B
bobh41
Guest
I hit a pothole - stupid, yes, I know; hit it hard. There was no evident effect.
After a couple of hours of riding on country roads I hit the freeway and cranked the speed up. At 85 (indicated - probably around 70 - it's an R90) the front end began a terrific vibration. I didn't immediately associate it to the pothole, but was focusing on something coming loose. Back down below 80 it smoothed out just fine. I tried going past 85 and the shaking grew worse. So I rode at the speed limit going home. (I rode the bike last week much faster without any shaking at all, by the way.)
I examined the wheel and could "feel" a dent, but could hardly see it. I got out a dial indicator to measure run-out. For most of the circumference run-out was less than .005 in. I hit a .008 section, then further along measured lateral run-out of .030 in. (The other side of the wheel is not dented).
I changed the orientation of the dial indicator to measure radial variance of .015 at the dent, less than .005 over the remainder of the wheel.
Here is a photo comparison of two sections of the wheel:
QUESTION: Is this wheel repairable? Can I repair this damage with a press, and perhaps a mallet - that is, will the aluminum go back to it's original shape? Or will it require a wheel specialist? Any advice is welcome (except please don't tell me not to run into potholes - I thought I already knew that
).
After a couple of hours of riding on country roads I hit the freeway and cranked the speed up. At 85 (indicated - probably around 70 - it's an R90) the front end began a terrific vibration. I didn't immediately associate it to the pothole, but was focusing on something coming loose. Back down below 80 it smoothed out just fine. I tried going past 85 and the shaking grew worse. So I rode at the speed limit going home. (I rode the bike last week much faster without any shaking at all, by the way.)
I examined the wheel and could "feel" a dent, but could hardly see it. I got out a dial indicator to measure run-out. For most of the circumference run-out was less than .005 in. I hit a .008 section, then further along measured lateral run-out of .030 in. (The other side of the wheel is not dented).
I changed the orientation of the dial indicator to measure radial variance of .015 at the dent, less than .005 over the remainder of the wheel.
Here is a photo comparison of two sections of the wheel:
QUESTION: Is this wheel repairable? Can I repair this damage with a press, and perhaps a mallet - that is, will the aluminum go back to it's original shape? Or will it require a wheel specialist? Any advice is welcome (except please don't tell me not to run into potholes - I thought I already knew that
).
