-shocks.co.uk/main1st.htm

They now have the sizes on record should anyone else want a set for �150 all in.

It is easy to change them in about 2 hours each wheel. There is no need to remove the tyre at all.
I removed the disc/rotor to make access easier but it is possible to remove them whilst the wheels are still on the bike. This would be good for emergency roadside repairs. I know this as I did it (took some off) to get the manufacturer the pattern, whilst the bike was still on a trailer.
http://i310.photobucket.com/albums/k...y/IMG_0403.jpg

The Yamaha nipples are a bit of a one of. Yam ones are the allen key ones, made from nikel plated steel. The new ones are nickel coated brass but they are used for racing so they should be strong enough. On top of that, the threads are longer - as are the nipples.
http://i310.photobucket.com/albums/k...y/IMG_0406.jpg

They are a peice of cake to remove/refit, as long as you only remove them in pairs.
http://i310.photobucket.com/albums/k...y/IMG_0412.jpg

They just fit under adjacent crossing spokes. Note the use of "Locktite". This is needed as, on this bike, if the spokes come loose, the nipples can fall out.
http://i310.photobucket.com/albums/k...y/IMG_0408.jpg

They then lign up easily with the nipple/nipple hole and....
http://i310.photobucket.com/albums/k...y/IMG_0409.jpg

..... are simply screwed back into place. (bad photo...sorry)
http://i310.photobucket.com/albums/k...y/IMG_0410.jpg

I used the screwdriver so that the torque was pretty much the same everytime. When I last rebuilt the wheels, after cleaning up the original spokes, I used a ratchet wrench and the torque on each one was different and the wheel buckled slightly. Not a big problem but it took a couple of hours to get right.
This time the wheel went back together perfectly with no run out at all. Nice...... http://d26ya5yqg8yyvs.cloudfront.net/icon10.gif http://d26ya5yqg8yyvs.cloudfront.net/icon10.gif

PS. I did all this in a tent at about -5 deg C....Brrrrrrrrr. So it realy was not hard at all. I love my Yamaha. Incidentally, Yamaha are sending me a new set as well. I may get the nipples chromed and change the nipples over...decisions....decisions.....

Nice work Ray.

Nice job done..makes a big diferrence both in looks and durability doest it with no more rusty spokes!

Chrome your nipples - go-on you know you want to!


On a more serious note, that bike is looking way better than I imagines with knobbly tires. Theres now 3 in the adventure two up segment, 1200GS, Varadero 1000 and the Super10, Yamaha looks less offroad orientated than the GS...
Having owned both what are your thoughts comparatively?

Also any postulation on your experiences having owned both the XT's 660 vs the twin?