Spokes advice

[ares]

I have a new wr250f 2002 and I have ridden it once and went to tighten the spokes and found that one was loose and would not tighten - it just went around and around. What do I do? I shouldn't have to take off the wheel and replace the spoke already should I??? Thank you

 

[Danman]

More than likely the threads on your spoke or nipple are stripped. Replacement should do the trick. Be sure to put some anti-sieze or WD-40 on the threads when you put it in. If the spoke and the nipple are different kinds of metal it could seize on you and be realy hard to turn.

Good luck.

 

[MXFastGuy]

Another possible cause is that the spoke is broken at the hub. This has happened to me a few times.

 

[mhopton]

Many times the head of the nipple (inside the tire/under the rim strip) will be slotted for use with a flat blade screwdriver. During initial wheel lacing, the nipples should be soaked with either anti-seize, or a substance more common to wheel building called "spoke-prep". Spoke-prep is a generic name, so any shop should know what you're talking about if you ask for spoke prep.

Anyhow, if the spoke and the nipple are spinning freely, it may not be frozen, yet anyway, you may need to remove the wheel, tire/tube, and the rim-strip so that you have access to the spoke nipples from the inside of the wheel. At that point you should be able to use a flat bladed screwdriver to hold the nipple and break it free. Remove it, coat it with spoke-prep, or any anti-seize, re-install, and check the spoke tension around the ENTIRE wheel.

However, if it were me, I'd save myself even that much hassle and ask the dealer to fix-it since it is a 2002 with few hours.

Just my $.02, but since the market's down, it's probably only worth about $.0125.

Good luck,
Mike

 

[ares]

Thanks guys, really appreciate it:p