If a person is ever around a dirt bike, they will quickly notice how the wheel utilizes spokes. These spokes can withstand an immense amount of force, yet at the same time they are lighter than a solid wheel. Weight is the main reason why spokes are used on a dirt bike wheel. The process of putting the spokes into the wheel and attaching the outer rim to the inner hub is called lacing. Although it may seem simple, the process of lacing and aligning a dirt bike wheel is a rather complicated process. The first step is to gather the tools and materials required for the job. There are a variety of specialty tools that will be needed: a dial indicator, an indicator base, a spoke wrench, and a spoke torque wrench. A dial indicator is a tool that …show more content…
The first step to this is to tighten every spoke evenly. To ensure that they are all evenly tightened, tighten each spoke one turn and repeat the process until the spokes are all snug. Next, either place the wheel on a wheel stand or back onto the dirt bike. If at this point the wheel is on the dirt bike, find a way to raise the dirt bike into the air so that the wheel is not touching the ground. Now, in either application, the dial indicator needs to be placed onto the side of the wheel. The purpose for doing this is so that we can see how much the wheel is moving horizontally when it is spun, and through alignment we will remove this movement so that the indicator does not move when spun. Position the wheel so that the indicator is pushed in the greatest amount, and then tighten the spoke on the opposite side of the indicator so that the wheel is pulled away. Repeat this process for every position needed and then move the indicator to the other side and repeat once again. After completing this step we now want to tighten each spoke equally. To do this we will turn each spoke one quarter of a turn with the torque wrench and then advancing to the next spoke until each spoke is properly torqued. Once this is finished the wheel is complete and all the tools can now be put