I searched the web for suitable wheels without a great deal of success.  I wanted aluminium ones to save weight and all those I spotted on Ebay were overpriced or the postage quoted was unrealistic.  This has become a trend recently, with sellers inflating the postage charges to reduce fees.  I was not playing!  One local seller was wanting £30 for a scruffy Yamaha front wheel and I was in no frame of mind to humour such a request.  Truth be told, I have never really thought much about the local breaker but decided to take a walk down and see what he had to offer.  In exchange for £50 I received the alloy wheels from a Gilera RCR, 21" front and 18" back, a small seat, a small silencer, a pair of classic trials bars, a sump guard, two tyres (neither are any good but they served as templates for frame modifications) and a long side stand.  All need renovating but they are sound and usable and at that price, gratefully received.

The hubs for the James are stock parts from the British Hub Company, sadly no longer existing.  These were fitted to James, Francis Barnetts, Norton Jubilees, AMC 250 lightweights and a whole host of others as well.

I  stripped the rear rim from the original James and thrown it.  The hub has been sanded and painted in 2K silver and the alloy hub centre polished.  The spokes from the Gilera wheels were of no use, being too long, straight and rusty, so I bought a set of Yamaha spokes of the right length, replated all the nipples from the original wheel and set to rebuilding the hub onto the Gilera rim.  Because the Gilera rim was originally equipped with small hubs and a disc brake It didn't fit so the wheel has been dismantled and the piercings in the rim reprofiled to suit the James hub.

Similarly the front 19" rim was stripped and thrown away.  It too was far too badly rusted internally to be of any further use.  I was unable to source suitable spokes to lace the 21" rim to the James hub so adapted the straight Gilera ones by heating the ends and bending them to suit the James hubs.  18 were bent to 90 degrees, and the other 18 were bent to 100 degrees.  This was essential to allow for the fitting to alternate sides of the hub flange - i.e. the ones with a greater angle are laced from the inside outwards.  Once bent, they were rubbed down and bright zinc plated as per originals.