Hello mini bike guys. Restoring a 1972 RUPP Roadster2 and while removing the old Chinese tire someone put on I noticed a few spokes were bent. After removing all the spokes and hub I rolled it on the floor. The wheel rim has a wobble in one spot, evidently someone hit something hard. Was thinking on getting it re-chromed since I can't purchase a new rim anywhere. My question is, will installing new spokes and truing the wheel straighten the wheel? I cannot detect with my eyes the bent part. Any ideas will be truly helpful.
You can have a lot of measurable runout that isn't too noticeable by eyeballing it. When I needed to build wheels for my motorcycle, I looked at a lot of tutorials on You Tube before deciding I like these two the best.
I downloaded the vids from You Tube and just played them on endless loop offline while I worked. They were a great help and the wheels came out fine.
You need the right tools, but they're a good investment and not too expensive on Amazon. You can get by w/o the stand by just leaving the wheel mounted to the bike (removing the tire first will make the job easier), but a dial indicator and spoke wrench are very helpful. It helps if you put a little WD40 or similar juice on the nipples a day ahead of time.
It might take a couple of tries, but i's really pretty easy. Be patient, and leave the beer in the fridge until you're finished. Once you've done this, you'll see it's not magic and will want to do more. I did.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FCQtuGfz3c8&t=2s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DeBEXq2dGnU
I downloaded the vids from You Tube and just played them on endless loop offline while I worked. They were a great help and the wheels came out fine.
You need the right tools, but they're a good investment and not too expensive on Amazon. You can get by w/o the stand by just leaving the wheel mounted to the bike (removing the tire first will make the job easier), but a dial indicator and spoke wrench are very helpful. It helps if you put a little WD40 or similar juice on the nipples a day ahead of time.
It might take a couple of tries, but i's really pretty easy. Be patient, and leave the beer in the fridge until you're finished. Once you've done this, you'll see it's not magic and will want to do more. I did.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FCQtuGfz3c8&t=2s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DeBEXq2dGnU
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Here is my home made alignment rack.. You are looking at a 12" Rupp wheel. I got them to within .005. My suggestion would be to hammer out any dings before you get it rechromed. Use a spoke wrench, as they are wider than a regular open end wrench. This will be easier on the nipples. Black Widow sells new spokes and nipples
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Here's a link to the poor man's way of truing a wheel (post 139). I also got very close on run out. https://www.oldminibikes.com/forum/...il-bike-build-resto-kinda-sorta-maybe-14.html
