I did my 1,000 mile check on my 2010 Heritage and torqued the spokes to 55 pounds. I bought the torque wrench to do this. Here's the weird thing. I did the left side of the wheel first and every spoke took 2-3 twists. When I did the right side on the front wheel, every spoke was fine. I did the back wheel and the same thing happened. Any thoughts?

 

I think 55 pounds is too tight. I hope your wheels are still true. Have you ridden or spun them yet? Tightening spokes can be very tricky if you don't know what you're doing. Tightening or loosening on one side of the wheel effects the opposite side.

 

i'm no expert on spokes, but i was told to give each spoke, weather it's loose or not about 1/8 turn. then check all the spokes again.

 

i thought you only tightened the loose ones, by listneing to the sound. My bike has close to 6000 miles on it and based on the way i ride, i'm betting i have some loose spokes--especially on the rear wheel--- i've been thinking about doing it, but would hate to make screw it up--a good tutorial/ video on this would be nice

 

40-50# torque.

Link to spoke Tutorial.

http://www.fasstco.com/tech/tutorials.shtml

 

Great link. Thanks.

I think I've got it fixed right. I went back and loosened the side I tightened by 1/2 turn. Then, I checked every other spoke at 40-45-50-55 inch pounds. More laborious than I probably needed to do but I wanted to be sure to tighten only enough each time until they all showed 55 inch lbs. The bike rides true on a line at 80 mph (like on a rail) and no wobble when I let off the throttle at any speed, so I guess the wheels are okay. I learned on this one and will do better the next time. Problem is that I rounded a couple of edges on four spokes so I will need to replace them when I get new tires.

 

When you did the left side spokes first, it pulls the rim to that side which in turn tightens up the right side. Usually if you just "play" the spokes with something like a wrench and tap each one as you spin the wheel and listen for the ring, you will pick up on any loose ones to be dealt with.

 

Did you read the instructions in the link. You can't just tighten any spoke you think is loose. You have a fool proof way to adjust your spokes. You have the spoke wrench in your hands. You don't need to ping the spokes.

The torque value for HD spokes is 40-50# not 55#, per HD manual. If you tighten the spokes to tight the end of the spoke can puncture your tube. If you feel your getting over your head, see a pro.

 

I hear what you're saying about the tightness, but why would the service manual say 55 inch pounds if they did not want them tightened to that spec? The 55 does seem to push the upper limit of what the tightening nut will tolerate without rounding. It may be different for the 16 inch wheels of a Heritage versus 19 or 21 inch wheels.

 

tried that link you provided but it doesnt work anymore, too bad cause i would love to know the proper way to tighten loose spokes