Would you claim warranty or forget it and ride?

I did my first front wheel tire change on the VFR yesterday and found two nicks on the outside face of the wheel (underneath a mounted tire). The nicks are more than just blemishes, but aren't enough to be of any functional threat. One is on the center of the rim about an inch from the valve stem, and the other is in the corner at the very base of the bead seat area.

This is something I'm sure I would never know in 100k miles if I didn't do my own tire changes, and for all I know it could be a pretty common occurance. I'm just curious to hear some opinions. Would you pursue a warranty replacement or just ride? My first reaction was that it was ridiculous and I wanted it replaced, but that quickly subsided into a "whatever" feeling because I don't want to give up however many days of riding to deal with it.

 

Who did the tyre change? Dealer?
Claiming warranty might be of a pain in the arse, and if it goes through, will take a fairly long time before you get a replacement wheel.
I would leave it be. You can file it, paint it later on as you change the tyres out. And you're not going to notice any imbalances b/c it's not a missing chunk of alminium or bent.
Besides, the replacement wheel will get booboos with miles.
My wheels had some nicks, i just ran a fine file over them, some emory to polish it, and sprayed the whole wheel.

 

I did the change, from the factory tires. Also to clarify, by "inside" of the wheel I mean under the tire where rocks and what not wouldn't (shouldn't?) be able jump up and attack. I suppose if we're talking about the wheel alone, it's the outside face of the wheel opposite the spokes. Edited original to clarify.

 

Since you do your own tire changes, you would have to prove to Honda that you did not damage the wheel yourself. Bottomline: Your word against theirs. Since the retail cost of a new wheel is ~$450+ Honda would for sure give you a fight. If it worth having your bike out of comission for weeks or more? I understand your concern that since it is a new bike, however, if it is not a safety issue forget it and ride my man!

 

Oh man. You can't see it so focus on the exhilaration that comes with riding the bitch into the ground. Then drink beer. It will be a bar topic when you have had too many brews

 

GET over it.

Randy didn't even bother to do a warranty claim when some weak threads fell out off his oilpan.

 

Thanks for the replies! Losing threads from the oil pan is a bummer. Responses so far are pretty much in line with what I was thinking. My "off-the-bat" reaction was due to the thought that it may point to something more serious being wrong with the rim, because I couldn't really think of how the semi-gouges could have occurred. Anyway it balances, tracks, and holds air just fine. Forget it and ride it is!

 

You did not post a photo of the "damage" so we cannot tell if this is fluff or a real problem.

If it was worth filing a warranty claim you could still ride it until the new wheel arrives.

If it is a frivolous claim then when you have a "REAL" problem they may think you are crying wolf.

We just cannot make any judgement without a photo.

 

How did it lose threads from the oil pan?
Was it the oil drain plug?
Did you change the oil or was it the dealer?
Lots of questions you know.
How do you know it was threads from the oil pan and not something else?
You need to tell us in a more detailed way.

 

Squirrel was offering up quite the low bolw at my expense when I tried to do an oil change recently. I have registered with the local community college to learn how to read a torque wrench to prevent this from happening again. In the mean time, several here have forbid me to work on my own bike for fear of me having to revert back to driving my cage.

 

I respectfully disagree. I am not making a claim here, I am simply looking for opinions based on an idea, and I gave all necessary information - damage but not functional. I respect that you may not be confident in my ability to assess the damage, and therefore don't feel that you can give an opinion. If I were to actually make a claim, I would certainly take pictures. I already mounted the tire, however, and the thread idea came afterwards. I'm not going to pop the tire back off to take pictures for the thread, but I certainly would if I felt it were worth filing a warranty claim. Also, I assumed that I would have to surrender the wheel in question (or the whole bike) to a dealer in order to make a claim. Otherwise any yahoo could say they need a new whatever. Does Honda not feel the need to physically check out the situation?

The oil pan threads were another persons issue, not mine.

 

lol I missed that one.