Project BMW

THE BIG BATTLES ARE WON, I THINK, so it’s mainly small victories now. The rear wheel had been sitting in the corner quietly, and the other day I really needed to use the bench for Maria’s TriBSA but couldn’t move the BM, so the wheel got bumped up the list.

After photographing the spoke pattern, the offset had to be measured. I almost forgot, as the front wheel is even both sides. The rear isn’t, with the offside 6mm clear of the rim and the nearside 1mm, presumably to clear the swingarm. Then the torturous yet strangely satisfying (what does that say about me?) job of cutting the spokes with bolt croppers could start – though 5ft croppers may be a little OTT (I used them in a previous life to test bike locks and chains, officer).

The rims are alloy, made by Weinmann,