When is enough enough on the tension of spokes??Washed bike and found one spoke a bit loose. The manual or service manual showed nothing,Is there a torque setting for that?
Tharon, the wheels use the BMW patented cross-spoke design that allows the fitment of radial tires. They are assembled on a very expensive CNC machine in the BMW motorcycle production plant, Spandau in Berlin. Fine tuning is carried out by a craftsman using a sophisticated diagnostic tool. The cross-spoke design means that you cannot pull a R11GS rim left and right by adjusting spoke tension as you can with a normal spoked wheel.As explained in the handbook, spoke tension can be assessed by gently striking them with a metal object, like a screwdriver. If they all have the same tension, they sound the same (or at least similar) notes. Spokes that are tighter have a higher note; loose spokes lower.If you find a tight/loose/missing spoke, adjustment/replacement is beyond your dealer who will normally suggest replacement (not cheap). However, if there are less than four spokes affected you may try some home DIY, but given the sophistication of the construction process, if four or more spokes are affected a new wheel or expert rebuild is definitely required.Tim (Bondo) Bond is a BMW-GS listmember as well as a professional wheelbuilder. Here are his instructions on spoke replacement on a GS cross-spoke wheel. Get the spoke, nipple and grubscrew (setscrew). Put it in until just tight. Ring some of the spokes with a wrench and torque the new one until it sounds like the others. Install the setscrew. DO NOT TRY TO ADJUST ANY OTHER SPOKES or you'll be sending the wheel to someone else for a big bill. The tubeless wheels don't adjust like any other wheel so please don't try it. CheersGarry
