Buckled wheel woes

[bikewise]

I have a August 2016 GSA that has a vibration in it. I took it to the dealer for a diagnosis and they replaced the Drive shaft as it had a tight spot but the vibration was still there if not slightly worse. They then diagnosed a slight buckle in the rear wheel, and confirmed this by swapping a wheel from a demo bike and then i test rode it to confirm and it was ok. I have owned the bike from new and never taken it offroad or given it as a loan to any one. It has 13000 kilometres and has never been dropped or ever hit a pothole. The dealer in their submission to BMW agreed that the wheel looks perfect with no sign of any impact damage. BMW will not cover it under warranty as they say that a manufacturing fault would have shown up before now.
I live in Cork but could ship it to the UK to be repaired as a new wheel is 900 euros, as they are giving me a dealer discount, but this is still a sickner when i feel i have done no wrong. This is my 4th BMW and I love the bike but this will leave a bad taste. Any one any advice? Any one selling a rear wheel? Can they be repaired?

 

[Norfolk Tiger]

Maybe worth a phone call to these people.

https://www.hagon-shocks.co.uk

 

[Neil W]

www.drwheelbuilding.com ex owner of the Devon Rim Company is a better bet, FYI on my 2011 r1200gsa the front wheel went out of true for absolutely no reason what so ever .

Doug the owner took the tension from the spokes and then re-trued the wheel............. when it came back the wheel was at better tolerances than BMW themselves actually specify for new wheels

 

[JJH]

Has the dealer actually said the wheel should be replaced? Can they not fix/ true the wheels? It seems strange that they are recmonding a replacement when all it needs is an adjustment. Have they not got the skills to service what they sell. Why should the customer have to pay for their shortcomings? It would seem they replaced a driveshaft in error. JJH

 

[ChazzyB]

Someone with the skill and a spoke key can probably sort it out for not a lot of €

There has to be a wheel builder in the Republic who can true it for you.

 

[Neil W]

Has the dealer actually said the wheel should be replaced? Can they not fix/ true the wheels? It seems strange that they are recmonding a replacement when all it needs is an adjustment. Have they not got the skills to service what they sell. Why should the customer have to pay for their shortcomings? It would seem they replaced a driveshaft in error. JJH

Probably half a dozen places in the UK that can correctly true up the BMW cross spoked wheels , doubt that any franchised BMW dealer has the facilities to do so

 

[JJH]

Yes I agree. They can’t fix em so they will flog a new one instead. Maybe €100 to fix. €900 for a new one. I know the wheels are not easy to true. But if it was easy anybody could do it. I thought the highly qualified technissions who have the latest special tools SHOULD have no problem trueing a wheel. JJH

 

[Deleted account 191119001]

I am not a specialist, but maybe this article below will give you an idea that you can do it yourself.

http://agwalker.com/wheelbuilding.html

 

[GB.]

I took a set of wheels to Hagon to true a few years back, the said they are a nightmare to do, apparently when they are made they are laced on a machine and torqued up to the same amount and thats it. Tightening and loosening spokes does not have the same effect as a normally laced wheel. Most people don't realise there is a small allen cap in the hub on each of the spokes keeping them tight, people try to adjust them and things then just get worse from then onwards. Careful where you take them if BMW don't replace them.

 

[Deleted account 191119001]

Could also send it to these guys.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UpVJGUrHxC4

 

[bikewise]

Those guys could definately sort it.
My local dealers have no knowlegde on how to true a wheel. This type of expertise is thin on the ground on this side of the pond. So much for these bikes being built to take abuse. Mine has had no abuse and still its not fit for purpose. Thanks for the advice so far. Looks like i will ship it to an expert in the UK.

 

[Deleted account 191119001]

Those guys could definately sort it.
My local dealers have no knowlegde on how to true a wheel. This type of expertise is thin on the ground on this side of the pond. So much for these bikes being built to take abuse. Mine has had no abuse and still its not fit for purpose. Thanks for the advice so far. Looks like i will ship it to an expert in the UK.

Maybe give these guys a call, maybe they can help, or point you in a direction.

http://www.lor.ie/Specialist Services.htm

 

[Jesim1]

Just as a heads up:

I got my bike Hilltopped on Monday - another GSer who was there on the day had a brand new bike and told the guy at Hilltop he was hoping to get it smoother as it was vibrating quite badly. When running it on the dyno the guy called the owner of the bike in and he took a video of the problem - yep, back wheel out of alignment, this tune up was not going to get rid of those vibes. You could not see this looking at it stationary - but put it on a dyno with a spinning wheel and it was all too obvious - so don't let BMW tell you this can't happen, because it can and does.

As the others say, it's not something your average BMW dealer can fix - but they should bloody pay for it to b fixed, it's certainly not a new wheel job.

James

 

[JJH]

Imagine if bmw dealers were trlling customers that thec cant work on the engines as they are a nightmare to true. JJH

 

[oldnfat]

Hagen in Essex did my front for £110 plus courier.....6 day turn around and perfect wheel in return with no bar vibration....highly recommended.

 

[Kendo]

Just as a heads up:

I got my bike Hilltopped on Monday - another GSer who was there on the day had a brand new bike and told the guy at Hilltop he was hoping to get it smoother as it was vibrating quite badly. When running it on the dyno the guy called the owner of the bike in and he took a video of the problem - yep, back wheel out of alignment, this tune up was not going to get rid of those vibes. You could not see this looking at it stationary - but put it on a dyno with a spinning wheel and it was all too obvious - so don't let BMW tell you this can't happen, because it can and does.

As the others say, it's not something your average BMW dealer can fix - but they should bloody pay for it to b fixed, it's certainly not a new wheel job.

James

That would be me!!. I havnt spoken to the dealer yet. Still trying to dry out!. Bike does feel smoother but the vibes are still there.

 

[bikewise]

I rang leo o'reilly yesterday and they said they would not touch it. Today i took just the wheel back to dealer to get it balanced as i noticed no weights where the last tyre needed weights. They added 35g but said that bmw allow up to 50g of an unbalance before any weight is needed. Wheel back on and now the vibration is all but gone. And all this after they had the bike for 3 weeks doing investigations and sending videos to bmw. Not sure what to say or do now. I will get a gsa owning buddy to ride it and see is the vibration truly gone.

 

[AP11 LAD]

I rang leo o'reilly yesterday and they said they would not touch it. Today i took just the wheel back to dealer to get it balanced as i noticed no weights where the last tyre needed weights. They added 35g but said that bmw allow up to 50g of an unbalance before any weight is needed. Wheel back on and now the vibration is all but gone. And all this after they had the bike for 3 weeks doing investigations and sending videos to bmw. Not sure what to say or do now. I will get a gsa owning buddy to ride it and see is the vibration truly gone.

What a poor dealer ! If they put 35 g on the wheel then it must have needed it. If the problem is all but gone maybe, just maybe the problem is a balancing one. Your dealer has improved it but not gone totally. So why not take it back again and ask them to check the balancing to see if it can be improved further ? They should be willing to do this for in light of previous poor service. If that doesn't work take it to an independent motorbike dealer who has a tyre machine and see if he can improve it for you. You shouldn't be in this position but perhaps a total fix is closer than you think. All the best

 

[AP11 LAD]

To those in previous posts that suggested trying to straighten the wheel himself -

I'm sure your intentions were good but this is not a diy job. Unless you know what you are doing it is very foolish to attempt. As for dealer technicians doing the job ???? Must be joking ! Dealer staff are experienced only in replacing things and they are not mechanics of old. Some dealers may still have a true mechanic who could strip and rebuild an engine for example but in the main they can't. And they certainly wouldn't have a clue how to " true a spoked wheel " BMW wouldn't allow them to do it even if they had the skills for risk of being sued.