R1200GS - what to do about dinged rims ?

[CandyMan_ZA]

Hi guys, any advice what to do about dinged rims ? On my weekend ride up in the Cederberg we reached speeds at times of around 140km/h on some of the farm roads and I must have hit a number of ugly protruding rocks at this speed, at first I thought that is it, a flat tire, just waited for the bike to start waving but nothing. It was only later that I saw the damage, it doesn't look too bad, it is probably only a few mm's that it is pushed out of shape, the spokes in those areas are loose. There is a 'white' discolouration at the area where the ding is.

(I can post a pic if that will help at all ?)

The question is, should I just tighten up the spokes and leave it as is or is it possible to 'fix' the ding and make the wheel 'round' again ?

I pushed the bike to 210km/h on the tar coming home to see if there was any wobble and it feels smooth.

It's a good thing I have spoked wheels, alloys would have shattered !

Kevin
R1200GS

ps. you know how it goes, the little devil on the one shoulder is shouting, "faster faster !" and the angel on the other is shouting, "not so fast, slow down !" and the devil always wins

 

[TerryM]

As it is some years since I did this stuff the rust is showing, but under no circumstances just tighten up the spokes!!!!!!!

They are loose because the wheel is out of shape, so doing that will just make matters much worse by fixing in the distortion evidenced by the loose spokes.

Not having seen the rim I am cannot be certain,however localised minor damage can usually be repaired. And as it is made by a pressing and/or spinning process from sheet material I am voting for a local metal bashing job to straighten out the ding followed by a resetting of the spokes. Both jobs are best given to an expert wheel builder, and if you are short on the motorcycle sort go find someone with cycle experience.

Riding the thing at high speed will, sooner or later, lead to self destruction of the tyre/wheel or both. The experience would be highly educational! The best thing is to park it until repaired.

Good luck.

Terry

 

[Wraithwrider]

From my experience of spoked wheels I'd say a new rim is in order. The alloy has obviously been strained as witnessed by the white stress marks.

A expert wheel builder will give best advice. I would suggest don't try to bodge it as the consequences of wheel failure could be dire.

 

[TheJoker]

I've had a little experience with SuperMoto wheels, which are usually built to last for a race without inspection. My rear wheel constantly snapped spokes, and I renewed them one by one... I'm sure a proper wheel builder would have made it much better than me, but I was able to ride it.
Also had the front dented quite badly, but bashing it back into close shape worked quite well, we then tightened the spokes up...
However, I never gained full trust of the wheels, and I constantly checked them, and the bike didn't do more than 90-100mph at best...

... Take it to a wheel builder... your health and the bike is not worth the uncertainty....