Yamaha HX90 from Kozin

[AlanG]

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Now comes the piece of magic which never fails to fascinate me. Holding the hub and jig down with one hand, take a pair of spokes from the lower flange, lead them over the jig and into the appropriate cuts round the edge. Then rotate the whole thing 180 degrees and do the same on the other side (though it won't normally be exactly opposite, as commonly motorcycle wheels have an odd number of sets of spokes. Yamaha seems to prefer nine, making 36 spokes in all.) Then go round all the other spokes coming from the lower flange and anchor them round the edge, with light tension. Then turn the whole thing over, and repeat for the remaining spokes.

All of a sudden, the tangled mess straightens out and takes on a rather beautiful symmetry (photo 7). And everything is rigid! It is simple engineering, but very satisfying.

It takes a little adjustment of tensions to get the hub central and perpendicular to the plane of the jig. Then the rim can be trued up, and a bead of (fast set) epoxy run round the outside to fix the spokes (photo 8). Once this is set, more can be added wherever the bond looks questionable - once the spokes are cut away a loose one is a real disaster.

Finally the wheel can be cut away from the jig (photo 9).

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[AlanG]

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That just about does it. The tyre gets constructed in the usual way on the wheel rim. I admire greatly those who build up realistic tyres with multiple parts, filler and raised treads, but I don't have the patience or skill to emulate them.

It might be worth mentioning how I fit the tread. I cut rectangles of card the width of the tread in one direction and the width of the tabs on the tyre sides in the other. These I glue to the back of alternate tabs on one side (photos 10 and 11). Then I bridge these across to the opposite tabs, but in an order to maintain symmetry and relieve stresses as much as possible. First two on opposite sides of the tyre, then those at right angles, then mid-way in the gaps, and finally all the rest (photos 12 and 13). This provides a reasonably unwarped and rigid surface on which to glue the tread (photo 14). Fitting the tread to two rows of unsupported tabs I find well-nigh impossible.

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[Matthew From Florida]

Like the pictures! How many hours did it take to build?

[AlanG]

Here are a couple more pictures of the finished model. Once you've seen one, you've seen them all...

Matthew, I don't really know how much time I spent on it. It took about a month elapsed time, with some work most days, but that could have been anything from 10 minutes to three hours. I am quite a slow worker, and am easily distracted, reading (and occasionally writing) posts on the forums, having coffee, reading the newspaper, mulling over the next model, and much much more. Oh, did I tell you that I'm retired?(!)

Best wishes until the next time,
Alan

[Matthew From Florida]

Retired!?! I'm a fill time college student

I'm slow too, most of my models take a few months.

[devendrakandalkar]

Fantastic build Alan