In need of Lifan 200gy-5 rear wheel.

[Weldangrind]

Originally Posted by Tj_saxon

I don't care if its got little cracks as long ad it's not like dangling and in pieces. And the rear wheel is damaged.

Would you consider lacing a new rim on the existing hub? I did that recently, and it was a lot easier than I thought it would be. For me, the secret was to lock each intersecting pair of spokes with a zip tie, and it held itself together.

I used an old Honda XR200 rim that had a broken hub. Perfect match.

[Tj_saxon]

Yes, I was asking if anyone had any other idea besides lifan because I was havin a hard time finding another lifan wheel. When you say used zip tied you mean to lace the wheel then took them off or had to leave them on?

[Weldangrind]

Sorry, I didn't explain myself well.

I had a complete '83 XR200R front drum brake wheel that I had no use for, and a Roketa (same as Lifan) front disc brake wheel that was bent. I carefully checked the spoke pattern of the two wheels, and determined that they were identical, right down to the schrader valve location (a fluke, I'm sure). I removed all of the XR200R spokes without worrying about the pattern, and set the hub and spokes aside.

I then wrapped a zip tie around each area where spokes crossed on the Roketa wheel. Tying each crossed pair of spokes allowed me to take the entire hub and spoke assembly out of the Roketa rim and place it in the Honda rim and start all of the nipples. I then placed the rim vertically (on the grass) and rotated the rim as I tightened the nipples the same amount with each full revolution. Eventually, the spokes were evenly tightened (more or less), at which point I mounted the whole assembly on a front axle mounted in my vise for truing. The whole process took less than an hour.

The bare rims were very close in weight, which is due to the thin stamped steel China rim. The aluminum Honda DID rim is quite thick and strong. I intend to repeat the procedure a few more times.

[Tj_saxon]

I need a rear wheel, wonder if the rear wheels are interchangeable also?

[Weldangrind]

Originally Posted by Tj_saxon

I need a rear wheel, wonder if the rear wheels are interchangeable also?

Probably. My guess is that an XR / XL 185 would be a direct fit, but I'm only basing that on the chain size.

[Tj_saxon]

Just curious but why wouldn't just any old 18X2.15 36 spoke rim work? Or would it?

[Weldangrind]

I'm not saying it wouldn't. I've only tried the XR200 rim. With the XR200 rim, the spoke count and spoke angles were correct, and the rim had the same dimensions.

[SpudRider]

Originally Posted by Tj_saxon

Just curious but why wouldn't just any old 18X2.15 36 spoke rim work? Or would it?

To the best of my knowledge, such a rim should work fine. Perhaps the spoke holes might be a little too large or too small, but that is easily remedied.

[Tj_saxon]

Sorry guys for all the questions I am a newb at this stuff. Thanks for all the help though.

[SpudRider]

You're welcome. Keep asking questions. We have many helpful, knowledgeable members on these forums.

[katoranger]

The xl185 rear hub and wheel look almost identical to my lifan with the exception that I had a rear disc. The xl had a drum.

[Tj_saxon]

I just want to be able to ride it lol.

[Tj_saxon]

Originally Posted by SpudRider

To the best of my knowledge, such a rim should work fine. Perhaps the spoke holes might be a little too large or too small, but that is easily remedied.

Just in case this is the case what is the fix?

[SpudRider]

If the spoke holes are too small for your spoke nipples, you can drill the holes a little larger. If the spoke holes are too large for your spoke nipples, you can order larger spoke nipples from Buchanan's Spoke & Rim.

http://www.buchananspokes.net/categories/nipples.asp

[Tj_saxon]

Ok, thank you so much!