My $3 Homemade Spools

[slowninja]

So I am on a pinch of replacing the fork seals of my 2009 250R that I recently purchased. Yes, I'm a newbie I need a pair of spools because the bike is more stable on them then rubber blocks of my rear wheel stand. I went to cycle gear and they have them for $19.99 , too much for me. They do look good though, but I only need these when servicing my bike.

Here is my solution. I went through some trial and error. It was a hassle going back and forth so I wanted to share this. I'm sure someday it will be useful to some new guy! Our spools are M10-1.25. They fit perfectly!

$2.00 for the bolts and $0.68 for the nuts. They're sold in pair at Home Depot. Lowes does not carry M10-1.25. They only have M10-1.50, at least my local Lowes, so go to Home Depot.

[alex.s]

my lowes has m10 1.0, 1.25, and 1.5 in various lengths. my home depot does not carry any metric.

[himynameisjoe]

I'm aware I'm going to sound really dumb... so please don't poke too much fun... but what exactly are spools? Like I get what it is, but from my understanding it's an aftermarket thing, right? So my question is... why?

[alex.s]

its for rear stands... the stand grabs the spools to lift the bike up and spools are nice because the stand can wrap around it instead of the other kind of rear stand which just lifts the swing arm and can slide around... with spools it wont slide around

[LoD575]

Originally Posted by himynameisjoe

I'm aware I'm going to sound really dumb... so please don't poke too much fun... but what exactly are spools? Like I get what it is, but from my understanding it's an aftermarket thing, right? So my question is... why?

Spools are used in conjunction with a stand to lift the rear tire.

[himynameisjoe]

Originally Posted by alex.s

its for rear stands... the stand grabs the spools to lift the bike up and spools are nice because the stand can wrap around it instead of the other kind of rear stand which just lifts the swing arm and can slide around... with spools it wont slide around

Originally Posted by LoD575

Spools are used in conjunction with a stand to lift the rear tire.

Ahaa! Thank you. This makes much more sense! And no one made fun of me!

[Alex]

Originally Posted by himynameisjoe

Ahaa! Thank you. This makes much more sense! And no one made fun of me!

The day is still young.

A guy that used to have a pretty well-respected shop around here used the same thing for spools for customer bikes that came in. He just needed a few different types of bolts, and just temporarily used them on bikes that hadn't already installed spools that worked with his stands.

[himynameisjoe]

Originally Posted by Alex

The day is still young.

A guy that used to have a pretty well-respected shop around here used the same thing for spools for customer bikes that came in. He just needed a few different types of bolts, and just temporarily used them on bikes that hadn't already installed spools that worked with his stands.

lolol ass...

And now that I know the function of these "spools", number 1, that is a brilliant idea because they do seem to be quite expensive!

I could see how a shop would benefit from doing something simple like this.

[Nemesis]

Spools are also used, if not mentioned already, to protect your swingarm in case of a crash.

[Little Green Machine]

A few entrepenuree and motorcycle part manufacturers have made spools with all the glitz and anodized aluminum, then sell them to us who like the "Ooohh Shiny!" side of our ego's.

Just doing as the OP has done, is enough to make what you need seem easy! I did much the same as he did, but mine did not cost me a cent, i smuggled them out of my work, so win win!

[alex.s]

Originally Posted by Nemesis

Spools are also used, if not mentioned already, to protect your swingarm in case of a crash.

they protected my swing arm in the sense that the outside looks less scratched... it buckled the swingarm slightly though on the inside

[Mowgli]

Mine came out to $7.05!! They don't have flange bolts so I got hex bolts

[CZroe]

I've been doing that for years.
I first did it with parts from Home Depot when I lost one of my spools.
I later did it with parts from Lowe's because I didn't want to keep switching my spools between the newgen-J and the pregen-F (with the newgen-J swingarm).

I didn't bother with the inner nut. I just got the long bolts with an even longer shoulder (unthreaded part) and threw some SAE aluminum spacers on there as a rolling bearing (no real reason). Works great!

[jasle]

Originally Posted by Mowgli

Mine came out to $7.05!! They don't have flange bolts so I got hex bolts

ouch, my ebay spools were $6.99 shipped.

[Mowgli]

Have a link?

[jasle]

I don't they were just from some person, opened package. just search ninja 250 spools on ebay. I see some on there for $3.90 and $5 shipping right now.

[CZroe]

Originally Posted by jasle

I don't they were just from some person, opened package. just search ninja 250 spools on ebay. I see some on there for $3.90 and $5 shipping right now.

Even cheaper: Search "10mm spools" in "Motorcycle Parts" and sort by cheapest price + shipping. $4.79 Buy It Now. with free shipping.

[Dmj_88]

If you actulaly want to protect your swingarm get Delrin sliders for your spools, anything metal will just grab in a slide and do more damage than good. Delrin has good abrasive resistance but won't spark and won't dig in like aluminum/steel.