Dunlop WM2 19 MB 41 rims

I got 2 new WM2 rims from Walridge for my 69S and used his spokes too. It all went together fine except I did have to bend some of the spokes at the hub end for a sharper bend on the rear wheel as I remember. I'd try the rims and see if your spokes work and probably wouldn't worry about it too much unless something is obviously wrong. I'm not sure anyone addressed the OP?

the listings i have for UK models show Norton Manxman first fitted with the WM3X18 in 1961

and Atlas also using the WM3 x 18 in 1964

the front spokes were 8/10G using .250 nipples , but they may have used straight 8G spokes and .300 on the 18" rear wheels

I would say the answer rests entirely with the OP.
Are the rims pierced 1/4" as per original manufacture...or have they been modified and show evidence of drilling.
They could have been made 15 years apart on different presses with different tooling to pierce them.

WM3/atlas use same diameter butted spoke as wm2 and same 1/4 nipple.

fireflake said:

I realise this subject has previously been discussed but I would like clarification please. I managed to obtain 2 of the above rims from separate sources and on inspection, found that the holes for the nipples are different sizes, not by much but are different. I don't think the rim with the larger holes is, due to wear and I recall reading, that for some reason, they came from the factory that way, any advice would be appreciated, David '69 S Commando

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Are you concerned with restoring to factory finish?

If not, inspect the rims to see if all the holes have a finished edge, as in chromed. If it has been drilled out it will likely start to rust.

Measure the holes. Use a drill bit if you don't have a gauge. Common nipple sizes are 1/4 and 5/16". Usually the hole will be slightly larger than those dimensions. How much larger I can't say for sure as I have not measured hundreds of rims.

Simply order nipples that fit those holes. I would put the larger to the rear and fit them with slightly larger spokes. Just because it sounds like a good idea to me. Once you determine the size of nipples then you can start to ponder what size of spoke to use.

If you want your bike to reflect factory finish then you are faced with jumping into the debate as to what Norton did in 1969.

Here is an old thread that discusses some of this stuff.

dunlop-mc286-rim-t11324-15.html?hilit=mb41

Rohan said:

The link, or non-link, betwixt marketing horsepower or brochure horsepower or real world horsepower has been well discussed here before.
And never the twain shall meet.

Guzzi at some stage claimed 80 hp for one of its beasties - considerably more than a Z1 at the time.
Which was hard to see on the road.
Some poking and prodding revealed that was with the race kit installed - and 80 hp was still not guaranteed. !

We diverge, muchly, from the OP 19" rim question here..

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I believe that when the 900cc Z1 was around, the Guzzis were 750 cc. A friend of mine was an A grader back then and raced a Guzzi against the Z1s. The quickest way between point A and point B in racing doesn't necessarily rely on the ultimate horsepower figure for the motor. The nature of the circuit , the torque characteristics of the motor and the handling of the bike are also important. I don't think my friend won many races with the Guzzi, however he was always up there with them.

This is true. But my guzzi was the 850cc Lemon model, and while I only street raced it (a bit ),
it had to be a slow Kwaka pilot to leave him/her behind. They were still around some time after they were new....
I did meet up with someone with the race kit in it too, but the whine of those straightcut close ratio gears would have
been hard to live with, never mind that it didn't seem a whole lot faster.

But we diverge, muchly, from 19" rims with different holes size for the spokes...