Unofficial Royal Enfield Community Forum
Royal Enfield Motorcycles => Bullet Iron Barrel => Topic started by: easy-v on April 14, 2013, 10:36:18 pm
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So a piece metal wire somehow got lodged onto the chain, into the chain cover and wrapped around as soon as i started off last night. I went to get the bolt cutters because it was lodged in pretty good.
While getting a grip on the wires I also managed to grab a spoke and had no idea how deep the bolt cutters blade was. Boom, I snapped a spoke right in half (pic). Am I screwed and have to take it into a garage so they can take the wheel and tire off for this one spoke? Or is there any other option?
The wire is obviously out now, but made the situation much worse.
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According to Dan's online motorcycle repair course, you can get by for quite some time missing one or two spokes (provided you are not beating it as an off road bike). (http://www.dansmc.com/spokewheels.htm) If you are racing, you may want to replace it soon. If not, you could wait until you need a new tire and replace it at that time.
You can order individual spokes from the Nfield gear, I seem to remember they were about $7 each or an entire set for under $50. There are two types of spokes, one has a bend at the mushroom end of 90 degrees, the other type has a bend at the mushroom end of about 120 degrees. So, if you order an individual spoke, make sure you get the correct one. In order to put in a new spoke, you will need to remove the tire (or at least break the bead on one side so you can get a screw driver on the inside of the spoke nipple). Not difficult really.
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Once there's one spoke broken, others start mysteriously breaking after that.
The sooner you replace it, the better.
I consider it a safety issue.
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Gotcha thanks a lot for replies. At least it looks like I can ride it at least a bit for now, but will order the part right away and find out how to do it myself if I can. Hopefully this is a one day job, since it's not covered in a garage.
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I think the right way to do it is to pull the rear wheel off of the bike and let the air out of the tire.
Then, one side of the tire would be broken loose from the rim and pried off so the inner tube can be removed.
The rim tape that covers the heads of the spoke nuts should be pushed to the side in the area of the broken spoke so you can remove the spoke nut.
Then, it's just a matter of looking at the other spokes to make sure how they are positioned, position your new spoke in a similar matter and screw the spoke nut on.
Tighten the spoke nut until the spoke "rings" like the other spokes.
While your at it, tap the other spokes with a screwdriver blade to make sure they all "ring" the same (or nearly the same). None of the spokes should go "doink" or sound like they are "dead". That indicates it is loose.
If they don't ring about the same pitch, adjust their tightness.
Put the rim tape back in place along with the inner tube and the tire bead.
Fill the tire with air and reinstall the wheel.
While your buying a replacement spoke you probably would be wise to also buy new rim tape.
http://nfieldgear.com/enfield-store/aftermarket-parts-accessories/tires/rim-tape.html
The rim tape often gets weathered, cracked and stuck in place and it's the only thing that keeps your inner tube from chaffing against the heads of the spoke nuts.
A backup inner tube would also be a good idea because there is a very good chance of you poking a hole thru your existing tube while your are trying to pry off the tire bead (or pry it back on).
Based on my last experience in prying off a tire, plan on using the whole day.
Good luck. :)
The cheap non advisable way of doing this task is to let the air out of the tire.
Twist the broken spokes nut gently back and forth to break it free from the rim tape.
Insert the new spoke into the hub.
Move the spoke nut slightly inward towards the inner tube while you try to align the threaded end of the spoke with the nuts threads. Gently bending the spoke a bit may help.
Once the spoke nut screws onto the spoke easily (do not force it), it can be tightened to the proper tension.
OK you guys. Feel free to jump on me. ;D
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Arizoni - I believe they are called "tunkers". Cuz they go, [tunk] when you hit them.
Cheers,
Bill
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You can do this as advised below. We will sell you a single spoke. call 800-201-7472
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If you break a spoke from it being worn out, then the rest of the spokes might follow suit. Since you cut that one, and it didn't break on it's own, you should have no problem with the wheel for quite awhile. I would run it as is.
Bare
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Easy v, when you order the spoke from our host, you need to let them know whether it's an inner or an outer spoke that is needed. As mentioned before, there are two types of spokes with different bend angles that are used on the rear wheel. The folks at Enfieldgear are great and will explain to you how to differentiate which one you will need. cochi
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Thanks so far. I did order 2 spokes, an out and inner from Nfield and spoke to Tim. This is an outer spoke to replace. They arrived today. I found a nearby shop that would do the spoke replacement, true it if necessary, and replace the tube. I just need to give them the wheel.
So, I'm not quite figuring out how to remove the rear wheel. I've removed the cotter pin. But now, should I be able to just remove those bolts after the cotter pin, and hammer the axle out and that's it? What about the other side (right side pic). Am I going to mess up the mark setting for the chain adjustment?
Also, I thought one feature was that I could just rotate the fender up after loosening its bolts from the frame. Is this the case for my bullet too? Thing is, there seems to be a piece of sheet metal that's housing some other stuff just underneath the regulator and rectifier and sits strongly over the fender (pic), that is preventing me from moving the fender also. Is this normal piece?
BTW, mine is a 2003 Bullet 500es, 4-speed. kickstart + electric
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Yes, all the Indian models have that mount for the electrics.
You can move the electrics, and remove that mounting bar if you want.
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thanks ace, I just wanted to make sure we're talking about the same metal sheet that's preventing, i marked it this time with an arrow. Removing that meant removing a bunch of other stuff, it seemed (?)
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I'm not sure how much you have to remove to get the rear mud guard to rotate up but as far as removing the nuts, only the outer nut that screws onto the thru axle needs to be removed.
The larger hex nut and the nut on the brake plate can stay tight so the chain adjustment won't change.
After the axle nut is loose and the axle is removed, remove the spacer and slide the wheel sideways away from the sprocket.
You'll find a bunch of rubber cushions inside the wheel hub that drive the wheel.
This "Cush Drive" I think it's called goes back to some of the earliest days of Royal Enfield and at the time was considered a vast improvement over the many motorcycles that just used a direct drive thru the chain to the rear wheel so don't forget to put them back in place when you reinstall the wheel. :)
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For a video of a tire removal, see the link below:
http://www.hoohoohoblin.com/RoyalEnfieldBullet500.html
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Thanks arizona and mrunder, I did see the hoohoo link before but for some reason mine seemed more complicated. Rotating the fender is looking like a pain on mine, so will be using the 2x4 method under center stand. Hopefully that'll give enough clearance with a just little tilt.
I'll take note of the cush drive rubbers.
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thanks ace, I just wanted to make sure we're talking about the same metal sheet that's preventing, i marked it this time with an arrow. Removing that meant removing a bunch of other stuff, it seemed (?)
No, that's the fender bracket, and you can't really just leave that off. I though you were talking about the electrics mounting bracket.
Anyway, I think that the ends of that fender bracket could be made open-ended like a "U" on the end, so you could loosen the bolts and lift it up. It might even already be that way, but if not, you could make it like that yourself.
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I think this is the youtube you need...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3KkOgpuAQDU
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What bike do you have? If it's a G5 the fender doesn't move. It's a PITA to get the tire out. set the bike up on a thick board with the center stand so the wheel can fall down a ways, then you can turn it to get it out. Or you can lean the bike way over and prop it up with a stool or some such as it gets leaned over, and pull the wheel out from below and sideways. I took care of the problem by bobbing my rear fender and then it was pretty easy to get the wheel out. If you have a B5, or it is indeed an iron barrel, remove the bolts on the front end of the fender brace tubes on each side and the fender will rotate up from the rear. I think a C5 works that way, too, but not sure.
As far as removing the wheel goes, take out the cotter pin, remove the outer nut, stick a screwdriver in the other end of the axle and pull it out, watching for the spacers and remember where they go. Pull the wheel to the left which will disengage it from the rubber cush drive and it comes right out, after you figure out how to get it past the fender Take a couple of pictures before you disassemble it, so you absolutely remember how to get all the pieces back together!
Bare
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Bare, Thanks. It's not a G5, it's a 500es 2003, 4-speed. But, it is one where the fender doesn't just rotate by loosening the nuts. Great idea on bobbing the fender for the future. The fender bracket (my pic above), which Ace pointed out is not an easily removable thing.
So I will be trying this tomorrow (weather permitting) with the 2x4 method and will be taking note of all those things you and others mentioned.
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@Easy-v:
Another youtube link below for removing the rear wheel. This involves removing the front wheel first to easily slide out the rear wheel.
If you do not want to take off front wheel and if chain is on right side, you can slide a 1" shelf under the left leg of center stand, which will lean the bike a little to the right. Then you can pull out the wheel from the left without removing the rear fender. (If chain is on Left side, raise the right side a bit or as Bare suggested use a 2 x 4 under center stand).
I just took out the rear wheel of my G5 by using a shelf under stand, to put in a new tube.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASD9nFLSbmE
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As usual Singh, an excellent presentation. :)
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Nice DIY video!
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Thanks Singh, Arizona, Bare and all. I had finally got the wheel back, and the weather was good enough to put it back on this evening. For getting the wheel off, the fender was able to go up, but I had to actually remove it's bolts, whereas just loosening wasn't enough for some reason. A 1x4 was enough to give a little lift. Just need to get a replacement cotter pin and should be good to go.
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Any hardware or auto parts store will have an appropriate size size cotter pin for you. Plus they're super cheap. Glad you got your wheel straightened out.
Scottie