Angry angry angry.....

[mikeh501]

I am so angry right now......

I had a front and rear Tourance put onto my 04 Adventure last weekend. I noticed a slight wobble through the bars on the way home, just thought I was imagining it.

Anyhow the bike hasn't left the garage since last weekend. I pull the bike out today and go for a drive.

I notice the same wobble again, take hands off the bars and the bars definately waggle. This happens at between 30mph to 50mph. Its impercetible at speeds other than this range. Were not talking major wobble, but all the same its there.

Anyhow, I decide to take the bike down the place which fitted the tyres. He does a test drive, and then takes the wheel off and puts it back onto the balancer.

The result..... He says the front rim is bent.


He reckons I have definately hit a pot hole which has bent the rim.... I haven't, I think I would know. I can actually prove the bike has done less than 100 miles - not that it matters. His reasoning is that there is dried "soap" on the tyre sidewall in the place where the bend is on both sides.

His other prognosis, was that the design of the wheel is flawed.....

When he put the new tyre on, his machine had difficulty holding the tyre as its a 19" rim, in fact it jumped out of the 4 grips which rotate the wheel twice.

In addition there is a mark on the wheel which is from his machine, in exactly the same place as the 'bend'. Hes confirmed thats from the plastic grips.

I wanna maim and kill. What do you suggest I do, and Is the wheel safe? Im going to the alps next saturday

 

[Greg Masters]

I'd either buy a new wheel or see if you can get your existing rim professionally straightened.

From what you say, it seems almost certain that the rim was bent when the fitting machine was being used, but proving it would be next to impossible.

Change your tyre fitter!

Tough break.

Greg

 

[riverking]

Small claims court.
Very cheap, simple, unofficious.
Write everything (times, dates, events etc.) down NOW whilst it is still fresh.
Take lots pics of marks et.
Better than 50/50 that he will cave in rather than take the bother of attending etc.
You do not need a solicitor.
If you write everything down now & take the pics, you will have some evidence, chances are that he will not record anything and will have no counter argument. Do not give him the benefit of your evidence at this stage.
Nothing to lose, good luck.

 

[Sergeant Pluck]

Is this definately correct? I've had 2 front tourances that have done exactly the same thing at exactly the same speed range (on 2 different GS's). The first one was minimised after careful rebalancing - and then just faded with wear - this one I can't be bothered to do anything about as it's already getting less as the miles go on.... It certainly doesn't affect the handling - just one of those little niggles that I wish I hadn't noticed.

Not saying that your rim isn't bent - but that wobble may not be something unique to your bike/new tyre combo.

 

[mikeh501]

Is this definately correct? I've had 2 front tourances that have done exactly the same thing at exactly the same speed range (on 2 different GS's). The first one was minimised after careful rebalancing - and then just faded with wear - this one I can't be bothered to do anything about as it's already getting less as the miles go on.... It certainly doesn't affect the handling - just one of those little niggles that I wish I hadn't noticed.

Not saying that your rim isn't bent - but that wobble may not be something unique to your bike/new tyre combo.

I guess thats why I'm asking the question. I dont think its unsafe as it is, just annoying.

All I know for sure is that the bike didnt do it with the original set of tyres from the factory, and now it does. The only change is a new set of tyres...... my deductive reasoning....

I'm taking it to Pidcocks tomorrow AM, to let them have a look and give me their opinion.

More than anything Im just pi$$ed that my perfect 04 plate GS now has a fault through no fault of my own. That will niggle me. You know how it is, its like the 1st scratch on the paint with a new car.

 

[Bateman]

Now, I am about as technically competent as a gerbil, but when I took my 1150GS to Micheldevers for new front and rear D607s, the technician was advising a trainee and give him a mild telling off for trying to remove the tyre off the rim without first removing the clamps that are normally used for standard wheels. He said you wouldn't want to be nearby when that thing popped off. Don't know how much damage can potentially be caused if they aren't set right, but I have seen another thread somewhere here about rim damage caused when the wrong clamps were used at National Tyres. I will try and find it.

 

[Bateman]

Here's the thread i was on about and the response from Pragmatix which may be of interest.

 

[ROJAZ]

Its just a bad tyre. There are lots of reports of Tourance front tyres doing this. Some manufacture defect......apparently

 

[its all poo]

A spoked wheel is very strong so to buckle it takes a lot of force, I think that tyre machine would not have enough power to do this even if misused as it has been designed to clamp wheels .
I have hit some quite big things and not buckled my wheels and have used a tyre machine 100's of times.
Check your rim by spinning the wheel and hold a marker pen on the fork leg so the tip just touches the rim, if done correctly it will show where the wheel runs out. remember there is a factory limit for run out so it might run out slightly and still be OK.
Hope this helps !

 

[YoYo]

Did you actually see that the wheel has a runout in the machine? As said, Tourances have had some bad batches, giving the exact symptoms that you describe. BMW max runout for the front is 1.3 mm, IIRC, but at the last change the fitter pointed out that I had at least 3-4 mm!

This also without any potholes or serious offroading, which leads me to belive in a manufacture or fitter induced problem. However, this runout is not noticeable when driving. So I think that you probably only have a bad tyre, or else one heck of a runout. Please check before investing in a new wheel...

 

[Taipan]

I agree with some of the others. I doubt his machine would bend your rim that easy. Have you checked the run out of the rim? Get the front wheel of the ground. Get a pencil and hold it so the nib is about 1mm away and spin the wheel. You'll feel and see if the pencil touches the rim.

Check the tyre is fitted correctly. By that I mean see if it is seated evenly around the rim.

The tyre will have a yellow dot on it somewhere. This must be inline with the valve. Either next to it or opposite it, I'm not sure which with a Tourance, hopefully some one will know. If not ask the manufacturer.

Alert the Dealer to the confirmed rumour of a dodgy batch of Tourances. Get him to check with the manufacturer if yours is one. This should only be a phone call.

If the damage to the rim is something you can’t live with ask for a replacement. If he won’t give you one, see him in court. Taking someone to a small claims court is very easy.

If the rim is bent and you want it straightened I can give you the contact details of a Guy I know who straightens, and rebuilds rims. He does all the Supermoto racers etc and is well respected for his ability.

 

[kcain]

Exactly the same thing happened to me at BMW in Istanbul where incorrect use of the machine buckled the wheel. They provided a new wheel free of charge. I don't think that it is dangerous, but it is very annoying and unsettling if you are taking corners at the speed where the wobble starts.

 

[mikeh501]

Thanks for the all replies

Ok, I took the bike down the local BMW dealer this morning, they kindly had a look at the bike immediately. (Pidcocks )

A few things immediately came to light. Firstly the clamps the fitter used were not appropriate, as they did not cover the entire rim in the machine. Secondly and less important they use a different (better?) balancer rather than the electronic ones which the tyre fitter used.

The tyre again balances OK. They then decided that the tyre wasn't properly fitted and the bead wasn't properly in place against the rim

Anyhow they removed the tyre and re-fitted and rebalanced. I have been up the road on it, and the wobble seems less pronounced to the point that I possibly wouldnt be able to tell if I wasn't looking for it. It appears their balancer and expertise has tuned the wobble out better. The wobble is now 35-45mph and I cannot feel it through the bars if I'm holding on, rather than watching with both hand off the bars. Again there is no wobble at higher speeds.

They have said that the rim is definately 'kicked'? and is running out, but not by much.

Also, another snippet of info, is that the fitter told me that the rear wheel could not be balanced as it does not have a bearing in it. Not true, he just didnt have the correct equipment.

The moral I guess is to have your tyres fitted by the main dealer. Hes got the equipment and all the risk lies with one vendor if things go wrong.