I’m now the owner of an 59reg Griso SE, which I looked over very carefully prior to buying…but not carefully enough it would seem.
Now that the road dirt has been cleaned from the front spokes, I have noticed that there is some pitting and rusting on the chromed spokes on the front wheel.
It’s not the end of the world but as far as I can see even if I clean them all with solvol or similar the rust will just re-appear when the spokes get wet. I might try an acidic de-rusting agent and hopefully not damage the rims.
The ultimate solution is to re-lace with s/s spokes, if I can get them. Is the design of the head of the spokes with the rubber seal unique to Guzzi, and I wonder if they will sell spokes (withouth a hub and rim i.e. a wheel) separately.
I’m a bit disappointed but I’ll get over it ReggieV2014-09-26 17:25:29
Do not use solvol the spokes are chromed and not stainless, solvol will take the chrome off eventually. Either get the wheels re-laced with stainless spokes or swap wheels for cast. I did that with my Stelvio, cast wheels £400 and I sold the spoked ones on eBay for £250. I thought it was a good deal especially after the front tyre started going down due to an o-ring perishing in the tri-metal environment that Guzzi had put them (Chromed steel spokes/aluminium rims/zinc plated steel sleeve nut holding the spoke) whoever thought that one up wants therapy!Chris950s2014-09-26 17:33:50
I’ve never been a fan of the O-ring method to seal spokes. Guzzi and KTM do it and I can only assume there may be a patent on the alternatives that is either expensive or difficult to get around.
Triumph and Yamaha use a flanged rim with the nipple adjusters at the hub and BMW (plus the earlier Caponord) lace the spokes to points on the rim outboard of the tyre. I believe this last method isn’t the best place for strength.
I have to pump up the rear on my Stelvio every week due to a presumed leek past an O ring. That said, the spokes have a blackened finish rather than chromed and don’t appear to be rusting. The bike lives outside andI haven’t got round to washing it yet!
My 2010 Stelvio has the rusty leaky spoke syndrome so we fitted tubes while I looked around for a fix, I visited Hagon’s, the wheel and suspension people down near Romford.  They told me that they had replaced some spokes for Guzzi customers under warranty, however that was too late for me, I really don’t complain enough. Anyway, a rebuild costs about £90 plus parts but they can’t really say what that will be until the wheels are taken apart. In the meantime I found some new mag wheels which I got for about £280 plus the vat, a bargain I think.
My unfortunate Stelvio has lived outside now for a year and a half and I have washed it precisely once. I have had a good look at the spokes and they are perfect. It is an 11 big tank model. Were the spoked wheels improved at some point?
You may just be lucky, or they may have gone to Stainless Spokes after the Chromed ones had problems.
My '09 Stelvio has Chromed Spokes, they’re peeling a little, but it’s cosmetic and doesn’t bother me unduly.
I plan to replace the rim at some point anyway, with a 17 or 18 incher.
Never likely to go off-road on mine, and it would give me a much better choice of Tyres, slightly lower seat height, and sharper steering.
Always liked Supermotos anyway, and they seem to do just fine on the dirt with road rubber! Â Â
Whilst it could be a little late, using something like ACF50 will prevent the corrosion getting g worse. Â Been using if for a while now on unplated parts the live on a all year round bike and they are still like new with semi frequent reapplication. Â If you don’t mind things looking dirty it’s a good solution.
Word of warning on stainless spokes is they can snap. Â I’ve got stainless spokes in my 54 Goldie which are uprated to sidecar specification and one or two snap each year with only 40 ish bhp passing through them.Â
Where did you get your stainless spokes from Ingegnere?
Might have been a dodgy batch, that or the rim drillings are wrong (not aligned with the Spokes, common if a used Rim is laced to a different Hub).
Who built the Wheel?Â
Where do they break, always in the same place?
I had a similar problem, whenever I wanted to go out after having not been on the bike for a couple of days, I had to get the foot pump out. Thanks to a lump of Glass that caused a hole in the wrong place on a good tyre, I had to buy a new tyre and solved the air leak at the same time.
Two layers of duct tape and an inner tube
Have since ridden a couple of thousand miles, no problemo.
My 2010 Griso (had since May) also has corrosion on the spokes but they don’t leak! I was aware of the corrosion when purchasing so I’m not upset - in fact I’m rather pleased that the pressure holds so well
It’s something I want to fix either this winter or next, with a wheel rebuild. I may even take the opportunity to change the finish on the rims from black to polished aluminium, although I’m full aware that will entail further cleaning/maintenance work
Hagon are the obvious well-known choice in the South East but I’d be interested in hearing from those who have had the work done (either by Hagon or by another), including any leak issues afterwards.
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