With only one trip to the building supply store for the necessary raw materials I pieced together a fairly sturdy wheel truing stand. Nothing fancy, as you'll see from the picture. Just some aluminum angle-stock and some fasteners (until I add a welder to my tool set). I think it could still use some additional lateral stability but it can be easily added. I've only two wheels to do so it doesn't have to be heavy duty. I don't think I'm going into the wheel-smithing business but if someone wanted a set I may be willing to entertain the idea. I've got all the pictures, and now tools, to do the job.
I started on the front wheel last night and have things pretty well finished. I'm not sure what the tension on the spokes should be so I'm going to do a bit more research before I call it 'done'. Starting with a new rim made the job very simple. There wasn't a lot of wobble to fix.
The rear wheel is another story. It was the old rim and it has a bit of a wobble currently. I ran around the rim putting even tension on the spokes, now it's just a matter of working out the bumps by tightening/loosening pairs of spokes on the appropriate side and place on the wheel. The process can be a bit tedious but very satisfying when the wheel is running true again.
I'm one rebuilt fork, one painted frame, and two rebuilt or new shocks away from a completed rolling chassis. If the fork and shocks don't take too long I'll have the chassis rolling, but not complete, in a few weeks. Not many things have gone as smoothly as expected so it may still be a while.
I'd better get the barrel and head sent off to the machine shop so I can start the engine work. I've started a list of the parts I'm going to need. It's a looooooong list.
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