With the hub repaired and all the parts painted black it’s time to lace up the wheels. The old spoke nipples were seized up on the spokes so I needed to cut them out. A freak set of stainless steel spokes from Walker machine and ready to start. I have never laced motorcycle wheels before but I have done bicycles in the past. I took lots of pics of the old wheels so I had lots of reference material. With the 101 association rebuild manual in hand I started lacing. I did have to take them back apart a few times but in the end got them laced and trued. Here are some pics of the old wheels and the new along with some of the lacing.
1931 Indian 101 Scout Rebuild 
I hope you send pictures and feedback back to Walkers and most importently to Buchanans that is producing those spokes, since they are not seating properly in the brake drum. Even at the rear hub it looks like the hook is too long and prevents the heads to fit in the recession. I don’t know what risk that will bring but it surely doesn’t look proper and I would certainly ask for advice from the company.
LikeLike
Good eye. They are not perfect reproductions. The first bend is a little longer on the new spokes then the original ones causing every other front break drum spoke to sit a little high. Not nearly as bad as it looks in the pictures though. The spokes were only hand tight at that point. Once trued up with the correct offset and under some tension they are much better. They still don’t sit perfect but even the old ones set a little tall in the same spots. The new ones are just a little taller. They do not interfere with anything though so I’m sticking with them. I did let Walker know and was told that they have never had a problem with them. I’ll post some pics of them now to show the difference as soon as I can.
LikeLike
Is there any offset on the hubs? Are they centered in the rim?
Thanks
LikeLike
Hey Tom. I have not updated this blog in a long time.
On the rear hub there is some dishing to line everything up. On the front I originally centered the hub directly in line with the rim however when it was time to go back on the bike it needed to be adjusted a little bit. I had my frame and forks both put in the straightening jig at the 101 club headquarters in Torrington CT. Even though they looked good they needs a few little tweaks. Once that was done I used the forks to guide me. I dropped the wheel on the bike and saw I needed to adjust it to the right side a little over a quarter of an inch to long up nice in the fork.
LikeLike