Black Spokes

[TonyB]

damn that looks crap guys, can't help reminding me of a pram. prams used to have painted spokes. stop it, one day you'll wake up and go FAAARK what was I thinkin

[vandy010]

and sometimes two
 

[Doc]

Maybe FAAAARK! what have I DONE!! is more apt Tony and it's better'n silver frost Fiko been there too..I figured if it was good enough for the Rickman factory it's okay for me My TS125 has black spokes also and it is such a highly desireble piece of crud that the black spokes were an absolute nessecity for the overall effect to have it's affect ..what's the prob gold would look spastic and bright shiney new ones would mean I'd need to upgrade the whole bike to keep it inline with the bright shiney spokey spokes. Bottom line is rusty spokes look shite but if the opportunity arose you wouldn't relace a wheel with rusty ol' spokes if ya know what I mean! obviously Kawasaki had spent all their money on the SR before they got to the wheels. Being a little different to to other factories Kawasaki decided to build their bikes from the bars down and not from the wheels up..when the funding started to run dry the results were quite obvious they were known as 'STEALTH' wheels! an' I'm full of it too 

[Nathan S]

Looks a lot better when the colour contrasts with the hub. Mostly we're used to looking at badly applied cheap aerosol painted spokes, complete with overspray on both the rim and hub (and tyre and swingarm and fork legs and...).

Gloss black spokes with a satin or flat black hub (or visa-versa) might look OK, but I've never been brave enough to try, and the KX photo suggests it isn't a good idea.

[paul]

jim sent me these to post

[firko]

Talk it up ally you like and cry poor boy all you like fellas but there is no accounting for taste. Black painted spokes look like shite. In the past I've carefully masked a wheel and painted the spokes a nice metallic gunmetal grey that closely resembled aged galvanising and the job was so good nobody noticed. Black is not a spoke colour and never was and shows a lack of aesthetic understanding in my humble opinion. :'(

[mx250]

Oui, whats wrong with black spokes.....



 

[Doc]

exactly MX250!!..black or painted spokes were once a standard for the motorcycle industry.There is no 'poor man' crying going on here only a commonsense approach to an age old problem of rusted or dulled spokes. Firko my TS125 spokes are painted and to me the asthetics look just fine, bright silver/plated would not look right for my way of thinking. Basic 2 colour black and red with a splash of chrome is just what I wanted and the black spokes accentuate this 2 colour feature. I want to ride the bike, not spend big bucks and loads  of time on something that isn't neccessary..if it ain't broke don't mess with it personally I don't see a thing wrong with the SR125 and it's black spokes, infact I reckon they could have done the rims black too and it still would have looked the goods. It's a practicle idea to be used on ride bikes not restos so what's the issue?

[firko]

I guess we'll have to disagree Doc. I reckon they look horrible. I've got nothing against painting them, like I said I've done it myself a number of times. The difference is that I did them a natural spoke colour. Black spokes? Never seen 'em.

But, in the end who gives a flying a shit what colour spokes are? I had a pink Maico once so who am I to dictate taste?

[Doc]

true I don't think it really matters what colour they are so long as they work but in the case of the Kawa and the TS as I've said, asthetically they look fine in my eyes to say you have never seen black spokes is a little hard to believe Firko, maybe not on a Jap vintage but surely you'd have seen them on the likes of Bantams and pommie stuff an awful lot of my spokes are painted and standing beside the bikes and looking at them you'd never know unless you got down on your hands and knee's and took a close optic from about 12 inches away..matter of fact I have to double check sometimes to know which are the painted and which are actually relaced a little added note, I don't use spray paint on them either

[pokey]

I wasnt a fan of painted spokes but  neccesity being the mother of invention  and having a can of metalic black paint and a heap of rusty spokes  i tried it and it looks blood good.

the paint has a fine green mica flek and looks brilliant with the silver hub and aly rims.

 try it on your racer guys its honestly a pretty schmick look

[LWC82PE]

You take a look at a lot of the early british bikes from the 20’s, 30’s,  40’s and some of the later low budget models. they all had black spokes 

[Wombat]

It's a personal taste thing ay. You either like it or you don't; I can't see anyone being converted.
I quite like the black spokes on that works Kwaka and Docs beastie.
Similarly I notice a lot of bikes have black rims. I really don't like that but that's just me.
I think I like a contrast between the tyre and the rim - instead of looking like it's a one piece.

Who posted the photo of the gorgeous Maico with the black rims? I think it's Pauls bike.
It's a real stunner, but I wonder if I'd like it more with gold or alloy coloured rims.
Just a personal taste thing.

[Nathan S]

Pretty sure that the Brough Superior and the Douglas I recently had the chance to look at, both had black spokes.
Obviously the poor man's choice...
 

Chrome plated spokes offend me a lot more. They look garish and tacky - and that's before they start rusting...

[TonyB]

I guess it IS a personal thing as I have allways hated the red frames on the 80's KTM's. I plan to paint my 495 frame a husky silver, and if there is some silver paint left over I'll give it to you Doc , you can fix up that TS good !! and if you have some left over give it to Pokey and so on ... you get the picture.