Ran over a 4x4 piece of lumber.... bent the front rim... arrgh! Repair options?

So, I took a slightly different route to work this morning. Man, was that a mistake.

I was riding behind a Jeep Cherokee. Not tailgating, just the usual following distance in morning traffic. I saw the Jeep do a little swerve and just as I thought, "That was weird", I saw what he had driven over: a 4x4 piece of lumber about 4 feet long. I had about 1 second to see it, analyze the options, and take action, all while saying "Oh Shit!". At 60 mph, a curb to the left, and a car to the right, I had no choice but to hit it and hope for the best.

It was sitting about 30 degrees from perpendicular to me and dead center. My hands gripped tight and I lifted my butt. I felt the front tire hit, then the back. The bike did a quick little mini-swerve - right, left, center - and continued on straight as an arrow. I doubt that anyone except for me could see the mini-swerve, it was probably just what I felt.

I was shocked that I was still upright but after thanking the Lord, I continued on. I should have stopped to check the front tire but I was late for work and there was absolutely no weirdness at the front end so I kept on.

After work I checked and, sure enough, the rim was bent. The tire looks OK - glad I got the new BT-023-GTs! Though the rim is bent, the tire is holding pressure and there is no wobble or vibration, etc.

There are some pics below. What are my options for repair? Any recommendations?

 

I know when I bent one of my ATV rims I was able to have it straightened, I would imagine you could get this repaired too. Since the tire bead is still holding that might mean its worth looking into. Sucks none the less, and good job keeping the rubber side down!

 

S:hss: I am glad uou able to see Christmas.....
Look under classifieds saw a set of wheel listed as BOB

 

Years ago I ran over a mattress on the free way......on my CBR.
I have to come home and change my underwear after.
I was soooooo freaking scare. I kiss the ground after pull over to check on me and the bike.

 

Kossman widens and straighten wheels as I recall. May have the speel-ing wrong, you could do as above poster sed and do an Ebay thing. I have used cresent spanners in the past to correct a wheel like yours, but that was when I was working in the "ghetto."

Glad your ok, I bent wheels going over rail road tracks in good old NJ. In south FL its smooth but we have some obstacles too, ran over a cobble stone once....

 

I paid $165 to have a wheel straightened but it was within .005 TIR. That is STRAIGHT!!!!

Jose

 

Sorry to hear about your dilemma. I have yet to bend a rim on my motorcycle, but I have suffered the indignity while 4 wheeling with the wife and kids. Nothing can be worse than the wife suggesting that maybe the rocks are a bit too large to crawl over in HER truck, while the kids are in the back saying, "Come on dad, we can make it" and deciding to side with the kids. The looks from my wife said "You're going to fix that RIGHT" when we took the bent rim off and replaced it with the spare.

If you're unsure of the name of a shop in your area that can repair and straighten wheels, just ask at a local car dealership, auto body repair shop, or motorcycle dealer. Any one of these businesses would probably know of a company that does wheel rim repairs. As Tink said, there are usually shops in most major cities that do wheel repairs. The cost can be more than buying a used rim off of Ebay or the like, but if you buy a new wheel you will also have to pay for shipping. Not to mention you may be without a wheel for a lengthy amount of time depending on where the rim is shipped from. If you're weather is like ours up here, in the currently frozen wasteland known as Canada, this might not be an issue, but if your riding season lasts year round the loss of quality riding time might be worth considering. The wheel repair place near my shop can usually repair wheels the same or next day and charges $100. Just my two cents.

 

Wow. Quite the bend. I am surprised the tire's bead did not fail. I hit some dunnage on the freeway a few years back but I don't think it was a 4X4. Looked to be a 2X4. It did bend the rear rim though but ever so slight. Only noticeable if you really look for it. I can balance the wheel out so have never fixed it. I can remember the same thoughts go through my mind when I saw it coming for that 1 second. "FUUUUCK" I think was the word that I thought about most clearly.

 

whoa screw the rim, find another. but man what a save

 

The shop was FrameMan in Sacto., Tink.

I remember cruising the internet and finding a shop somewhere in the midwest that said they shoot for .002 TIR on their wheel straightening. I just don't see how that would be possible. I thought .005 was ridiculous, given that there are bearings and things have to actually move and all.

I recommend Frame Man to anyone I know. They kick ass.

Jose

 

Thanks for all of the replies.

There seems to be one front wheel on Ebay for $275. This wheel is different than mine in that it has more spokes. I kind of like it better, but the price is high.

I'll look for a shop locally here in San Antonio to get a price on wheel straightening. Common sense seems to indicate that I should go with the cheapest option but the reality is that I don't own a car so I may have to buy a replacement wheel anyway since I have to have my bike down for the least amount of time possible. Then I could just swap them out, and send the current wheel out for repair. Then I could sell it or keep it.

Other than ebay, does anyone know of a source for used wheels?

 

I'm sure there are salvage yards that cater to motorcycles, you might try looking for one close to you, I know the one that I used to go to years ago had a "hot line" to other salvage yards and they just put a call on the hot line and get a few replies in a matter of minutes. I would imagine that this technology would have only advanced and that maybe they do this on a computer using a shared database and can find you a wheel in seconds.

 

I hit a deep pothole last year and bent the front rim. I had it fixed for about $50 including un-mounting and mounting the tire. Check out local shops that repair alloy wheels, they probably can straighten your motorcycle rim.

 

If I were you I would just find another rim. With a hit that hard I would also be checking out your steering head bearings. I have seen a lot less than that cause a flat spot in them. Also your axle would be worth checking while your at it. I once hit a 2 by 4 on the san Diego freeway riding a 78 kz 650 I have never tried to bunny hop so hard in my life. It might have helped because I had no damage whatsoever. But my nerves were shot for at least another ten miles. I couldn't imagine a 4x4. Very good save.

 

Great save! There is a front rim on ebay current bid is $90 with $25 shipping. Listing ends Monday. It's listed for a 5th gen but it's the same as the 6th gen. (Color may be different)

 

Do you happen to have a link?

So, to be clear, 5th gen wheel = 6th gen wheel?

 

5th and 6th wheel are identical

 

Oh sorry, thought it would be easy to find till I tried to find it again here is the link. http://bit.ly/U6EuV6