The effects of a bent rim

[RightCoastBias]

But a few good dents in my rim riding off-road and I am planning on sending the wheel to GP Wheel and Frame to get fixed.

However, my bike is my only means of transport to and from work. So down time is difficult. I travel for work frequently, so I planned on taking the wheel off and sending it in when I am out of town next week. Unfortunately, the job I was working on got pushed till Sept.

Also, I've still got the TKC-80s I was riding off road on my bike, and don't care for how they work with my bike on road. Lots of head shake at higher speeds and shit turn in for my tastes. I am planning on ordering new tires, but would really like to get the rim sorted before I put the new tires on.

So, I'm wondering what performance effects a bent rim will have, considering it's tubed, meaning I don't have to worry about losing tire pressure.

Should I just wait till I'm out of town again and slap new rubber on? Really want to get out and ride on some street rubber.

IMG_20170606_132438_176

 

[Junkie]

With tubes, I wouldn't want to corner too hard (as the profile at the edge won't be consistent) but I wouldn't worry much about commuting.

 

[RightCoastBias]

With tubes, I wouldn't want to corner too hard (as the profile at the edge won't be consistent) but I wouldn't worry much about commuting.

I'm getting a bit of wobble when leaned over at speed, which got me thinking the rim is part of the issue. But I'm also running big block knobbies on the bike that has a light front end. I haven't run them in close to 2 years, so I can't recall all aspects of it's performance. But I do remember the head shake these tires cause.

 

[auntiebling]

if the bend is big enough, and i'm not saying yours are or aren't, the tube can be exposed to atmospheric pressure without the tire case supporting it, that's a failure point. like blowing a bubble. POP-hissssss

 

[ST Guy]

Do you value your life?

If not, go ahead a ride on it.

If you do, you know what you need to do.

And sorry for this, but as soon as I saw that rim, I thought why do you even need to ask? There are so many things that could go wrong. Many of them life changing. And not in a good way.

 

[ST Guy]

.....but I wouldn't worry much about commuting.

Commuting would be the worst thing to do on those. Suppose he needs to make an emergency maneuver to avoid an accident and the tire comes off? Or catastrophic deflation occurs?

It boggles my mind how many people are just OK with riding on obviously deficient and unsafe equipment.

 

[RightCoastBias]

Eh, I don't think it's going to roll off. Bent this on Day 1 of the off road potion of my trip, probably 60 miles in. Rode another 250ish miles off road into Utah and then from Utah/Escalante Area, to vegas at high speeds on the freeway.

The tube being exposed and failing would be a bigger concern for me. But I've had more than my share of front and rear tube blow outs and survived them fine.

Regardless, I appreciate the concern all around. I'll get the wheel out as soon as I reasonably can.

 

[Erbuck]

If its just the rim you need fixed, you may want to talk to Chris Quinn at Wheel Works in Hayward.

I've had him replace a rim and lace up a wheel in about an hour. Once you've got a replacement rim, it would be a pretty quick.





Wheel Works
1957 W Winton Ave
Hayward, CA 94545
510-785-4396

 

[dravnx]

Pull the TKC's, drop the rim at GP, go have lunch, pick up rim, mount new tires. You can do it all in one day.
You put yourself in a tough spot by playing on your primary transportation. Not good planning.

 

[RightCoastBias]

If its just the rim you need fixed, you may want to talk to Chris Quinn at Wheel Works in Hayward.

I've had him replace a rim and lace up a wheel in about an hour. Once you've got a replacement rim, it would be a pretty quick.





Wheel Works
1957 W Winton Ave
Hayward, CA 94545
510-785-4396

The OEM rims are notoriously soft and insanely expensive. I checked online and its about $1300 for the wheel. For that price, I could get two new rims from Woody's.

Does Chris straighten rims?

 

[Junkie]

Commuting would be the worst thing to do on those. Suppose he needs to make an emergency maneuver to avoid an accident and the tire comes off? Or catastrophic deflation occurs?

It boggles my mind how many people are just OK with riding on obviously deficient and unsafe equipment.

I've never been anywhere near far enough leaned over on a commute for a little wiggle at the very edge of the tire to matter.

Are you scrubbing your chicken strips while commuting?

 

[Rumbo Sur]

Do you value your life?

If not, go ahead a ride on it.

If you do, you know what you need to do.

And sorry for this, but as soon as I saw that rim, I thought why do you even need to ask? There are so many things that could go wrong. Many of them life changing. And not in a good way.

Hey, calm down old timer. I believe you may be overstating the so called risk here. First off, you've not even seen the rim in person. Do you see any tube showing there?

As the OP stated, he is not new and has dealt with flats before.
Do you ride dirt or dual sport bikes ?

Like the OP, I bent a rim, down in Baja, about 1500 miles into my trip. I did another 4K miles around Mexico and back home to bay area ... all with a huge dent in my rim. The dent (in my case) did not cause a wobble or a hop of any kind. If it had, I would have had the rim pounded out in Mexico for $10.

But that sort of repair can CRACK the rim so I just rode on it ... and it's still on my bike today. Crazy?

On TKC80's: I love these tires, especially the front. The rear wears out too quick on pavement but the front wears a bit better and sport riding on twisty Marin roads that TKC is really good for a knobby tire on my DR650.

I can get good lean angles and side grip is surprisingly good.

I don't know what motorcycle OP is running (don't think he mentioned it), but I'm guessing BMW as they have soft rims. My DID rims are tough, but Baja has a way of doing damage.

I would relax and ride the bike as normal. If you've got a wobble or hop, I'd deal with it sooner rather than later. Otherwise, fix it when you get to it. We both know from experience nothing is likely to happen.

Baja takes its toll once again

 

[RightCoastBias]

The headshake I get is likely from the TKCs. Before the damper and front/rear respring, it was bad with even 80/20 tires I usually run. The F800GS is known for a light and Shakey front end.

I ran TKCs on the street before and after sheet iron a bit and it was pretty bad. But that was before the damper and respring.

I don't feel any hopping and from a side view, as shown above, it's not that bad of a bend. The photo was taken to highlight the damage. I'm running the tubeless version of the TKCs, and they have a longer side profile to fit snuggly in a tubeless rim.

I've been commuting on the tires since I got back a few weeks ago, ontop of all the other mileage I mentioned, not dead yet.

Going to try and get the rim out for repair and the TKCs off next week. Ill see if I can borrow my bosses bike while the bike is out of commission.

 

[OaklandF4i]

I might consider ordering a new better quality aftermarket rim and just lace it myself one evening. Better rim longterm, and no downtime. OEM rims while branded as Excel or DID are often manufactured to lower specs as directed by the OEMs. KTM for example, is notorious for this. Plenty of reading online about this and even an official statement from Excel. I don't know if the same is true for BMW (I have no direct experience), but wouldn't be surprised. Then have your old rim straightened as a back up.

Chances are high that if you continue to ride a heavy adv bike offroad you will put some more bends in rims. Might be a good time to learn how to lace a wheel (not as a hard as some make it out to be). Like Rumbo Sur, I'd feel comfortable riding the rim at a sane pace until fixed.

 

[Rumbo Sur]

I might consider ordering a new better quality aftermarket rim and just lace it myself one evening. Better rim longterm, and no downtime. OEM rims while branded as Excel or DID are often manufactured to lower specs as directed by the OEMs. KTM for example, is notorious for this. Plenty of reading online about this and even an official statement from Excel. I don't know if the same is true for BMW (I have no direct experience), but wouldn't be surprised. Then have your old rim straightened as a back up.

Chances are high that if you continue to ride a heavy adv bike offroad you will put some more bends in rims. Might be a good time to learn how to lace a wheel (not as a hard as some make it out to be). Like Rumbo Sur, I'd feel comfortable riding the rim at a sane pace until fixed.

Good advice, IMO! Aftermarket would no doubt be less than an OEM option.

I did not know KTM were fudging on wheels! I have 3 sets of DID wheels for DR650, one from 1st year DR650 (1996), another from '05 and a rear wheel only from '2011.

I ain't no wheel expert but to my eye all these wheels/rims look identical ... are pretty tough rims, have handled 60K miles of abuse on my DR650 :thumb up

Having a back up wheel works for me.

 

[Rumbo Sur]

The headshake I get is likely from the TKCs. Before the damper and front/rear respring, it was bad with even 80/20 tires I usually run. The F800GS is known for a light and Shakey front end.

I ran TKCs on the street before and after sheet iron a bit and it was pretty bad. But that was before the damper and respring.

I don't feel any hopping and from a side view, as shown above, it's not that bad of a bend. The photo was taken to highlight the damage. I'm running the tubeless version of the TKCs, and they have a longer side profile to fit snuggly in a tubeless rim.

I've been commuting on the tires since I got back a few weeks ago, ontop of all the other mileage I mentioned, not dead yet.

Going to try and get the rim out for repair and the TKCs off next week. Ill see if I can borrow my bosses bike while the bike is out of commission.

Interesting! I don't know the F800GS well, only tested one for City Bike ages ago, no detailed knowledge regards how different tires affect it.

All kinds of things can typically affect a wobble, weave or head shake. I'm sure
you're aware of most of these factors. Hope you can get it worked out. Really fun bike on funky paved back roads (for me!), never rode the F800GS much off road.

Big ups to you riding the Sheet Iron on your F800. I barely managed it on my DR650 ... And DR is about 100 lbs. lighter than your GS! (I need to get to the GYM!)

 

[RightCoastBias]

The F8 comes with "Excel" wheels IIRC. But as you said, CJ, they're bottom rung wheels from Excel. Same as a lot of the Ohlins stuff that comes OEM on bikes, it's not the same shit you buy aftermarket.

I've considered and priced new wheels from Woody's, but I rarely ride this bike off road. Did SI300 in 2015, got a bad concussion towards the end of D1 and skipped D2. After that, this Northern AZ trip I did was the only other time I was off road. Point being, I don't ride this bike off road often and not sure $1200 on wheels is the right choice. $1200 would be most of the budget for what I have in mind for a new shock and some cartridges.

Really like my F8 on road for commuting/touring/twisties. Off road it's a fucking chore to ride on anything but fireroads, fun, but a chore.

 

[OaklandF4i]

Agree, $1200 is too much for your use. Wasn't trying to suggest replacing the whole wheel, just the rim aka hoop. I can't imagine that a replacement "hoop" is more than $300 though. Your OEM hub and spokes are most likely of good quality. Just relace a new hoop using your existing spokes and hub. But I admittingly know nothing about the GS.

Can these wheels not be rebuilt with a new hoop? Shorterm I'm sure just straightening the current rim is the cheapest way forward. Always more fun deciding what others should do to solve their problems on the Internet. PM me if you want relationship advice too! (Sarcasm).

 

[RightCoastBias]

I don't think there's anything special about them, so they can be rebuilt around the existing hub. BMW doesn't sell the hoop alone, however.

Woody's sells the Excel 7000 series for my bike at $302, built around my existing hub. But then I'm gonna wanna do the rear, as well and continue the never ending spending money on my bike addiction. And then I think, fuck, I night as well go for new hubs front/rear, some fancy spokes blah blah and I'm back to $1200 and really wanting new wheels all around now. Shit.

I'm going to go play the lottery. When I win, I'm going to buy the bike that doesn't need all these upgrades and then slowly find ways to spend money on upgrades all the way up until I need to win the lottery again.

 

[Surj]

Well, this ain't gonna help, but I recently got a set of Woody's Superlaced Takasagos on their Superlite hubs for my GS and they're saweeeet.

But I'd be surprised if Chris at Wheel Works can't help you out.