Any spoked wheel experts in the crowd???

[gsgeezer]

After further ponderance, I think that middle C thing came from bicycles with 27" wheels.

Cool, I didn't know.
That is 523.3 ccp, if I remember right?

[tkent02]

Cool, I didn't know.
That is 523.3 ccp, if I remember right?

I guess sometimes….

With a frequency around 261.6 Hz, middle C is designated C4 in scientific pitch notation because of the note's position as the fourth C key on a standard 88-key piano keyboard. (Another system known as scientific pitch assigned a frequency of 256 Hz to this note. While numerically convenient, it is not used by concert orchestras.) While other note-octave systems (including those used by some manufacturers of digital music keyboards) may refer to "Middle C" with a different designation, the C4 designation is the most commonly recognized in auditory science[citation needed], and in musical studies it is often used in place of the Helmholtz designation c'. In MIDI, it is note number 60.
While the expression "Middle C" is generally clear across instruments and clefs, some musicians tend to use the term to refer to the C note in the middle of their specific instrument's range. For example, C4 may be called "Low C" by someone playing a Western concert flute (which has a higher and narrower playing range than a piano), while C5 (523.251 Hz) would be "Middle C". This technically inaccurate practice has led some pedagogues to encourage standardizing on C4 as the definitive "Middle C" in instructional materials across all instruments.[1]

[gsgeezer]

Strangely enough, Philly Orchestra won't even play with the piano unless it is tuned to 444 or higher. I have documents from the nineteenth century euro orchestras that vary quite a bit. Opera orchestras, like in Dresden, pushed the pitch higher and there has been no international pitch established since the pianny tuners decided on 440 in about 1917. Most harpsichords have transposing keyboards, since the pitch variation is from a392 to a440, which can break springs, if you don't use a different wire guage.

[bccap]

[tkent02]

Got one I can borrow?

[bccap]

Nah... I saw it on ebay. I guess maybe $75 is a bit much for something you're more than likely to use once or twice. But maybe check with a local dirt bike club.

[gsgeezer]

Visionary.

[tkent02]

Actually I have 7 spoked whheel bikes at the moment, counting my wife's DR and a couple of dead ones, maybe I should get one. I saw them for like $140 something, you found $75?

[bccap]

Well $77.....

http://www.ebay.com/bhp/spoke-torque-wrench

[salty_monk]

Just a thought but can't you make one out of a 1/4" torque wrench & a crows foot wrench? Cost of parts about $20 from Harbor Freight.

Even if you had to cut your own crows foot to make it work, I think that's all these are.

The scale probably wouldn't be 100% correct through a crows foot but it would give you a great comparison & even let you take some comparative readings off your other wheels...


If you make it work post details please! I might make one up for the KLR

[Rob S.]

Spoken word

Gsgeezer, I wish you were my neighbor in the mid '70's. My first bike was a CB350 (with 6" longer Forks by Frank), and my attitude was "Damn the torpedoes." In no time I had bent the rear rim. One of my neighbors, a Buick mechanic who rode a CB750, said, "Just buy a new rim, and lace up the hub and spokes yourself."

I got a brand new rim and a spoke wrench and dove in. It's been almost four decades, so I don't remember many of the details. What I do remember is that I never got it perfectly straight, and that it was MUCH harder and more time-consuming than I had imagined. But I did the job and rode on it for another four years.

A musical question, Gsgeezer, if you don't mind. We have a baby grand Baldwin, and used to pay someone to tune it every year. I used to think I could tune it myself with a wrench and my Korg "Auto Chromatic" digital tuner which I used for my guitars (I don't play piano). I never tried, and I'm guessing I was wrong, but could you tell me why?

As much as I appreciate the old school look, I'm glad my current 'girl' ('82 GS1100e) has alloy wheels.

[gsgeezer]

I can remember as a kid doing it to bikes and the first time, I was worried I was gonna break something! I can PM you about ur piano, if you like.

[tkent02]

I got them done, both very straight, good and tight, except the rear has a little kink in one spot. Very little, <1mm I think. Don't have the torque wrench, but they all go Tink exactly the same.

The other thing about a torque wrench, I don't have a torque spec to tighten it to.

[sharpy]

You shouldnt have to worry about breaking a hub. Never seen a GS hub break, its alway at the spoke but sometimes at nipple. Even in my wheels that have 8 guage butted stainless spokes they break at the head of the spokes now and then. Yes SS is more brittle but sure is shiney. And there done by what i consider the top blokes in OZ for wheel work. One is the orignal owner of my bike and ex boss Keith Novak and the other is owner of Ash Spoke wheelz.

[tatu]

I think the time a spoke will let go and break is under acceleration not through mere tightening on the spoke nut, I would be surprised if they all rang the same note.
Another factor is the lace pattern 'Cross three' is stronger than 'Cross two' which is normal pattern, three for higher output engines.