This thread is part build, part help me spot the gotchas.
Short recap.
My Ural tub has a 20 mm axle.
My GS wheel is meant for a 25mm axle.
I want to put the GS wheel on the Ural tub because I don’t want tubes in my tires and because I’m a vain and want all my wheels to match. Besides one came with my bike.
I debated the approach in this thread https://sidecar.com/forum/topic/spacers-or-bearings/
I swapped the bearings which was a low drama deal. Heat wheel to 200F, yank out with bearing puller. Heat wheel to 200F, tap frozen bearing in with a socket.
I pulled the drum brake backing plate off the Ural which was another heat and hammer deal.
That’s where things got more challenging. I bought some spacers (Honda CB650) that I intended to cut to size to get the thinner GS wheel to center on the axle.
What I found was the 20mm axle flared out to 22mm at the very end.
My concern is that the taper will act like a drill over time and carve out the inside of the spacer and give me floppy wheel syndrome.
My plan is to drill out the inside of the spacer to 22mm the distance that it’s wider so half the spacer sits on the 22 mm portion of the axle and the undrilled half sits on the 20mm portion of the axle.
My biggest concern is that the taper isn’t perfectly smooth like the axle and it may dig out part of the spacer. I may try to smooth it – carefully - with a die grinder
I will also have to cut off the drum brake retaining tab or the GS rotor stand offs will whack it.
Any potential gotcha’s?
On the Velorex That had 20mm axle and I wanted to switch to Harley 15 inch wheel I just changed the axle to a 25MM.
Quote from smitty901 on December 6, 2023, 5:02 pmOn the Velorex That had 20mm axle and I wanted to switch to Harley 15 inch wheel I just changed the axle to a 25MM.
Changing to a 25mm axle is definitely on my "future" upgrades list.
But I have the parts - axle spacers, 20mm ID bearings, 20mm axle (both installed) - and tools to modify the spacers if I go this route.
What I don't have is the money to change horses at the moment. I would need new spacers, a new 25mm axle (LBS may have them), a press or machine shop to swap the axles. I'd rather spend that money on a much needed drill press.
I also don't have the patience right now if I'm honest. This project has taken since July to get this far and I'm looking out the window at snow.
(Tim. I know, I know. You'll ride in snow but I'd like to get it dialed in before I try that.)
You need a friend with a lathe.. It would be short work to machine out the spacer and maybe taper it so it nested correctly on the Ural taper.
On my Ural to BMW wheel conversion.. We used a rear wheel as I wanted to be able to carry a spare.. Brock who built it, used a Trailer Axle complete with hub. 1 inch/25 mm. Welded into the Ural Swing Arm. We machined a brake rotor down that fit the hub and drilled it so the BMW Rear wheel bolted up. Used some random Brake rotor bolted to the machined down car brake rotor. Ingenious but a tad heavy. Has worked awesome for 50 K miles. I am in the process of changing the brake caliper as we used the wrong one at the time. A project I need to get onto to..
Quote from MGV8 on December 9, 2023, 9:49 amYou need a friend with a lathe.. It would be short work to machine out the spacer and maybe taper it so it nested correctly on the Ural taper.
I really do. Or a lathe of my own, then I would have lots of new friends!
So my first effort went (quite literally) - pear shaped.
I had the spacer clamped in the vise but it tilted when I ran the cone step bit in.
I supported it with the vise base for the second pass with the traditional bit but I still managed to get the hole oblong and angled.
Fortunately these spacers cost $8 so not a costly lesson.
More fortunately I found out the local machine shop isn't closed just working limited hours.
This job really needs a lathe so I think I'm going to pay the shop to do it since the budget says no to buying a lathe.
Quote from Drew on December 12, 2023, 9:56 amSo my first effort went (quite literally) - pear shaped.
I had the spacer clamped in the vise but it tilted when I ran the cone step bit in.
I supported it with the vise base for the second pass with the traditional bit but I still managed to get the hole oblong and angled.
Fortunately these spacers cost $8 so not a costly lesson.
More fortunately I found out the local machine shop isn't closed just working limited hours.
This job really needs a lathe so I think I'm going to pay the shop to do it since the budget says no to buying a lathe.
Years ago I found a used drill press on craigslist that had a really tight arbor. It was pretty old school, and the lady just wanted it out of the garage. Bought a 3 axis drill press vise (good quality unit) and made a pretty heavy duty bracket to hold a dremel in the vise. With the drill press set on a low speed and a steel cutting bit in the Dremel it did really amazing stuff on a smaller scale. Probably had about $300 into the whole thing.
Last winter I needed to cut down the outer diameter of a coupling nut to fit through a round grommet. Chucked the coupling nut into a battery powered drill by using a bolt through it. Held the drill down on its side with a knee, and used both hands prop'd on the floor to hold onto the Dremel. Did basically by hand what I was doing with the old drill press setup. Took a lot longer, but came out way better than it should have. I've done similar things to make internal/external chamfers. One thing I learned about this process is to put down a large piece of cardboard. The filings that come off the Dremel are worse than fiberglass insulation and go all over the place. Sheeesh!
Hold my keyboard and watch this! 🙃
Went down to the machine shop today. Took my Ural sidecar frame along so he could get measurements with his pro grade tools.
Fits perfectly and the guy let me watch him work. Didn't even seem annoyed at my oohing and aahing over all his cool machinery.
He's located in a 60s Esso station and he's taken some time to return it to the way it looked back then. Even has a working payphone on the wall with - get this - the actual number that was on the phone back in the 70s.
Well worth the $20.
$20!?!? Great price.
Sounds like a pretty awesome experience all the way around. His "shop" alone is worth a Jackson just for admission. 🙂 Really dig stuff like that.
Has to feel good to have a confident solution. Can't wait to see it mounted up.
Hold my keyboard and watch this! 🙃
My own personal prejudices would be to change rims. Probably more expensive than the O.P's but I'm old and weird so I get away with stuff. Lacing a wheel to me is kind of fun compared with other jobs tackled in a suburban garage. I changed my original 21 inch front rim to 19 inch. Outside diameter of the 4.00- 19 is really close to the same as 90/90-21. The 150/70-18 rear was swapped for a 175R 16 London taxi tire which was 27" in diameter versus the 26.1" dia motorcycle tire. There are a gazillion BoobTube videos on how to lace a wheel and you can get everything you need from Buchanan's. I think the balance stand was about $80 and fancy rim for $150 (5 years ago) and a little over $100 to have custom spokes made. I also had them punch and relieve a blank steel rim I got from Hey Wheel.
If you put all the spokes in with the right pattern and then adjust the nuts so the same amount of threads showing, just finger tight and when you put it on the stand it will be +- .010" (.25mm) of running true. Gradually tweaking the high/ low spots 1/4 turn you can get it spot on in 10 - 15 minutes. They have torque wrenches specifically for spokes but being kin to the ancient mariner I torque by tone tapping...
You can get quite acceptable truing by using a pointer but with 42 years as a machinist I have my preferences.
That's the Duro Ural tire.
Had to nibble on the chain guard.
This pic shows the Heidenau sidecar tire on the front.
I agree. Lacing wheels is fun. Buchannon's is who I went with to get the rim and spokes for the race rig. I laced the R75 hub onto a 16" rim to run the Dunlop Sidecar racing tires. Those were some short spokes! And tough to mount tires.
Part of why I went this way for the street rig was that my Ural tub had a drum brake hub. Since I plan on (eventually) mounting a disc brake on the tub, I didn't want to lace the GS rim to the Ural drum hub only to re-lace it back on to the GS hub.
While I'm posting pics. Here's that machine shop.
He has a sign by the soda machine. "No Loitering. Bums."
I didn't take any pics of the machinery. Too self conscious
Very cool. The glass in the doors would make working inside much brighter than most machine shops. What a great idea.
Somewhere I read or watched an explanation regarding the phone company switching still being analog because of the FCC requirement to maintain dial phone compatibility. I go back to the last days of "party lines" (before it became a political term... lol).
Hold my keyboard and watch this! 🙃
